Best time to see: all year

Key facts

A woodland mouse with a distinctive yellowish chest band

Habitat: more confined to woods than the wood mouse

Widespread in southern England and in central and eastern Europe

Recognition

Yellowish brown above and white below, with yellowish chest band; large ears; 8–13 cm

Mainly nocturnal; enters houses and outbuildings in autumn and winter

Feeds on seeds, berries and fruit, also all kinds of invertebrates; lays up stores of nuts for winter

Lifecycle

Nest of grasses and leaves under a stump or in a cavity; sometimes in bird boxes

Up to 3 litters, averaging 5 young

Young from first litter themselves can reproduce in their first year