Wood Mouse or House Mouse

[Tangaroa]

Happy Christmas........

I caught this little guy last night - I just assumed it was a wood mouse - however I dont think I have ever seen a house mouse so Im not exactly sure how different they are......could soneone let me know if this is a wood mouse and how do you tell the difference?

Thanks

[Alex90]

That looks like its a house mouse (Mus musculus)

[Tangaroa]

Ah ok - so is there any point in live capture and release??? I imagine releasing him in to a woodland or field isnt going to give him much chance of surviving???

[Alex90]

Despite the name, House mice can and do thrive in the wild, they will survive just as well as a wood mosue or any other species of mouse in the wild. that is where they were long before humans built houses.

[shirl]

Looks like a house mouse to me and a lovely one too. Our house mice live in the stone walls around the garden as do some of the wood mice, so shouldn't be a problem releasing it outside.

Shirl

[Trik]

It is often difficult to get an accurate idea of colours on-line : depends on your camera and my monitor! However, I thought it looked too-rich a brown for a house mouse, which I always assumed were more greyish. Any neighbours lost a fancy mouse?

Trik

[Tangaroa]

I have caught three of them now - one smaller than the first 2 - can house mice breed any time of the year as I know there is at least one more in the house......

.....I have been releasing them near a field/woodland area with a small wooden hut nearby (for tools i think) - but it looks like we have a family.....better get the trap and peanut butter out again

I dont think my neighbours are the type to keep mice (but you never know I guess)

[The Woodman]

Have a look at this to compare..

Wood Mouse - Apodemus sylvaticus - Wildlife Photography

See the similarities?

[Alex90]

I think the eyes and ears are all wrong for it to be a wood mouse, i am almost certain its a house mouse, the only other thing i could think of is a juvenile brown rat, but again doesnt look as if it is.

House mice appear in all sorts of colours, in some places in europe the mice appear almost black in colour, although in reality they are just a very dark brown.

With regards to my earlier comment on them living in the wild, i was actually reading a mammal society article which stated that during a long term live trapping survey out of thousands of mice caught there were very few house mice, the traps had been set in 7 different "categories" of locations, one not included was urban areas and households. a more recent survey suggests that the majority of the british House mice choose to inhabit urban area's as opposed to their natural environments.

Have a look on the Mammal society website under the survey results, not sure how many of them can be seen without being a member.

[The Woodman]

The one mammal the MS does not include in its mammal fact sheets is the house mouse!

For interest, the most recent Cumbrian county natural history report for 2008 records only sixteen records of wood mice and no records of house mice.