Mice, Rats & Voles

Mice, rats and voles are superficially similar, but taxonomically diverse, small-to-medium-sized mammals that are abundant throughout Europe. They're all rodents (i.e., members of the Rodentia order of mammals) but are classified into different families: rats and mice belong to the Muridae, and voles to the Cricetidae, within which they form their own subfamily, the Arvicolinae. Dormice (Gliridae) are covered in this section too, as a related group of small rodents that are frequently mistaken for mice. Globally, about 41% of all known living mammal species are rodents, making it the most diverse order with some 2,100 species. Britain is home to 17 species of rodent, nine of which are generally considered native. Initially, Wildlife Online will look to cover nine species: the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius); the edible dormouse (Glis glis); the bank vole (Myodes glareolus); the water vole (Arvicola amphibius); the harvest mouse (Micromys minutus); the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus); the house mouse (Mus musculus); the black rat (Rattus rattus); and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).

Some of these species (particularly mice and rats) are considered pests for their penchant for feeding on seeds, crops, livestock feed, and sometimes entering houses, but they can also be important seed dispersers, helping woodland regeneration. They also form the base for many food webs.