What does a field mouse eat in winter? - briefly
During winter, field mice subsist on cached seeds, nuts, grains, and any accessible insects or plant fragments hidden in leaf litter or burrows. They may also gnaw bark or roots when preferred foods are depleted.
What does a field mouse eat in winter? - in detail
Field mice survive the cold season by relying on stored reserves and limited foraging opportunities. Throughout autumn they collect and cache a variety of edible items, which become the primary source of nutrition when fresh vegetation is scarce.
Typical winter provisions include:
- Seeds and grains: wheat, barley, oat, and rye kernels gathered from nearby fields.
- Nuts and kernels: hazelnuts, acorns, and pine seeds that can be broken open with strong incisors.
- Bark and cambium: thin strips of tree bark, especially from birch and alder, provide carbohydrates and moisture.
- Bud and shoot material: dormant buds, young shoots, and twigs from low shrubs.
- Root and tuber fragments: exposed portions of carrots, turnips, and wild tubers that remain accessible under snow.
- Fungi: mycelial mats and winter mushrooms found near the ground surface.
- Invertebrates: occasional insects, larvae, and dead arthropods encountered in leaf litter or under bark.
When caches are depleted, mice may gnaw through snow to reach underlying vegetation or infiltrate human structures to exploit stored grain, pet food, or discarded waste. Their high metabolic rate and ability to enter short periods of torpor reduce energy demands, allowing these limited food sources to sustain them until spring.