Winter flooding and migrating moving in a Harvest mouse population, Micromys minutus (Pallas, 1771)

The Harvest mouse (Micromys minutus), which is the smallest rodent in Europe, lives mostly in wetlands with occasional floodings. The impacts of such natural perturbations on small mammal communities and particularly on Harvest mouse are unknown. The aim of this study is to enhance the recolonisation of its habitat in the Reserve naturelle nationale du Marais de Lavours, from a refuge area which was out of flooding in December 2011-January 2012. Harvest mice migrate quickly, in four days for the most rapid ones, with a 160 meters distance. Males seem more numerous and more mobile than females who are often already pregnant at the beginning of the migration. Harvest mice seem little sensible to the flooding in their habitat because they are able to move high in the vegetation. Movements observed confirm that this species is well adapted to wetlands but they also put question about its home range size and homing behaviour.