Evidence of Europe's smallest rodent is big news for RSPB Saltholme

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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Young explorers make 'amazing discovery'

Last modified: 06 March 2013 

Records show that the appearance of harvest mice in the north east is fairly scarce. 

Image: Ben Andrew

A group of young wildlife enthusiasts at the RSPB’s Saltholme nature reserve, have made a potentially important find for the region, which could prove the return of the harvest mouse. 

During a session on UK owls, a group of young explorers, unearthed some unusual small mammal remains in fresh owl pellets, underneath one of the reserve’s barn owl boxes. 

Poppy Hotham, a keen young explorer, said: “To see what the owls had been eating, we took the pellets back to the classroom and carefully pulled them apart. There was lots of fur, some small bones and some skulls” 

Fortunately the reserve’s resident small mammal expert, Don Griss, was on hand to cast his eye over the finds. 

Don said: “Most of the skulls were short tailed voles - the barn owls favorite meal - but one particular skull and a few jaw bones looked a bit more interesting, so I took them home to have a closer look under the microscope.” 

“The jaw bones belonged to water shrews but most excitingly, the skull was a harvest mouse - a significant find for us here at Saltholme and the county.” 

Harvest mice are the UK’s smallest rodent and are mainly found in southern regions of the UK. Records show their appearance in the North East is fairly scarce. Recently, a re-introduction program was established in a few places in the local area, including Cowpen Bewley Woodland Park and Teesmouth Brine Fields. 

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