About Apodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771)
The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771)) has grayish brown upperparts with a rusty tint and a prominent black mid-dorsal stripe. Its underparts are paler and grayish, and it has relatively small ears and eyes. Adults can reach a body length of 126 mm, have a tail up to 90 mm long, and weigh up to 50 g. This species has an extensive but disjunct distribution split into two separate ranges. The first range extends from central and eastern Europe north to Russia's Lake Baikal, and south to China. The second range covers parts of the Russian Far East, stretching from Mongolia to Japan. Its expansion across Eastern Europe is a relatively recent event, and the species is believed to have arrived in Austria during the 1990s. It occupies a wide variety of habitats, including woodland edges, grasslands, marshes, pastures, gardens, and urban areas. In winter, it can often be found in haystacks, storehouses, and human dwellings. The striped field mouse digs short burrows that have a nesting chamber at a shallow depth. It is nocturnal in summer, but active mostly during the day in winter. It has a varied diet that includes green plant parts, roots, seeds, berries, nuts, and insects. This mouse produces three to five broods per year, with an average of six young per litter, so populations can grow rapidly during favorable conditions. Limiting factors for populations include frequent torrential rain in the warm season, early soil freezing, and predation.
