Recolonization of the buildings on a farm by house mice

Abstract

House mice, Mus musculus (Linnaeus, 1758), living in and close to the buildings on a farm were trapped-out. The cleared areas and six hedgerows were monitored for mice, using the mark-recapture trapping technique, over the next two years. The buildings were rapidly recolonized but population growth was limited by deficiencies in resources and by frequent habitat disturbance, the result of farming activities. The populations were highly unstable. Recruitment was near continuous but losses were high, over 50% of the marked animals disappearing in 6 weeks. Young male mice survived least well. There was no indication of disease or starvation and little evidence of predation. The movements data suggested that dispersal from the birthplace was the major cause of population loss. Fewer house mice appear to exist on arable land in Britain (U.K.) than when corn ricks were built but numbers in farmyard areas are still sufficient to make the infestation of buildings commonplace.