A few weeks ago, a field mouse (also known as a wood mouse or meadow vole) was spotted in the garden (h/t Ash who took the picture below). It was only a few feet away from the bird feeder (Photo 1 and Photo 2) so there was plenty of food going spare thanks to our messy feathered friends.
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| Photo 1: Field Mouse in the Garden |
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| Photo 2: Close-up of Field Mouse |
A month later, I came across a young & dead field mouse about 6 feet away from the original sighting.
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| Photo 3: One Deceased Field Mouse |
Later the same day, Mary was doing a little bit of weeding and spotted two more carcasses ...
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| Photo 4: Second Deceased Mouse |
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| Photo 5: Third Deceased Mouse |
... in the same vicinity.
The most likely predator is one of the local cats because the alternatives (birds of prey, owls, etc) are extremely rare in our garden and would have, in any case, eaten their prey.
The litter size for breeding field mice is between 4 and 7. Although some of the young from this litter may have survived the attack, there is a good chance none of them did; we may just not have found the bodies yet.
All three mice have been given a decent burial. RIP
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