Havest mouse

Hermit crab · #1 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 05:28 PM

I have just heard that the harvest mouse is in danger of extinction.
Help!
When clearing overgrown grass in September, I discovered a harvest mouse nest. All the babies had gone, so I hadn't slaughtered them.
However, tomorrow, two men are coming to clear my very overgrown garden. I have waited until now because in spring, the birds were nesting. I expect they will clear away habitat, because there is too much ivy, brambles and grass. Now I hear harvest mice are likely to become extinct. There is ALWAYS a reason for me NOT to clear my garden.
How can I ensure there is still shelter for the little mites?
My garden is backed by a school playing field, and there are two large gardens either side of mine. They are both in an acceptable state of tidiness, not like mine.
WHO IS RESEARCHING STATISTICAL RECORDS FOR HARVEST MICE? I would like to record my nest.

The Woodman · #2 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 05:50 PM

I would imagine Penny Green at the Sussex biological record centre would be interested in your record.Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre — The Local Record Centre for Sussex or pennygreen@sussexwt.org.uk

More on the Harvest Mouse on the Mammal Societies website here
The Harvest Mouse

Welcome to WAB, too.

Hermit crab · #3 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 07:59 AM

Thank you for your prompt replies.
After my post I did find a site to register my find, but I am surprised at how difficult it is to do so. When we were children in Leicester, we just phoned or visited our local museum. My friend and I traipsed in with a huge ammonite in a carrier bag. Once we took a robin's leg tag to the Natural History Museum. That was a great excuse for a day in London.
I would have thought that somewhere I could just click on 'harvest mouse', and then register my find, which would then be available to any interested parties.
I did record my find on Facebook, but such is the interest in small mammals, I have had no replies or comments.
So now for that gardening...

dampflippers · #4 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 03:55 PM

It sounds like your garden is a wildlife haven!
Could you keep the end part wild, and just do a little pruning? I expect there will also he hedgehogs there, and they may have started to hibernate already.

I think, if possible, be there all the time the men are working, and ask them to check everywhere they are planning to work. Whatever they do, don't let them go in with a strimmer or scythe without checking first. There have been sooo many strimmed hedghogs, most of which die of their injuries.
Also check everything that goes in the skip or bin- there could be a hedgehog in an armful of plant material or leaves. Considering your location, it is probably a little oasis of greenery for the surrounding school and fields.

dampflippers · #5 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 04:02 PM

Also report the find to Sussex Wildlife Trust:
Sussex Wildlife Trust - Species recording

Hermit crab · #6 (**permalink**) 19-10-2010, 07:52 AM

Yes, thank you for this advice. The men didn't turn up, but I did some clearing on my own.
I'm afraid I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that my garden is a bit of a haven, but last January the rats also moved in and multipled. Since February there have been several rat bait boxes scattered about and the problem seems to have gone. I did find a dead rodent rotting away in my compost bin yesterday, but I think it is a baby rat and not a harvest mouse because the colours don't match. The rats are one of the reasons for clearing the garden!
Over the years we have seen several hedgehogs, grey squirrels, foxes, field mice, shrews, a grass snake (which I think has eaten most of the frogs), this harvest mouse nest, and now a mole has taken up residence. That and the presence of chickens has so messed up any pretence to a lawn that I had, that last week bought a strimmer(!). I too have taken at least two hedgehogs to our local wildlife hospital with horrific injuries to their legs. They had to be put down. However, I examined this strimmer closely. The thread does not extend beyond the guard, so if I use the guard, I should not hurt too many animals. I did once cut a frog in half with shears, and shave another one with my hover mower. Life in a wild garden is not a bed of roses...

dampflippers · #7 (**permalink**) 19-10-2010, 03:47 PM

Just put some gardening gloves on and have a poke around before you do each lot of strimming. Having the guard won't protect wildlife fully, so please always investigate the area first.

Have the bait boxes been taken away now? Although probably too small fo a grown hedgehog to get at the bait and be poisoned, a young one could easily get in. Many hedgheogs are poisoned each year by rat poison, slug pellets and other garden and agricultural pesticides and herbicides. The death is awful. I would suggest if you get another rat problem, either use live traps and take the rats at least 3 miles away, or put the trap up on something that a hedgehog can't climb up to.

Dogghound · #8 (**permalink**) 19-10-2010, 05:58 PM

Harvest mice are not in any danger of becoming extinct, although they have declined in areas. What is the surrounding habitat like where you live?

Hermit crab · #9 (**permalink**) 20-10-2010, 07:56 AM

Hello again.
The rat boxes are down all the time - I am paying for constant guard against more infestation. It was really bad, although I'm relieved to say they never got into the house. When you see them playing around quite openly at 10 in the morning, you know you have a problem. I hoped the cats and foxes would keep them down, but no. Even in the snow and ice they flourished. I'm close to a school, so they were beginning to be public hazard.
The good news, re hedgehogs, that there has been a constant stream of hedgehogs visiting to eat the cat's food all through the summer. I didn't think hedgehogs ate grain? I can assure you there are plenty of other more palatable meals around in the undergrowth for a gourmet seeking hedgehog.
You ask about the surrounding countryside? There is open farmland, and a very old double hedge/ditch within striking distance. We are not on a car 'rat run' because we live in a culdesac.
One of the beauties of living here is the access to the countryside. (I ought to add slowworms to the list.) However, we have had an influx of city dwellers, and I fear for the destruction of the little creatures which underpin the ecosystem.
Thanks for the reassurance about the harvest mice. I met a lady yesterday who said she had found a nest in a yucca plant! I asked her to record it with West Sussex Wildlife. She doesn't live in our village, but near Chichester.
Keep writing!

dampflippers · #10 (**permalink**) 20-10-2010, 01:14 PM

I was thinking about your bait traps- they will also attract smaller mammals, so you may have lost some of your harvest mice too.
Why not get rid of them for a while and try some live box traps?
Also, try not to overfeed the hens so there is less waste seed for the rats to eat.

Was the yucca plant nest in your garden? That would be a lovely photo!