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House Mice vs Deer Mice: What’s the difference?

A mouse is not to be confused with a rat. While they are both descendants of the rodent family, rats are generally cylindrical in shape and mice are round and much smaller. When it comes to mice, there are more than 1,000 species known worldwide, each with their own characteristics. Two common types often compared to one another in New Jersey are house mice vs deer mice.

House Mouse

The best-known mouse species is the common house mouse. If you have a pet mouse, it is most likely a house mouse. They prefer to stay indoors with humans, although they can also reside in fields. This is why people sometimes confuse house mice vs deer mice.

House mice have a small body, not exceeding five inches. House mice are usually gray in color, with some members of the species fading to a darker shade. They mostly invade houses during cold seasons since most of their food, plant roots, and seeds are gone. The goal of their invasion is to find new food sources.

When you are talking about them, both mice are disease carriers and need to be removed if they are anywhere near your home. While rats are perceived to be more dangerous to humans than mice, mice cause far greater harm to clothes, wooden furniture, papers/books, and many other household items. Both house mice vs deer mice may live alone or in clusters. After six weeks of life, female mice are usually ready to breed. The breeding age for males is around 8 weeks old.

Deer Mouse

deer mouse

Source: PCT Online

The name deer mice comes from their close color resemblance to the deer—a brownish color fading to black with a white belly. Their staple foods are grains, leafy vegetation, insects, and fruits.

Urban environments are more suitable for house mice vs deer mice who prefer rural areas and wooded buildings. Most of these species have adopted a polygamous lifestyle. Deer mice love the outdoors, where they live in tree holes, hollow dug logs, under stones, branches, or caves. In the few occasions where they stay indoors, you can find them in the quieter areas of your house such as attics, garages, basements, and unfinished wall spaces.

Deer mice are nocturnal. During the day you can find them in hideout locations, hibernating in their houses and nests they have built out of plant matter. Although deer mice live in individual home structures, in order to protect themselves from the environment and predators they build nests. Birds of prey and snakes are their natural predators.

PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES

 

 

 

House Mice Deer Mice
  • Size
~3 inches ~4.5 – 9 inches
  • Color
Grayish Reddish brown with white underparts
  • Lifespan
12-18 months Less than a year
  • Litter per Year
5-10 5-10
  • Individual per Litter
3-14 4-6

House Mice vs Deer Mice Characteristics

Lineage

Although they have some similar physical traits, the classes differ in house mice vs deer mice. House mice are from the Murids family of animals, while deer mice are from the Cricetidae family. The murids are the largest family of rodents and mammals, containing over 700 species, including many mice and rats.

Habitat

House mice vs deer mice generally tend to stay indoors within urban and suburban areas. On the other hand, deer mice enjoy being out in the open. It can be spotted in semi-rural areas and around homes, rather than in them. Deer mice prefer woodlands over wetlands and often live in hollow trees or nests underground.

house mouse - mice species in New Jersey

Physical traits

Coloring is one of the areas where you can easily see each type’s uniqueness. A house mouse possesses a sharp nose accompanied by small spherical ears and a long, hair-free tail and comes in a wide, solid color range, including tan, brown, black, grey, and rare cases white. Deer mice bodies are grey or brownish-orange accompanied by white underside (its most noticeable physical trait) and white feet. Their tails are usually shorter and covered with fine hairs.

The short stature of house mice vs deer mice is also a good indicator of which mouse you might be facing. In length, House mice are approximately five inches from the nose to the tail. A deer mouse is around seven inches.

Feeding habits

House mice vs deer mice are opportunists, taking advantage of any food sources that arise. They will gather and search for food in homes and eat whatever is available; grains, clothes, and plastic pieces. Deer mice are gatherers. They will collect food and stock it for future use. This adaptation makes it very difficult to lure deer mice into traps compared to more easily controlling house mice.

Movement patterns

When it comes to movement behaviors, the award for best jumper goes to the house mice vs deer mice. House mice have a 12 inch vertical jump. Deer mice, on the other hand, are good climbers. They can access food sources and shelter by ascending over a tree and using the tree branches as a transitional path, or by climbing gutters and water pipes to gain access to the roofs.

Disease carriers

The type of diseases carried by house mice vs deer mice are distinct. House mice are linked to the spread of lymphocyte related meningitis and rickettsial pox. Deer mice are major carriers of Hantavirus. This virus is found in the saliva, urine, and feces of mice. It is spread to humans mostly via inhalation of airborne particles.

Both of these mice are capable of ferrying fleas, lice, and other organisms in their hairy bodies, but deer mice are more predisposed to it because of their outdoorsy movements.

Both of these can propagate disease-causing bacteria, but they do vary. House mice vs deer mice are generally found indoors and cover a larger surface area, they can disseminate disease-causing organisms in wider places compared to the deer mice. But deer mice frequent outside garbage pits, trash cans, and other outdoor areas, making them likely to bring filth and other debris indoors.

Activity patterns

House mice vs deer mice are mostly diurnal. Diurnal means they are primarily active during daylight periods of the day. Deer mice are nocturnal. They are most active during the night.

Can’t tell the difference between house mice vs deer mice,

Call the Professionals!

Being able to identify house mice vs deer mice can shed light on the types of damage you may run into if a rodent problem is noticed in your home. Regardless of whether you’re dealing with house mice vs deer mice, it is always best to have your home inspected by professionals at Kapture Pest Control. Our trained technicians can quickly identify the problem and provide solutions to minimize the risk of damage and disease caused by rodents. Give Kapture Pest Control a call today to schedule an inspection.

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