Mice Facts.

The mouse and rat family (Muridae and Cricetidae) is the largest of the Mammal group. They are rodents. They are gnawing and nibbling animals with chisel-like incisor teeth in each jaw. Their teeth grow continuously because gnawing wears them down. Mice are smaller than rats. They are active at night (they are nocturnal). They live in burrows and tunnels made through grass roots. They prefer to eat seeds, grass, and insects.

The small house mouse has soft, brownish fur, a pointed nose, large ears, and a long, hairless tail. It is one of the most destructive pests. It builds its nest from odds and ends of household materials in some out-of-way place.

In the southern United States, small harvest mice lives in fields. They are half the size of house mice. In the northern areas, white-footed deer mice (also called the wood mouse) and meadow mice (also called the field vole) are common.

Any of these may enter homes during the cold weather.