Maggie's Farm

I post this item due to overwhelming popular demand that we highlight some more of the low-on-the-food-chain critters. I will only discuss our most common animals in Yankeeland.

Why are mice and their ilk important? Because so many other critters depend  on them as their basic food source. They (except for Shrews, which are mainly  insectivorous) are the animals that convert the solar energy stored by plants into the more energy-efficient (and more tasty) meat that predators require.

So many animals depend on them as their daily Big Mac that they are very lucky if they survive a year in the wild (estimates differ), and probably average around 5 months (I think wild rats may survive longer, but I'm not sure). Animals who rely on them for food: snakes, hawks, owls, bobcat, coyotes, weasels, and fox, and many other animals eat them when they can, eg mink, herons, egrets, skunks, turtles. Not one of them meets a non-violent death.

Let's first dispense with the imports from Eurasia: Mus musculis (House Mouse) and Rattus norvegicus (Brown Rat). In the northeastern US, these critters thrive near humans and seem not to venture far into the wild. No true rattus species are native to the New World (correct me if I am in error). 

Here are some drawings of our common little animals.

Our most common native mouse is the attractive Deer Mouse (essentially the same animal as our White-Footed Mouse). These nocturnal woodland and woodland-edge dwellers are the critters who bring us Lyme Disease, and they will come into a house during the winter

Less common is the Jumping Mouse. I saw one do a nice 3' jump when I turned an old log over on the edge of a field. These guys are also nocturnal, and hibernate.

Voles and Lemmings (we call them "Meadow Mice") are one of the most common groups of critters in North America. They are said to tend to be nocturnal but I doubt that, and they prefer to tunnel shallowly in leaf litter, grasses, and snow. We often see their holes poking up through the snow. Our most locally-common example is the Meadow Vole. Other similar species in New England discussed here.

Shrews are mouse-like tunneling omnivores, but they are not rodents. I believe that we have both Northern and Southern Short-tailed Shrews, but I couldn't tell the difference when I see a tiny grey form streak by when I am mowing, doing garden chores, or otherwise disturbing something outdoors. Their high metabolic rate requires them to eat all the time. After two hours without food, they will eat eachother. Like politicians.

Photo: A White-footed Mouse (or maybe a Deer Mouse - essentially identical).