Smoky Mouse

Apperance
The Smoky Mouse is a blue-grey to black native mouse, the size of a small rat with a grey - white belly. It has a ring of dark hairs around each of its large, bulging eyes, pink feet with white fur and a tail that is darker above and lighter below. It has long soft smoky grey fur above with greyish white hair below. The ears are dustincly purple. 

Weight


Length
The smoky mouse has a body length of 90 millimetres and a tail of 140 millimetres.

Habitat
The smoky mouse lives in coastal heaths, adjacent lowlands, and heathy woodlands. The Smoky Mouse has been found in a wide range of vegetation types mostly with a diversity of heath-like shrubs.

Eating and Diet Habits
 The Smoky Mouse apparently relies on three very nitrogen rich food sources, legume seeds,berries and bogong moths, but in winter when these are unavailable it digs for truffle-like fungi.

Predators
It is a food source for the wild cats and foxes in the surrounding areas.

Breeding Habits

Locations
The smoky mouse lives in a rather small area (20, 000 ha.). It lives in only 1.7% of that region. . It is found in East Gippsland in Victoria and south eat NSW.
                                    

Numbers
There are approximately 200 left in the world.

Problems

•  Populations are subject to large annual fluctuations in abundance possibly due to variations in food availability or due to social conflict. The female component of the population fluctuates less.
• vegetation clearance.
• changing fire regimes,  resulting in changes to the shrub vegetation.
• introduction of predators.
• The change in fire regimes altered the soil and plant litter that reduces the fungal fruiting that the Smoky mouse feeds on.

Solutions

•  No fire trails or walking tracks will be constructed near areas most likely to comprise Smoky Mouse habitat.
•  Feral pig control programs involving poisoned wheat baits will continue to be managed so as to avoid areas of likely Smoky Mouse habitat.
•  The conservation requirements of the species will be a consideration in the Bush Fire Fuel Management Plan.
• inform people about the Smoky Mouse.
• encourage habitat retention and restoration.
• ongoing habitat management.
• captive breeding of Smoky Mouse and establishing new colonies.
• support your local environment groups.
• raise money for the rehabilitation of sites for Smoky Mouse.
• learn more about endangered animals, particularly those native to your area.
• be a responsible pet owner so they do not impact on Smoky Mouse or other wildlife.
• help in the eradication of foxes, cats and rabbits.
• protect remnant native vegetation under Heritage Agreement and by excluding stock .
• revegetate cleared land with indigenous plants.