Peromyscus leucopus
R.W. Devender
The White-footed Mouse
grows up to eight inches long (with tail). Its fur can be
brown, reddish, or grayish. It is white underneath, and
sometimes has a dark stripe down its back. The tail is very
long, about half the length of the body. These mice have
large ears. White-footed mice live in
wooded, brushy areas or open areas next to woods, such as
marshes.
They are active year-round, but mostly come out at
night. White-footed Mice are
good swimmers and excellent climbers. They often climb
shrubs
and trees looking for food. Their tails give them good
balance. Mice build nests in
burrows,
stumps, brush piles, buildings, hollow trees, old birds'
nests, old squirrels' nests and under logs. Nests are made
with grasses,
leaves, hair, feathers, milkweed silk, shredded
bark,
moss,
and cloth. Copyright,
www.arttoday.com
Dick Cooper
White-footed Mice live by
themselves, except during the breeding
season. They do most of their breeding during the Spring and
Fall. Female mice have a
litter
with three to five young. The male does not care for
them. When they are old enough,
mice leave the nest to live on their own. Copyright, Andrew
Liebhold
M.L. Campbell
White-footed Mice eat a
large variety of foods, including nuts, seeds, fruits, and
small animals. Some of their diet
includes: beetles, caterpillars,
coccoons,
centipedes, snails, moths, crane flies, grasshoppers,
crickets, and other insects. They occasionally eat small
mammals
or birds. Plants they eat include:
Black Cherry, Jewelweed, acorns,
blueberries, knotweed, maple seeds, pine seeds, Yellow
Poplar, Flowering Dogwood, violets, dock, hickory nuts, and
beechnuts. They also eat roots
of many plants and fungi. White-footed Mice
cache
(store) nuts and seeds in the Fall near their nests. Usually
the cache is hidden under a log, in a bird's nest, or in an
abandoned burrow of another small mammal. Mammals of
Quebec
