The Balkan short-tailed mouse is a small rodent with a short tail. It lives in the Balkans and neighboring regions and is active mainly at night.
The Balkan short-tailed mouse differs from the house mouse by a shorter tail and less dependence on humans. It serves as an important part of the ecosystem as a seed consumer and food for snakes, owls, and foxes.
meadows, prairies, forb glades on land
homogamy, reproduction always with fertilization, no alternation of generations
Immature form that undergoes metamorphosis before adulthood.
Whiskers count
Worker
Tail size
birth time
breeding
Dogs, dolphins, lynx hang out for 9-25 years and party on their birthday three times a year
m
Map
will celebrate their {n} birthday
g
t
When your next jubilee falls in {name} life years
ground
Human
days
Warm summer
How old you would be if you lived as {name}
Theoretical maximum lifespan estimated from the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) mathematical model. This value reflects a biological potential derived from metabolic parameters, not from direct observation — real recorded lifespans are often significantly shorter.
adult
Maturity
plants
insects
About health
anything
When your next birthday would fall if you lived as {name}
Repro interval
results
summer warm and almost no rain
protection from predators
summer warm, winter not very cold
Colors
Sex
Upcoming jubilees
Gremllins
mo
Uses jaws or beak to break hard-shelled or tough food items.
Uses an excavated underground tunnel or chamber for refuge or nesting.
conifer cones
Trophic type
Filters
grain
Palearctic realm
Upcoming birthdays
eggs, roe or offspring develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it
Truly long lives: 40-100 years. Bowhead whales, albatrosses, giant tortoises recall their birthday at most once a year
Lifespan
leaf
Seeds
in a burrow
rains almost always, very humid
young are born live on land, not hatched from eggs or roe
Age (juvenile)
Age (from birth to death)
cones of coniferous trees with seeds
Age (embryo)
most of Europe and Asia, various forests, steppes and tundra
Wanderers
Food items are collected from exposed outer surfaces of substrates.
Jubilee = every 10th birthday
Warm summer and frequent rains
Ears size
Earliest developmental stage inside an egg or womb.
Business sausages
Lifespan average
in a terrestrial nest
dry grass
Whiskers size
live birth
summer warm, rains frequent
What do they look like?
Maturity
emergence (insects)
end of lifespan
How do they live?
fertilization / egg laying
How do they behave?
birth / hatching
metamorphosis / end of larval stage
end of acceleration
Share
seeds
Find a pet...
Mature, fully developed individual capable of reproduction.
nest hidden in an underground burrow
Actively hunting and capturing live prey.
Pets
Primary oral structure used to seize, manipulate, or ingest food.
Feeding occurs primarily on land or in vegetation.
{name} jubilee
paw
cm
Old-timers
Find an animal or breed...
mouth
turns
Rascals
terrestrial forest
terrestrial grassland and steppe
terrestrial herbaceous
grains
Tail color
grains of cereals — wheat, rice, millet, maize
Litter size
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
How to care for them?
Living from 25 to 40 years. Orangutans, bald eagles, African elephants celebrate their birthday twice a year
°C
Not specified
Actively searching habitats to locate food items.
Where are they found?
nest hidden in an underground burrow, only the mother provides parental care for the offspring
steppe
Describes food handling or digging performed with the forelimbs.
Whiskers color
Legendary longevity: over 100 years. Galapagos tortoises, Greenland sharks, ocean quahogs celebrate with family once every 4 years
Offspring
Elders
Bro
normal sexual
Taxons
if born as {name}
omnivore
age
birth date
Palearctic realm
rest
Fur color
Close
was
Career from 7 to 15 months. Dwarf hamsters, voles, field crickets celebrate their birthday twice a month
nocturnal
The basics
herbivory, feed only on plant food
climbing
hibernation
My weight?
Non-stop carnival: they only live a few days. Mayflies, rotifers, midges celebrate their birthday more than twice a day
surface
primary food sources
teeth
green plants
burrow
Potential Habitat
Very hot summer
d
In husbandry
On the go from 1.3 to 3.5 years. Forest mice, anoles, rainbow fish party on their birthday once a month
Mass
Mosquitoes, fruit flies, small crustaceans hustle for up to 7 months and throw a birthday party every week
terrestrial
Gestation
land
summer very hot, above +25…+30 °C
{name} birthday
Food is gathered directly from leaf surfaces.
No results found
omnivory, they eat plants, animals, and mushrooms — almost any food
On the map
all life stages
Female ♀
forages on plants and soil
Map data sources: Ecosystem classification — IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (Keith et al., 2022), indicative distribution maps Keith et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3546513; Large Marine Ecosystems — NOAA LME Program; Bathymetry — GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group (2026), GEBCO_2026 Grid, https://doi.org/10.5285/4f68d5c7-45eb-f999-e063-7086abc036fa; Climate data — Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information; Species occurrence data — GBIF.org, Derived dataset "all animals", https://zveriki.com/dataset/dataset.tsv; Terrestrial ecoregions — RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 (Dinerstein et al., 2017), CC BY 4.0
Potential habitat modelled from GBIF occurrence data. Map © Zveriki.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
birth year
lots of grass, few trees, rains occur
Shelter used specifically for reproduction or nesting.
Maturity
Skin color
caring mother
terrestrial habitat, land surface outside water
sq mm
yr
How similar?
Male ♂
until the celebration
baby / chick
age as {name}
How do they breed?
On the go from 3.5 to 6 years. Hedgehogs, crows, lizards treat themselves to birthday snacks 6 times a year
What if eaten?
Neither
Moving up vertical surfaces like trunks or rocks to reach food.
from birth to adulthood
Young offspring still dependent on parental care.
What do they eat?
Where do they live?
Immature individual that has not yet reached reproductive maturity.
Ears color
early young
Hard dental structures used to bite, tear, or scrape food.
forests on land — tropical, temperate, boreal
Temperate mixed forest
Duration
live insects
This is me
Warm summer with almost no rain
most of Europe and Asia, various forests, steppes and tundra
from 11 to 16 grams, 1.5 – 12 centimeters
Foraging activity occurs primarily during nighttime hours.
Always very wet
Gamers
crushing
How are they built?
Temperate steppe
mm
Theoretical lifespan
ml
Stars
Link copied
My age?
wk
My size?
terrestrial
Asexual
swap
active predation
Rabbits, falcons, red-eared turtles hang out for 6-9 years and party on their birthday four times a year
Where do they take shelter?
Denotes a grassland or steppe habitat preference.
inhabit and develop on land, outside water bodies
celebrated their {n} birthday
open grassy spaces — steppes, savannas, prairies
When you would have been born if you lived as {name}
Daddies
Lifespan maximum
foraging
Hermaphrodite ⚥
Strawberry
embryo
summer warm, many oaks, birches, maples
Length
kg
Observations
◉{N} more on tap