THE smallest rodent in Europe, the harvest mouse, has been found living and nesting at RSPB Saltholme on Teesside.
Evidence of their presence in the area was discovered in March when a member of the reserve’s Wildlife Explorers group found a skull during an owl pellet activity.
However, their presence on the reserve was only confirmed with the discovery of a harvest mouse nest by assistant warden Ed Pritchard.
Dave Braithwaite, site manager at RSPB Saltholme, said: “When the skull was discovered we knew that the mice were in the area, but now we can say definitively that they are here on the reserve.”
The nest was discovered during routine scrub clearance, which is part of the habitat management work on the nature reserve.
Nests can vary from five to ten centimetres in diameter and are made of shredded leaves, woven to resemble a ball, with larger nests used for breeding and raising young.
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