"Wee, slickit, tim'rous, cowerin' beastie."

By Al Lowe
Nature, Science and You

“Wee, slickit, tim’rous, cowerin’ beastie,
Oh what a panic’s in thy breastie....”
When Burns wrote that poem, ‘To A Mouse,” it is very likely that he was talking about, or to, a close relative of our common Meadow Mouse.
The proper name of this little animal is the Meadow Vole, in scientific terms, Microtus pennsylvanicus. But we all call it the Field Mouse or Meadow Mouse. It is probably the most widespread mammal in North America, found from sea to sea from the Arctic to Mexico.
Surely, everyone has seen the Meadow Mouse. Short legs, short tail, dark fur, ears hidden in the long hair, a stocky, stubby looking fellow, he can be found in any field almost anywhere.
Most people believe that rabbits reproduce rapidly, but compared to the Meadow Vole, rabbits just aren’t in it. The female will produce her first litter in about a month and a half, when she herself is about half grown. As soon as her young are born, she is ready to breed again, and so it goes. Scientists estimate that the production from a single pair of voles under ideal conditions, could total more than a million in a year. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen.
Meadow Mice are eaten by just about anything that eats meat. They are preyed upon by all kinds of snakes, by pickerel, pike and trout while they are swimming (which they do very well, by the way), by wolves, coyotes, weasels, skunks, foxes, cats, mink, bobcats, dogs and bears. And also by hawks, owls, jays, crows, shrikes and herons. In fact, they form the staple diet of many of these predators.
They do a great deal of agricultural harm. Fond of grains, they are present in any stand of wheat, oats, or barley. They can do immense damage to stored grain. They will consume great amounts of hay in the field. In young orchards they will girdle the trees under the snow, and can do the same thing to stands of young pine and spruce, and even lawn trees.
Walk into a field in the summer and part some of the grass. You will find a network of paths, all very neatly maintained. These lead to nests, food storage, safe burrows and to good hiding places under rocks. The paths still serve in the winter time, under the snow. That still, silent pasture field has a lot of things going on in it which you can’t see.
Wildlife in North America couldn’t manage without the Meadow Vole. It is the prime food resource for most of our fur bearers and predators. If these mice disappeared, the whole character of the wildlife population would be affected. I suppose the Vole doesn’t plan to be the basis of dinner for everyone else, but then,
“The best laid plans o’ mice and men
Gang aft agley.”