House Mouse
Other names: common house mouse and domestic house mouse

Features
Body
Body is small, pear shaped and slender, 2 to 3 and a half inches (5 to 9cm) long. Average weight is .58 to 1 ounce (18 to 28 g)

Color
Generally grayish-brown on top. The underside is a light cream color.

Tail
The tail is 3 to 4 inches (7 to 10cm) long, semi-naked and longer than the head and body combined.

Geographic Range
Throughout the United States and south of the boreal forest in Canada.

Nose
Has a slightly pointed nose.

Eyes
Eyes are small and somewhat protruding. Mice are color blind and can only recognize objects up to 10 feet away.

Ears
Relatively large ears for its size. They hear very well in both sonic and ultrasonic ranges.

Teeth
The gnaw pattern of mice is less than 1/16 inch.

Whiskers
Whiskers on the face and guard hairs on the sides and back help and animal with poor eyesight stay safely against walls, under objects, and in burrows. Whiskers are also used to detect motion and test surfaces, e.g. Glue traps, before stepping on them.

Droppings
Droppings have pointed ends and are about one-quarter inch (.64cm) or less in length. Fresh droppings are soft and dark in color. A house mouse averages 50 droppings per day.

Food Preferences and Consumption
Omnivores. Seeds (preferred food), cereal grains, fruits, vegetables and meats. Mice frequent many feeding sites sometimes as often 20 to 30 a day during their active period, eating small amounts of food from each site. Daily consumption: 1/10 ounce. Water is not essential to survival if food contains at least 16 percent moisture.

Habits
Excellent climbers. Can be found in cultivated fields, at or below ground level, or in upper stories of skyscrapers. Mice explore their limited home range of less than 30 feet daily for newly introduced objects. Nocturnal. Most activity and feeding takes place between a half hour after sunset and a half hour before sunrise. Strong social hierarchy. Abel to swim.

Mouse Facts
Mice can survive an 8-foot fall onto a hard surface.