Field Mouse

Life Cycle

• Their lifespan averages two to three months, but they can survive as long as 20 months in the wild, or two years in captivity.
• Breeding seasons are October/November to March/April, and gestation lasts approximately 25 days. They grow their first fur after six days; their eyes open after 16, and they are weaned 18 days old.
• Survival of the young and adults is poor during the first half of the breeding season, as adult males can be aggressive towards one another and to the young, who are then driven from the nest.

Habits

• They eat a high proportion of the seed crop of trees, such as oak, beech, ash, lime, hawthorn and sycamore. Numbers can reach plague proportions in the grain belt areas.
• Small snails and insects are particularly important sources of food in late spring and early summer (when seeds are less readily available).
• They also eat apples and will attack newly planted legume seeds.