Wood Mouse (garden photos).

Testudo Man

Testudo Man

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Paul
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Ive been following both the Wood Mice(and Bank Voles) that frequent my back garden, for over 2 years now. So I'm able to get quite close to them, in order to capture some nice shots.

They appeared as a result of me feeding the birds, so these days I place bird food in various parts of the garden/rockery, in order to encourage them out to feed. They also "cash in" on any food substances that fall from the bird feeder/table and shed roof too!

Some photos, cheers.


Wood Mouse in the rockery (garden photo). 29th-December-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr


Wood Mouse feeding (garden photo). 15th-December-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr


Wood Mouse (garden photo). 15th-December-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
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Solo man said:
Nice shots, I like 1 and 3.
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Thanks, most people prefer photos without the food source in view, which I can understand.

Trev4 said:
Hi and welcome to TP. I too like 1 and 3, your patience has paid off (y)
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Thanks for the welcome, both the 1st and 2nd images have been cropped some, but my 3rd photo is not cropped.
 
Sonyguy said:
An unusual subject, nicely captured. Like 3 best!
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Thanks, 3 was a bit of a surprise, whilst I was waiting to capture some shots of a mouse on the feeding rock, this mouse appeared at my left, and made its way towards the food source, stopping right in front of me, which gave me time to shoot a couple of photos.

A couple more photos(from back in November).




Peekaboo, young Wood Mouse(garden photo). 21st-November-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr


Young Wood Mouse(garden photo). 21st-November-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
What a cute subject to be able to photograph. I love them all, especially the first one.
After trying to tog bank voles last summer I know how hard they are to capture. Quick little critters aren't they.
Welcome to the mad house and keep the photos coming :)
 
H.J.H said:
What a cute subject to be able to photograph. I love them all, especially the first one.
After trying to tog bank voles last summer I know how hard they are to capture. Quick little critters aren't they.
Welcome to the mad house and keep the photos coming :)
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Thanks, your right, they really are quite quick.
I find the wood mouse more forgiving, they will spend some time out in the open. As for the Bank Voles, they are that bit more shy/wary. They tend to "smash an grab" at the food, they come out fast, then take off rapid, rarely feeding for too long.
I do have some close up shots of the bank voles, perhaps that would be for another thread.
 
Nice pictures (y) tho I'd shy away from ones with the laid out food in them. The others look so much more natural(y)
 
I would love to see the bank voles. I'll keep an eye out for the new thread(y)
 
Oh my goodness how cute are these pictures?!?!?!
Do you set up the camera and shoot on remote?
 
Love the first 3. would be interested in knowing how you captured these as i imagine they are shy little things
 
BRASH said:
Nice pictures (y) tho I'd shy away from ones with the laid out food in them. The others look so much more natural(y)
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Natural shots are always a preference, but without the lure of food, there would be little chance to capture any shots at all (y)

H.J.H said:
I would love to see the bank voles. I'll keep an eye out for the new thread(y)
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I may as well put the bank voles on this thread then.

Tango32 said:
I think..... these are all great not a subject you see very often

well I see lots of dead ones (dam cats)
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Cheers, Ive seen several dead ones in the garden too.

viv1969 said:
Oh my goodness how cute are these pictures?!?!?!
Do you set up the camera and shoot on remote?
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Thank you, no remote, the first 3 photos are handheld, the last 2 photos I used a tripod.

Typerchris said:
Love the first 3. would be interested in knowing how you captured these as i imagine they are shy little things
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Cheers, as i said earlier, Ive watched these for a couple of years now, so like any wildlife, once you learn their habits, you can get close to them.

They are fast, so to get within 3 feet/90cms shooting distance I watch from inside the house, camera at the ready. I know when they come out for the food, that they will grab some, and then take it to their stash, so I quickly get into a good shooting position(most times i just crouch down, camera on and focused) then within a few minutes, the mouse or vole returns for more food. Im already set up, so I just shoot away...Ive made this sound easy, but its not quite as easy as that, any movement/sound from me(or the camera) and they take off, so you have to have patience, and be able to stay still for long periods of time...cheers.
 
A couple of shots of the bank voles.

In this photo, the bank vole is feeding from the ground, where the bird seed has fallen off the rock above.
This photo is not cropped.


Bank Vole (garden photo). 15th-December-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Another photo that is not cropped, and yes(if your a purist) the food on the feeding rock, may not be to your taste(y)


Bank Vole (garden photo). 15th-December-2012 by Testudo Man, on Flickr

Another shot of a wood mouse, the sun was out this morning, so good light was available...I placed crushed peanuts on top of the rock, hence why the mouse is showing interest.


Wood Mouse (garden photo). 8th-January-2013 by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
The voles are gorgeous too. I'm envious!
 
Great set. Well done.
 
I love the first 3 shots of the wood mouse. Especially shot 2 with the whiskers so crisp :)

It's actually nice to see these beauties alive as our Mowgli (hunter cat!) often gets to them before we even know they're around.

The last shot of the wood mouse creeping up the rock is superb! I'm so jealous!
 
Dave P said:
Nice shots and welcome to the forum.
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Thanks for the welcome.

H.J.H said:
Love the bank voles. Thanks for posting them.
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Cheers, no problems.

den said:
Gorgeous subjects ....something different(y)
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Thank you.

viv1969 said:
The voles are gorgeous too. I'm envious!
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Cheers, the voles are certainly entertaining.

neilyb said:
All look good.
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Thanks.

pepi1967 said:
Great set. Well done.
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Thanks for that.

helzwash said:
I love the first 3 shots of the wood mouse. Especially shot 2 with the whiskers so crisp :)

It's actually nice to see these beauties alive as our Mowgli (hunter cat!) often gets to them before we even know they're around.

The last shot of the wood mouse creeping up the rock is superb! I'm so jealous!
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Thanks for your comment.

Our neighbour has cats, so Im always shooing them away!

Because the wood mouse constantly twitches/sniffs etc. then it can prove difficult to actually capture any shots, where I can get a good focus on its whiskers. When it eats, then the whiskers are on the go all the time, so I do delete a fair few shots.

Since we have had snow recently, Ive tried to capture a few shots of these critters out in the white stuff, but with poor light, and them being reluctant to show, it proved difficult. I did get a couple of photos yesterday though.


Wood Mouse in the snow (garden photo). 19th-January-2013 by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
Wonderful photos-all of them. Sounds like you're doing a good job for the wildlife, all round.(with the feeders).

The two cats next door don't bother with birds anymore, they sit on the fence looking out for the likes of these little fellas.They're responsible for a massive number of bird kills too, I've had to fence off our feeders with fine chicken wire mesh..it works though.
 
JohnC6 said:
Wonderful photos-all of them. Sounds like you're doing a good job for the wildlife, all round.(with the feeders).

The two cats next door don't bother with birds anymore, they sit on the fence looking out for the likes of these little fellas.They're responsible for a massive number of bird kills too, I've had to fence off our feeders with fine chicken wire mesh..it works though.
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Cheers...Well, we have to look after our garden wildlife, so I'm always putting out food for the birds/mice. Unfortunately, as a consequence of all this food in the garden, I also have a rather large Rat that has been around for a few months now! Saying that, Ive shot some good photos of the rat, and captured some great images of said rat in the snow today.

Nature can be cruel, so for the most part, cats seem to kill mice/voles for "play", I don't think cats kill to eat?! Ive found several complete mice/vole "bodies" lying around, which is not pleasant, but its what cats do.

For the record, Ive never kept cats or dogs.

On a brighter note, another shot of that wood mouse foraging for food, which was under the snow. The mouse was keeping a close eye on me, because I was crouched down in front of it, within approx 3 feet/90cms.



Wood Mouse searching for food (garden photo). 19th-January-2013 by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
Yes, Paul. As you say,they (cats) just do it for their entertainment.

A local cat caught an unwary pigeon in our garden a couple of days ago.. It had been trying to stab one of our pond fish-an orfe- that lies against the side between a periphery plant pot half-submerged and the edging so I placed plant pots there.The fish is disabled (crooked spine but has been with us for 12 years from a tiddler) and stays there a lot. However,I unwittingly gave the cat cover. The law of unintended consequences for which I've beaten myself up these past few days. It crept up on the pigeon that was eating the seed which the visiting mallards left at a particular spot, the pond edge slope from the patio so they can get into the water fast if the cat calls round.

The cat carried the pigeon over the fence into next door's garden...I followed the trail of feathers and thought the worst. It had taken 90% of its feathers off and was sitting there on the neighbour's patio cleaning itself. The bird was still alive next to it. I coaxed the cat back over our fence with some meat and shut it in the conservatory. I went to the neighbour behind (it's not their cat) when I saw the lady was home about an hour later and she was tearful having seen the pigeon from her kitchen window. I collected the poor pigeon which was unable to fly of course and took it to the vet to have it put out of its misery humanely. I've removed the pots and used a flat tin plate to protect the fish. It almost takes the pleasure away of having the wildlife visit but as you say, cats are cats so I just think of the best way to make their stalking life as difficult as possible.

Rats.They reckon we're never more than a couple of metres away from one.One for each person in the country-61 million. We have a brook opposite and I've seen one in our garden under the bird feeders too...We also have squirrels visiting for the nuts. I just let them all get on with it. I don't worry about ratty-only ever seen one. I think rat poison is a pretty awful way to to deal with them but it seems the only way,they do carry some pretty awful diseases and viruses.
 
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No 4 & 6 for me !!

Love the peeking mouse and the voles detail of the fur



Great pictures
 
JohnC6 said:
Yes, Paul. As you say,they (cats) just do it for their entertainment.

A local cat caught an unwary pigeon in our garden a couple of days ago.. It had been trying to stab one of our pond fish-an orfe- that lies against the side between a periphery plant pot half-submerged and the edging so I placed plant pots there.The fish is disabled (crooked spine but has been with us for 12 years from a tiddler) and stays there a lot. However,I unwittingly gave the cat cover. The law of unintended consequences for which I've beaten myself up these past few days. It crept up on the pigeon that was eating the seed which the visiting mallards left at a particular spot, the pond edge slope from the patio so they can get into the water fast if the cat calls round.

The cat carried the pigeon over the fence into next door's garden...I followed the trail of feathers and thought the worst. It had taken 90% of its feathers off and was sitting there on the neighbour's patio cleaning itself. The bird was still alive next to it. I coaxed the cat back over our fence with some meat and shut it in the conservatory. I went to the neighbour behind (it's not their cat) when I saw the lady was home about an hour later and she was tearful having seen the pigeon from her kitchen window. I collected the poor pigeon which was unable to fly of course and took it to the vet to have it put out of its misery humanely. I've removed the pots and used a flat tin plate to protect the fish. It almost takes the pleasure away of having the wildlife visit but as you say, cats are cats so I just think of the best way to make their stalking life as difficult as possible.

Rats.They reckon we're never more than a couple of metres away from one.One for each person in the country-61 million. We have a brook opposite and I've seen one in our garden under the bird feeders too...We also have squirrels visiting for the nuts. I just let them all get on with it. I don't worry about ratty-only ever seen one. I think rat poison is a pretty awful way to to deal with them but it seems the only way,they do carry some pretty awful diseases and viruses.
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I think weve all beat ourselves up, over some of the things we may have done concerning wildlife...

Back in the Autumn, I had to mow the lawn, so I got the lawn mower out of the shed(another shed, not the one where the mice/voles are normally seen) but what I didnt know, was that one of the wood mice had gone right up into the lawn mower! You can guess what happened when I started to mow the lawn...it wasnt a good outcome. I beat myself up over that incident for awhile, I just didnt see the poor little fellow until it was too late.

schrismonkey said:
No 4 & 6 for me !!

Love the peeking mouse and the voles detail of the fur



Great pictures
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Cheers for that, I have a few more photos.

These were shot from a low position(lying on the ground) and i used my Tamron lens, which is pretty good, when used in the macro setting.


Wood Mouse, low shot (garden photo). 24th-January-2013 by Testudo Man, on Flickr

I would think, with the lens set at 300mm, and being within 2 feet/60cms, I would struggle to get any closer than this last shot.

Both photos are not cropped, just re-sized down.


Wood Mouse up real close (garden photo). 24th-January-2013 by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
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