BIRCH MOUSE

(Sicista), any of six species of small, long-tailed, typically mouselike rodents, family Zapodidae (order Rodentia). Birch mice are found in Eurasia, in woods, moors, steppes, and fields. They are about 510 centimetres (24 inches) long, excluding the tail, and they have brown or yellowish brown fur. Some species have a dark back stripe. Birch mice live in burrows, eat plant material and insects, and hibernate underground from fall until well into spring. They leap, rather than run, and they climb well, supporting themselves with their tails.