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Wood Mouse or House Mouse (1 Viewer)

Jonny721

Well-known member
Photographed in London on Monday. Originally leaning towards House but now thinking probably more likely to be Wood?

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I've always assumed that the mice I see in my garden are Wood Mice; They have the contrasting tones, large ears and long tails. But they are definitely smaller than House Mice, yet some references put them as being larger, so I'm wondering if they could be something else. They are all a pleasant light even brown above, with no rufous hairs.
 
I've always assumed that the mice I see in my garden are Wood Mice; They have the contrasting tones, large ears and long tails. But they are definitely smaller than House Mice, yet some references put them as being larger, so I'm wondering if they could be something else. They are all a pleasant light even brown above, with no rufous hairs.
House Mouse is larger than Wood Mouse. Overall length may be the other way as I would guess a Woodie has a proportionately longer tail than a House Mouse.

John
 
I've always assumed that the mice I see in my garden are Wood Mice; They have the contrasting tones, large ears and long tails. But they are definitely smaller than House Mice, yet some references put them as being larger, so I'm wondering if they could be something else. They are all a pleasant light even brown above, with no rufous hairs.
Some guides (including many bird books I've come across) have the unfortunate habit of measuring total length (snout/bill to tail tip) of an animal and using it as the sole reference point to claim the total size of the animal, with no consideration given to the far more important parameter of weight. This is of course a sloppy, if not outright idiotic approach. (Sorry, just had to get that one off my chest. One of my major gripes with guide books in general).

FWIW, the guide book I'm using has very similar measurements (in all categories, including weight) for Wood Mouse and Western House Mouse, however you also have to take into account regional variation - apparently Wood Mice are smaller in the northern part of their range - age, and individual variation. Incidentally, the mouse in the OP's pictures looks like it's not yet fully grown, as the head seems proportionally big and the fur is rather grey, compared to an adult Wood Mouse.
 
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Cheers guys! From memory I have never knowingly seen a House Mouse, like a lot of rodent species they just aren't something I regularly bump into.
 
A house mouse will have a naked tail, where a field mouse will have a tail covered with hair and is usually bi-colored (dark on the dorsal side and light on the ventral side).

ClearCreek
 
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