Silky mouse

The silky mouse (Pseudomys apodemoides) is a small, nocturnal, burrowing rodent found only in Australia, in the western and northwestern parts of Victoria. It weighs 16 to 22 grams, with a head and body length of 65 to 80 millimetres and a tail of 90 to 110 millimetres. Its very soft fur is light blue-grey flecked with light brown and black guard hairs, with a white underside, and it has prominent bulging eyes and larger ears than the house mouse. It belongs to the family Muridae and the tribe Hydromyini, and it prefers floristically rich mallee-heath, often digging its burrows near Banksia ornata, where the soil stays more consistently moist. At night it forages for seeds, nectar, flowers and fruit, and it eats insects, especially in breeding periods. Females bear two to five young per litter after a gestation of 38 to 39 days. Habitat destruction and fires threaten it, but its population has recovered through conservation effort.