House mouse (2/19)

A young house mouse; part of an ecological chain of events that can have disastrous implications for endangered native wildlife. When southern beech trees mast (synchronous heavy fruiting), invertebrates and mice flourish, as do the predators that feed on them. However, when the food supplies are exhausted, the mouse populations crash, and the predators (especially stoats and ship rats) are forced to switch prey, and the new prey is often already threatened native birds.