Mice making stashes of prairie seed

Mice are a permanent part of any rural setting, and can often do wondrous things. This fall we have had a couple of surprises which show something about their abilities. Who knew what these tiny creatures could do?

The first photo shows a stash of Gaura seeds which mice made inside a long mailing tube. This tube got left inadvertently on the ground. The Gaura seeds were drying on the barn floor about 30 feet away. The mice were very selective, as at least a dozen different species were drying there, and the mice picked only Gaura. These seeds had been stuffed somewhere up into the tube, and when it was picked up they came pouring out. What a lot of mouse work!



The second photo is even more strange. A work glove got left on the table in our cabin/shack. Somewhere nearby the mice found a small supply of tick trefoil seeds. They not only moved these seeds into the glove, but they shelled them. A few unshelled seeds can be seen lying about, but most of the seeds are hull-free. Even a hammer mill won't get seeds this clean!