Evening star., 1948-11-16
This and That
BIZ Charles Z. Trace,pell

Old field mouse Is one Of the best visitors to
your garden, but you will have to get up early
to see him.
He is q medium sized mouse, sporting 4
short tail and a long scientific name; to wit,
Microtus pennsylyantcus. often called meadow
mouse in despair.
He Is somewhat heavier than the ordinary
house mouse
His little ears are 80 sunk in heavy fur that
they are difficult to see, at first; his fur Is
long. and pleasantly colored gray or brownish
Total length, between and inches; the
tail, about 2 inches.
So If you see this bright form, somewhat
thick set, with head slightly larger than that
of the common mouse, do not run for q trap,
but rather for q pair Of binoculars.
Farmers call him field mouse because he
tries to eat up their crops all by himself.
In clay soils. he even takes on a reddish look
In the far North, his coat pales out to some
thing resembling white.
No climate is too much for him. swampy
or dry land makes no difference
In deep snow, he simply tunnels under to
stacks Of grain, whether wheat. rye, or what
have you.
Glover and timothy strike him As great
delicacies.
No wonder farmers hate him. but to the rest
Of us he is a supremely interesting animal
not just something to call Danny Meadow
Mouse for children's stories.
He Is said to keep away from barns and
outbuildings, and also homes but that Is not
always true Of suburban field mice.
That lifeless little body caught in the cruel
trap in the attic is likely to be a meadow
mouse, or his wife, or maybe child.
He stores away food for the winter. The
nest is made in summer Of grass, lined with
the softest materials available, with door at
the bottom, and several plainly marked paths
leading away from 1t. One Of these often goes
directly into an underground tunnel, which
opens again yards away.
Meadow mouse is sometimes called field vole.
Because the name of Pennsylvania is carried
in scientific name does not mean the creature
is confined to that State alone.
Far from it, he enjoys life everywhere,
thriving Justify the more and better crops his
human contemporaries manage to raise.
Our common house mouse, is slightly more
than 6 inches long, but with q longer tail, .
bit more than 3 inches long.
There Is likely to be more yellow in its coat,
and the nose is more pointed, the ears fairly
large.
careful look must be taken, however, for
the average householder to distinguish this
one from the field mouse which, despite the
opinion of some, can and does come indoors
III fall and winter, especially in suburban
places
In fact, one investigator found that the
house mouse can live outdoors and in Texas,
at least (where anything is likely to happen)
common mice live in the outdoors and make
their nests in fields and hedges. aE
The house mouse, whether indoors or out,
is prolific; 1t breeds at three months OF age,
and has ltters Of to 10 mice at intervals
of or 10 weeks the year around. Field mice,
four to six litters)
But we must expect that from members Of
SsaSan $Ia> l~~~
OF all families among the mammals.
In North America, they comprise about one
fourth of all the four-footed animals.
Rats and mice are regarded by the experts
as the greatest Of all travellers.
They have always used mans ships to 60
from place to place, and today they even
utilize his airplanes.
Probably one or more mice will be on the
first rocket ship to the moon
Native American rats and mice are much
cleaner than the Old World wanderers, such
as the brown and black rata.