Dendromus melanotis
As its name would suggest the Grey Climbing Mouse is wonderfully adept at climbing up grass stalks, being well adapted for the job by having semi-prehensile tails and toes capable of a firm grip. Grass seeds and insects make up most of their diet. They inhabit thickets of bush and grass and are nocturnal. The Grey Climbing Mouse is found over most of sub-Saharan Africa and in South Africa is found in all the provinces, being absent only from the very dry interior and western coastline.
Grey Climbing Mice are small and fully grown adults weighs only about 7g. They may build their own ball-shaped nests using fine grasses or adapt another creature’s burrow for the purpose. Females give birth to about four babies in a litter during the summer months and probably has more than one brood to raise in a season. It is unlikely that they live longer than 18 months in the wild.
DeWetsWild 