Page 17 - World of Animals - Issue #39

Mama mice
Motherhood for harvest mice is short but sweet
Harvest mice tend to breed between May and October, them frequent visits to let them suckle and to keep
giving birth to up to eight young in each litter, following the nest clean by eating her offspring’s excrement.

a pregnancy that lasts between 17 and 19 days. She’ll begin to reduce the amount of milk by the
The babies weigh up to a gram (0.035 ounces) and tenth day and she’ll supplement their diet with
they are born in quick succession, with the mother regurgitated seeds.

using the nest she has built by herself to provide A er two weeks, the mother stops suckling
warmth, comfort and safety for her young during their and her mammary glands become inactive. The
formative days. babies grow ready to make their own way into the
At this stage the baby mice are blind, naked and in world and, a er a few practice runs, fly away from

need of nurturing, so the mama mouse will nourish the crowded nest. The mother will have likely fallen
them with her milk and keep them warm. She pays pregnant again and will begin to build again.
BELOW If the mama
mouse is wary of
predators she may carry
her young in her mouth to
a new nest

“The babies weigh up to a

gram and they are born in
quick succession”

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