Mice, small, black, hungry

[nightshade]

I could hear a tinkling noise and traced it to a ceramic windchime hooked on the kitchen window. Also on the window is a bird feeder, inside the feeder was a small black mouse filling its face. I backed out carefully for my camera and the mouse backed out as well then jumped to the floor and away.
I have not seen these around before (house mice?) until ten minutes later we found a tunnel during a greenhouse clean up and two small corpses in a flower pot filled with straw. Field mice we have a standing population in some of the unused bird boxes but these are a new addition.

[Farplace]

Originally Posted by nightshade

I could hear a tinkling noise and traced it to a ceramic windchime hooked on the kitchen window. Also on the window is a bird feeder, inside the feeder was a small black mouse filling its face. I backed out carefully for my camera and the mouse backed out as well then jumped to the floor and away.
I have not seen these around before (house mice?) until ten minutes later we found a tunnel during a greenhouse clean up and two small corpses in a flower pot filled with straw. Field mice we have a standing population in some of the unused bird boxes but these are a new addition.

Did you take a pic of the dead mice?

[nightshade]

Yuk, no they were pretty ripe, which is unusual they normally seem to dessicate.
I am carrying my small camera (Sony W50) in case anything else turns up. The Snakes head fritillary's have been chewed as well , which the Woodmice don't normally do.

[DoraMac]

Your little fellow may be a house mouse with escapee pet mouse ancestry, or simply be carrying a naturally occurring genetic mutation for melanism.

[nightshade]

That is very probable, there was a mouse, Black and very large pink ears cought by one of my cats (I will stop before the anecdote )