Barnsley Biodiversity Action Plan. Post-15 BAP. Updated to 2023

 Biodiversity

 Action

 Plan

Harvest Mouse Conservation

The Harvest Mouse is very susceptible to food shortages and adverse weather conditions and as a result the populations naturally fluctuate from year to another. However Harvest Mouse numbers are believed to have declined overall due to changes in agriculture and land use over the second half of the twentieth century.


Loss and fragmentation of suitable habitat with the reduced availability of suitable nest sites and food sources are probably the main causes:


Causes of loss or decline in numbers

Harvest Mouse showing prehensile tail

Good Practice in Conservation Management

Harvest Mouse on seeds

Legal Protection

Harvest Mice have no legal protection under the Countryside and Wildlife Act 1981 but have the same protection as other mammals from deliberate cruelty under the Wild Mammals Protection Act.


Harvest Mouse is a Section 41 species of principal importance for conservation and as such need to be taken into consideration by any public body in managing their estate. NERC Act (2006)



Links

Mammal Society Harvest Mouse Fact Sheet

PTES Harvest Mouse



Associated Local Priority Habitats

Reedbed and Lowland fen

Floodplain Grazing Marsh and wet grassland

Banks and verges alongside Running and Standing Water

Field Margins

Wet woodland

Arable Crops



Harvest Mouse Conservation