We found this little guy along the edge of a forested trail on Sunday. While it’s obviously a mouse, sometimes identifying which mouse species you’re looking at can be a little tricky. White-footed mice have a dark brown back, orange-brown sides, a white belly, and, as the name implies: white feet. The head and body are approximately 3.5 inches long, with the tail adding another 3 inches to its overall length. Although white-footed mice can be easily confused with the deer mouse (P. maniculatus), which is approximately the same size and has similar coloration, the white-footed mouse has a more sparsely haired tail, a pure white chin patch, and a two-tone back.

These abundant and widespread mice are mainly terrestrial, but can climb well and may forage or nest well above the ground. They make spherical nests in logs or standing trees, in abandoned burrows or birds nests, or inside buildings – anywhere they can get snug, dry and warm. In fact, we had a white-footed mouse nest built into the upper corner of our shed when we first moved into into our property a few years ago. While white-footed mice are vectors for various harmful diseases (e.g., Lyme disease, hantavirus), and I certainly wouldn’t encourage anyone to let them live in your house, we decided we didn’t need that corner of the shed that season and let them have their sheltered home. 

Despite being largely thought of as as pest by many people, white-footed mice are a key player in our local food chains. They are a major diet item for many small predators, such as weasels, snakes, owls, hawks, and foxes. The white-footed mouse is also the favored host for the parasitic mouse bot fly (Cuterebra fontinella).