Little mouse
Apodemus uralensis
Anna Golubeva · North-Eastern Administrative District
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Seeds, fruit, a few insects
- Status in Georgia
- Native
- Size
- Body 7–10.5 cm, 13–28 g
- Habitat
- Forest edges, streamside scrub, to 1,400 m and above
- Family
- Muridae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The little mouse (Apodemus uralensis) is one of the smallest wood mice: it weighs 13–28 g. It lives on forest edges and in open ground next to woodland, and in the Caucasus often along forest streams, in dense scrub. Its range runs from central Europe through Russia, the Caucasus and Turkey to western China. It is active at night and climbs and jumps well. It damages tree plantations and fruit nurseries and carries diseases, so do not pick one up.
Identification
Little mouse: how to identify it
A small mouse with a dark brown back and a whitish-grey belly. The tail is about as long as the body and two-toned. The head and eyes are relatively large. Some animals have a small, narrow yellow spot on the throat.
The body is 7–10.5 cm long, the tail 6.5–11 cm, and it weighs 13–28 g. The tail is 85–112% of the body length, equal to it on average. Females have three pairs of teats.
The back is dark brown and the belly whitish grey. About one animal in five has a small, narrow yellow spot on the throat. The steppe mouse has a paler, yellowish-brown back and a sharply set-off white belly. Wood mice look very alike, so take a photo to identify one and leave the animal alone.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
It favours forest edges and open ground next to woodland. In Turkey and the Caucasus it often lives along forest streams, in dense scrub. It lives in broadleaf forests of beech, alder, willow, walnut, maple and oak, and in spruce-fir and mixed forests. It also lives on steppe and alpine ground, stony screes and farmland. It occurs from sea level to at least 1,400 m.
It eats mostly the seeds of plants and grasses, then fruit, and a small share of insects. Depending on the season, plant or animal food takes the lead. It forages both in trees and on the ground.
It is active at night. It climbs and jumps well and lives both in trees and underground. It builds its nest in a tree, a burrow or a natural shelter in the ground. It can also dig its own burrow. A litter has 3–7 young, five on average. Owls, foxes, martens, stoats and weasels hunt it, and sometimes snakes and house cats too.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes. Its range runs from Europe through Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus, Georgia included, to western China. In the Caucasus it often lives along forest streams, in dense scrub. It also favours forest edges and open ground next to woodland.
The little mouse is one of the smallest, up to 28 g, with a dark brown back and a whitish-grey belly. Some have a small yellow spot on the throat. The steppe mouse has a paler, yellowish back and a pure white belly, and the broad-toothed mouse is much bigger and grey. A sure identification often needs measurements, so take a photo and keep your hands off.
It does not attack, but it carries diseases. It carries the agents of tick-borne encephalitis, brucellosis, tularaemia and anthrax. A rodent can pass on disease through bites, scratches, urine, droppings or fleas. So do not touch a live or dead mouse with bare hands.
No, it is not threatened. Globally it is rated Least Concern (LC, 2016), and in Georgia the 2021 national assessment also rates it Least Concern (LC), with a stable population. In fruit nurseries and forest plantations it is, on the contrary, regarded as a pest.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
