Girish Mahajan (Editor)

White footed mouse

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Kingdom
  
Order
  
Subfamily
  
Scientific name
  
Peromyscus leucopus

Higher classification
  
Peromyscus

Phylum
  
Chordata

Family
  
Genus
  
Peromyscus

Rank
  
Species


Similar
  
Peromyscus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Mammal, Rodent, Deer tick

Baby wild white footed mouse learns to run on the wheel


The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is a rodent native to North America from Ontario, Quebec, Labrador, and the Maritime Provinces (excluding the island of Newfoundland) to the southwest United States and Mexico. In the Maritimes, its only location is a disjunct population in southern Nova Scotia. It is also known as the woodmouse, particularly in Texas.

Contents

Description

Adults are 90–100 mm (3.5–3.9 in) in length, not counting the tail, which can add another 63–97 mm (2.5–3.8 in). A young adult weighs 20–30 g (0.7–1.1 oz). While their maximum lifespan is 96 months, the mean life expectancy for the species is 45.5 months for females and 47.5 for males. In northern climates, the average life expectancy is 12–24 months.

Behavior and diet

White-footed mice are omnivorous, and eat seeds and insects. It is timid and generally avoids humans, but they occasionally take up residence in ground-floor walls of homes and apartments, where they build nests and store food.

Similar species

White-footed mouse Whitefooted mouse Wikipedia

This species is similar to Peromyscus maniculatus. Like the deer mouse, it may carry hantaviruses, which cause severe illness in humans.

Connection to Lyme Disease

It has also been found to be a competent reservoir for the Lyme disease-causing spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi.

White-footed mouse Deer Mouse White Footed Mice

White-footed mouse Mice give ticks a free lunch Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies


White-footed mouse Urban Ecologists Are Studying How Wildlife Have Evolved to Fit Their

References

White-footed mouse Wikipedia


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