THE HARVEST MOUSE 225 



HARVEST MOUSE (Mus minutis). 

 Plate XXIII. Fig. i. 



Except for the pigmy shrew the Harvest Mouse is the 

 smallest of the mammals, as it certainly is the prettiest of 

 all those found in the British Islands. It is only about 

 two and a half inches long from the nose to the tip of its 

 tail, and it is less than a quarter of an ounce in weight. 

 The colour of its fur is a delicate yellowish red, with white 

 on the under parts ; the two colours are separated by a 

 well-defined line. All mice and rats are good climbers, 

 but the Harvest Mouse is easily superior to all others. 

 It holds on to a grass stem as firmly as if the tiny paws were 

 those of a monkey, twisting its partly prehensile tail around 

 it. The stem may bend over until it reaches the ground, 

 but the little climber will not be displaced. 



Gilbert White was perhaps the first naturalist to take 

 particular notice of the habits of the Harvest Mouse. Says 

 he : ' They breed as many as eight at a litter, in a little 

 round nest composed of the blades of grass or wheat. 

 One of these nests I procured this autumn, most artificially 

 plaited, perfectly round and about the size of a cricket 

 ball, with the aperture so ingeniously closed that there 

 was no discovering to what part it belonged. It was so 

 compact and well filled, that it would roll across the 

 table without being discomposed, though it contained eight 

 little mice that were naked and blind. As this nest was 

 perfectly full, how could the dam come at her litter 

 respectively, so as to administer a teat to each ? Perhaps 

 she opens different places for that purpose, adjusting them 

 again when the business is over ; but she could not 

 possibly be contained herself in the ball with her young, 

 which, moreover, would be daily increasing in bulk.' 



In winter the Harvest Mouse retires to its burrow, where 

 it lies in a state of torpor. But in harvest-time vast 

 numbers of them are transported in the sheaves to the 

 rickyards, where they join the common and the field mice. 

 Perhaps it is owing to an entirely mistaken sense of grati- 

 tude that the Harvest Mouse in a rick does not hibernate. 



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