On the Doorstep, Rodents in Homesteads and Kitchen Gardens.

Abstract

Simple SummarySeven species were recorded during a pilot study of small mammals in commensal habitats (homesteads and kitchen gardens) in Lithuania. Homestead gardens and outbuildings without food availability were dominated by yellow-necked mice, while buildings where food was available were dominated by bank voles. The body condition of rodents in these commensal habitats, being highest in the homestead gardens, was worse than that in rodents found in other agricultural habitats. Breeding failures in the form of disrupted pregnancies were recorded in all of the most numerous species of rodents.Scarcely investigated in terms of small mammals, kitchen gardens and homesteads form a subset of environments. Using results of snap trapping, we present the first data on small mammal species diversity, gender and age structure, relative abundance, body fitness, and reproduction parameters in these commensal habitats (kitchen gardens, homestead gardens, houses, and outbuildings). We expected that (i) house mice should be the dominant species in buildings, while striped field mice should be dominant in gardens, (ii) body condition should be the highest in buildings, (iii) body condition should increase in the autumn, irrespective of the habitat, and (iv) breeding failures in the form of disrupted pregnancies should be observed. Not all of the predictions were confirmed. From the seven recorded species, gardens and outbuildings were dominated by yellow-necked mice, while bank voles dominated in buildings where food was available. The number of recorded species and diversity index increased during the autumn months. The body condition was highest in rodents that were trapped in gardens. It decreased towards winter, with the exception of the striped field mouse. Breeding disturbances were recorded in all of the most numerous species, comprising 16.7–100% of all observed pregnancies.