Great to carry out the first Harvest Mouse survey on North Meadow last week. The survey was led by Gareth Harris Wiltshire County Recorder for mammals. Our volunteer surveyors included Court Leet members, Natural England volunteers and a volunteer from the Wiltshire Mammal Group. October is the start of the survey season as the nests are unlikely to be occupied.
Harvest mice (Micromys minutus) are on the Red List for Britain’s Mammals, the harvest mouse is classified as Near Threatened in Britain. Our survey was prompted in part by harvest mice found during during reserve management work.
This picture was taken while moving 6 harvest mice out of the path of a tractor mowing the meadow last year. Handling harvest mice is normally avoided unless it is necessary to remove them from harm.
We found 18 nests including some fresh still-green nests. Occupied nests were found last month during reserve management work too, so mice are still very active on the site. Harvest mice are clearly doing well on North Meadow.
The Mammal Society launched the National Harvest Mouse Survey across Britain as we do not have good estimates of how many harvest mice there are in the wild, so we really have no idea how bad their situation is or what sort of conservation actions should be put in place.
We are planning to carry out an annual Harvest Mouse Survey on North Meadow to inform conservation on the site.