Facts About Mice

Facts About Mice

Mice really are everywhere! You can find varieties of mice in all corners of the globe and living in all climates. But mice are good at hiding. You may not see a mouse very often, but that doesn’t mean there may not be mice living nearby. 

Mice are rodents, just like rats and squirrels. What all rodents share is that they have sharp front teeth that never stop growing. Rodents are a sub-group of mammals, which means that a mother mouse gives birth to her babies and feeds them with milk from her mammary glands. 

There are many different kinds of mice, some of which only live in a small area and others of which are spread across continents. North America is the home of hundreds of types of mice. 

The mouse’s closest cousin is the vole, which is often mistaken for a mouse. The vole is a little bigger than a mouse but has smaller eyes and ears and a shorter tail. Its common name is the field mouse. 

The deer mouse is found all across the continent while more specialized mice, such as the Sitka mouse, can only be found on some of the smaller Haida Gwaii (formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands) off the west coast of Canada. 

In general, mice are not picky eaters. Depending on where they live and what kind of mice they are, mice will eat whatever they find close at hand.

A deer mouse’s favorite food is seeds, though deer mice may enjoy fresh buds and even new leaves in the spring time.

A meadow vole finds grass very tasty, but will also eat roots and seeds and bark.

Most mice also enjoy the occasional bug or caterpillar to round out their diet.

And, of course, if a mouse lives in your house, you may find little nibbles on the bread bag or on your apples or frankly on any food item you may leave out or that they can get into! 

Mice build their nests in hidden places. Outdoors a mouse nest can be in a hollow log, in an underground burrow, under rocks, or anywhere that feels private and safe.

Inside a mouse may choose to build a nest inside the walls or in a hidden place in your basement.

The nest itself is made with grasses, twigs, fur, cloth, string, yarn, or whatever the mouse finds handy. The mouse hollows out the inside and lines it with the softest material it can find -- moss, fur, or the down from thistles or milkweed or another plant. 

Mice can begin to mate when they only three or four months old. The male and the female will share a nest for a few days and the babies are born three weeks later. Depending upon how well the mother has been eating and her age, a mother mouse can have a litter of five to seven babies, but could even have many more. 

Newborn mice stay close to their mothers, nursing almost constantly for the first few days. At birth they are less than four centimeters (one and a half inches) long from head to tail. They have no fur and are blind and deaf. But after only four days or so, their fur has started to come in and after a week, they have doubled their birth weight. They can see at two weeks old. 

Some father mice help the mother take care of the little ones, keeping them warm and clean and teaching them how to find food. After a few weeks, the babies are all grown up and ready to strike out on their own.

Mice live for about a year and a half. This doesn’t seem like a long time to us, but for a mouse, it’s a lifetime!

These Mouse Facts are an exerpt from Fiona the Theater Mouse Study Guide, available as an ebook or in regular book form, that goes along with the children's book Fiona the Theater Mouse, published by Eva Nova Press.

The study guide features a crossword puzzle to accompany these facts, as well as facts about bats, word searches, recipes, projects, discussion questions, and more.

If you've enjoyed reading these mouse facts, perhaps you'll consider checking out the entire study guide. Even better, read about Fiona and her adventures.