DSC_1721 House mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) adult feeding on dead Southern grass skink. During a 'masting' year mouse litter sizes may reach as high as twenty young per nest, and mouse populations may experience a ten-fold increase in density in beech forests, tussock grasslands and other areas. An increased abundance of rodents at such times brings increased predation on native lizards and invertebrates, and also drives up numbers of other introduced predators such as stoats and weasels, which feed on mice. Otago Peninsula *
11002-16215 House mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) invading rock wren nest. Tutoko High Bench, Fiordland *
DSC_8537 House mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) lateral view of skull prepared by George Holley. Mice are often overlooked as predators, but mouse numbers increase in many areas in summer when pasture grasses seed, providing an abundance of food. Mice are significant predators of insects, especially beetles and caterpillars, as well as small reptiles, and the eggs and young of small birds. Wellington *
