Harvest Mouse
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Harvest Mouse
Mammal
The smallest rodent in Europe, famous for living in the tall stalks of cereal crops.
💡 Fun Facts
- It is the only British mammal with a prehensile (grasping) tail, which it uses like a fifth limb to climb grass stems.
- They are tiny—weighing about the same as a 20p coin!
- They weave beautiful, tennis-ball-sized nests out of living grass high above the ground.
Name Story
Micromys minutus
means “the tiny little small-mouse”
What does its name mean?
- Micromys — small mouseGreek (mikros, 'small' + mys, 'mouse')
- minutus — tiny, minuteLatin
Its name says "small" twice — and with good reason, for this is Britain's tiniest rodent, light as a two-pence coin. It climbs tall grass stalks using its grippy tail and weaves a round nest, like a little tennis ball, up among the stems.