Yellow-necked mouse - Apodemus flavicollis - Family: Muridae

• Back to search results

Yellow-necked mouse - Apodemus flavicollis
© Andy Sands (Avico Ltd)

Similar to but larger than the wood mouse, the yellow-necked mouse has reddish-brown fur and a continuous yellow band around neck. It is a better jumper than the wood mouse and a very lively animal altogether. It builds nests of woven grass among plants.

This is a not uncommon animal in a garden but, like the wood mouse, not often seen other than as a victim of domestic cats unless it chooses to come into a house of its own accord, as it may do in winter. It is fond of apples and hazelnuts, beechmast and acorns but also eats a variety of small invertebrates.

Food

Takes a wide range of food including seeds, buds, snails, earthworms and insects.

Plants

Apple, Crab apple, Dog rose, Field rose, Grape vine, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Pedunculate oak, Sessile oak, Wild cherry

Prey

Beetles, Buff-tailed bumble bee, Bugs, Common carder bumble bee, Common earthworm, Honey bee, Moths, Red-tailed bumble bee, Sawflies, Slugs and snails, Spiders and harvestmen, White-tailed bumble bee

Predators

Badger, Buzzard, Carrion crow, Fox, Grass snake, Jackdaw, Kestrel, Little owl, Magpie, Stoat, Tawny owl, Weasel