||The Mammals of Texas -
Rodentia : Family Muridae : Peromyscus
Description. A medium-sized,
short-tailed, white-footed mouse; tail about 43% of total
length, sparsely haired, darker above than below but
usually not sharply bicolor; upperparts cinnamon rufous
mixed with blackish; sides paler, with less admixture of
black; underparts and feet white, the "ankle"
slightly brownish. External measurements average: total
length, 173 mm; tail, 78 mm; hind foot, 21 mm. Weight,
18-32 g, averaging about 22 g. Most easily confused with P. gossypinus and P. maniculatus;
P. leucopus differs from the former in smaller
size, shorter body, lighter weight, and brighter colors;
from the latter in less hairy and not sharply bicolor
tail, usually shorter pelage, and lack of whitish tufts
at base of ears.
Distribution in Texas. Statewide.
Habits. In the main, these mice
are woodland dwellers, a fact that is best illustrated
along the western border of their range where they are
restricted almost entirely to creek and river bottoms. As
one progresses eastward, the mice are found in a
progressively greater variety of habitats. In
east-central Texas, they are most abundant in bottom
lands, less so in post oak uplands and almost completely
absent from prairie lands. They are adept at climbing and
often den in hollow trees out of danger from overflow
waters. In areas not subject to inundation, they live in
dens under logs, in stumps, brush piles, burrows, or
In much of its range, this mouse is one
of the commonest of small mammals. In Brazos County, the
population of this mouse is exceeded only by that of the
cotton rat. In 3,483 trap-nights, 161 cotton rats and 121
white-footed mice were captured; a ratio, respectively,
of 21.6 and 28.7 trap-nights per animal. The maximum home
range of adult males is about 0.2 ha, that of adult
females about 0.15 ha. The mice seldom travel more than
50 m once they are established in suitable quarters. The
dispersal of the population generally is accomplished by
movements of the unestablished young mice.
The food of white-footed mice is
varied, but their chief reliance is seeds and such nuts
as acorns and pecans. When food is abundant, they store
it in and about their nests for winter use. Caches of
"several quarts" have been reported. Like
squirrels, these mice have internal cheek pouches in
which they can place food for transport to caches. In
spring and summer they feed to some extent on fruits and
on insects, snails, and other invertebrates.
In east-central Texas, gravid females
have been captured in nearly every month of the year.
Litter size varies from one to six, averaging about four.
Captive females have produced as many as 10 litters and
45 offspring in 1 year, but in the wild the number of
litters appears to be four or five. The gestation period
is from 22 to 25 days in nonlactating females and 23 to
37 days in those that are lactating. At birth the young
are blind, pink, and weigh about 2 g. They become
pigmented dorsally in the first 24 hours, their eyes open
in about 13 days, and they are weaned at the age of 22 or
23 days if the mother is expecting a new family; if
otherwise, they may nurse as long as 37 days. Young
females mature sexually at the age of 10 or 11 weeks and
may bear their first litters at the age of 13 or 14
weeks. Usually, females born in the spring rear one or
two litters themselves before winter sets in. They seldom
live to be more than 18 months old in the wild.
Where numerous in an area, they can
become destructive of stored and shocked grains and
consequently need to be controlled. But in most places
they are of little or no economic significance if such
natural predators as owls, snakes, and weasels are not
Photo credit: John L. Tveten, courtesy of Texas
A&M University Press.