Title: Shrew or Mole? Mouse or Vole? | The Outside Story
Headings: Shrew or Mole? Mouse or Vole?
Shrew or Mole? Mouse or Vole?
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Content: White-footed mice are reddish brown, with a dark patch running along the back. Deer mice have brownish-gray fur and are nearly 7 to 8 1/2 inches long, including the 3- to 4-inch-long tail. Mice eat as much as a third of their weight in food each day, including lots of seeds, grains, nuts, and fruits. A third or more of their diet consists of animal foods such as small insects, grubs, and worms. They cache sizeable stores of food as autumn days grow short. When a wintering “mouse” appears in one of the live traps I set in our porous, Civil-War-era house, I look closely. Shrew? ( Sharp nose, short legs and tail.) Mole? ( Big shoulders, claws, and a longer tail.)