ID if possible mouse NEast London. (1 Viewer)

[KenM]

Am thinking Yellow-necked or Wood Mouse?

Cheers

 

[opisska]

With those ears I would agree (unless there is something wildly exotic in the UK compared to central Europe), this is just about the only small rodent ID where I feel I have an idea as hthose are the most common mice by far here. However I don't think you can get a species ID without seeing well the neck, which here is not seen (and frankly, I still haven't managed to get it right myself).

 

[Farnboro John]

I'm going a bit out on a limb here but:

the mouse has quite a thick tail which leans towards Yellow-necked;

the eyes look relatively small in the face suggesting a larger, robust animal;

in the second shot, it seems to me that you can indeed see the golden-brown colour continuing from the right leg around the neck.

So I would like a better view but I think there is a reasonable chance the mouse is Yellow-necked.

John

 

[THE_FERN]

I'm going a bit out on a limb here but:

the mouse has quite a thick tail which leans towards Yellow-necked;

the eyes look relatively small in the face suggesting a larger, robust animal;

in the second shot, it seems to me that you can indeed see the golden-brown colour continuing from the right leg around the neck.

So I would like a better view but I think there is a reasonable chance the mouse is Yellow-necked.

John

Agree, and this seems to have a different, bigger eared jizz to the wood/field mice we're used to seeing. However, mammal society website cautions you have to see the underside to be sure: Yellow-necked with a band running across the breast/lower throat region, wood with a longitudinal yellow line

 

[KenM]

Cheers guys clearly not an easy ID, I shot these last night c11pm (whilst waiting for a “huge” moth fall around the trap) unfortunately the latter did not materialise ,however although the 2nd image suggests a “yellow neck” on just the one “nanosecond” occasion when I glimpsed a full frontal, I couldn’t see any vestige of yellow!, maybe the halogen light bleached it out?

Must try harder, as a Yellow-necked could take me to five rodent house/garden species.:t:

 

[opisska]

I have taken some pictures of such mouse once in the Beibrza National Park which I thought were good enough to say Wood, then got in touch with a park zoologist and they said it's still not possible to say. I think with mammmals, we "amateurs" have the tendency to be overly optimistic

 

[Farnboro John]

I have taken some pictures of such mouse once in the Beibrza National Park which I thought were good enough to say Wood, then got in touch with a park zoologist and they said it's still not possible to say. I think with mammmals, we "amateurs" have the tendency to be overly optimistic

One of the advantages we have in Britain is limited options: once you have an Apodemus (which these photos show plainly is the case) then the choices are just Wood and Yellow-necked. Now I did say I'm not being definite about this ID but around where I live there are lots of both, so I get plenty of experience of looking at them: separately, and once in a while on trapping sessions, together. Given a proper look they really are not difficult to separate as a rule, but you do get the odd weirdo that you just have to walk away from whistling quietly to yourself and pretending you didn't see it. 3

John

 

[KenM]

Another candidate......this time with a much shorter (quite thick?) tail and larger eyes in a smaller face?

Cheers

 

[Timbirder3]

If that's the tail in the photo it is missing the end: that's why it looks short.
One way to tell is to catch it: If it bites and you bleed profusely it's Yellow-necked, if you only bleed a bit or not at all it's a Wood Mouse. Of course if you've caught it you could just look at it's chest and you'd be able to tell!
Unhelpfully yours
Tim

 

[Farnboro John]

I agree the tail is snapped off, but in any case it looks proportionately thinner than the one in the original post.

Here's a thing. Original post pic 2: see how the golden colour wraps round the foreleg and sets off across the chest in a band - you can also see the chin is white and that will go down onto the throat. The wrap around effect is right up to the armpit.

Now look at the latest post, pic 2, and you can see a line of white going up the inside of the mouse's left foreleg and/or matching edge of chest. There can be no breast-band or wraparound golden upper leg so this is a Wood Mouse (supported by the big pop-eyes and thin tail). IMHO!

John

 

[KenM]

I agree the tail is snapped off, but in any case it looks proportionately thinner than the one in the original post.

Here's a thing. Original post pic 2: see how the golden colour wraps round the foreleg and sets off across the chest in a band - you can also see the chin is white and that will go down onto the throat. The wrap around effect is right up to the armpit.

Now look at the latest post, pic 2, and you can see a line of white going up the inside of the mouse's left foreleg and/or matching edge of chest. There can be no breast-band or wraparound golden upper leg so this is a Wood Mouse (supported by the big pop-eyes and thin tail). IMHO!

John

Thanks John, images 1-2 YNM and Wood mouse for 3-4....you certainly know your “meeses to pieces” :t:

 

[Farnboro John]

Thanks John, images 1-2 YNM and Wood mouse for 3-4....you certainly know your “meeses to pieces” :t:

I'd like to think so but I emphasise again that this is my opinion and there may be room for debate. If Mark Hows is passing, he handles a lot of small critters and would have something useful to say.

Cheers

John

 

[KenM]

I'd like to think so but I emphasise again that this is my opinion and there may be room for debate. If Mark Hows is passing, he handles a lot of small critters and would have something useful to say.

Cheers

John

Cheers John, will look forward to his contribution, if in passing. :t: