European pine vole

Description

The species resembles the field mouse, but is much smaller and has relatively smaller eyes. Snout-vent length is 77-105 mm, tail length 24-40 mm, hind foot length 13.0-16.1 mm and ear length 7-10 mm. The animals weigh 13-23 g. The fur is softer and denser than that of the field mouse and brownish grey on top, the underpart is whitish.

Habitat

In Central Europe, the European pine vole prefers slopes and loose soils with a lot of humus and requires ground vegetation that provides cover; otherwise, however, the species is very adaptable with regard to its habitat requirements. It inhabits forests of all kinds, dry or moist meadows from sea level to above the tree line as well as vegetable gardens and vineyards. Its occurrence in many areas is probably limited less by the habitat features per se than by the presence of other vole species with a similar, partly subterranean way of life.

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurzohrmaus). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 20 August 2021