New Mexico mammals

House Mouse in New Mexico

Mus musculus

Introduced to New Mexico

New Mexico's Mus musculus records are of an introduced species; it does not occur here as a wild native population.

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: hatwise · CC BY 4.0House mouse in dry plant litterPhoto: dandri · CC0House mouse on concrete near green plantsPhoto: trisairatops · CC BY 4.0House mouse beside a curbPhoto: hatwise · CC BY 4.0House mouse moving through dry stemsPhoto: hatwise · CC BY 4.0House mouse partly hidden in leaf litter

Photo: hatwise · CC BY 4.0House mouse in dry plant litterPhoto: dandri · CC0House mouse on concrete near green plantsPhoto: trisairatops · CC BY 4.0House mouse beside a curbPhoto: hatwise · CC BY 4.0House mouse moving through dry stemsPhoto: hatwise · CC BY 4.0House mouse partly hidden in leaf litter

House Mouse in New Mexico, by the numbers

Common in New Mexico 49th most recorded of 176 mammals logged in New Mexico

701 occurrence records

50 with iNaturalist photos

Feb 28, 2026 Last seen in New Mexico

Records from 2000–2026.

701 total records count every New Mexico occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 686 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the House Mouse in New Mexico

Most sightings fall in July to November.

686 New Mexico occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly New Mexico records (table)

Month	Records
January	69
February	59
March	36
April	20
May	54
June	41
July	61
August	90
September	85
October	55
November	78
December	38

Monthly house mouse occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in New Mexico, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in New Mexico, with recorded sightings peaking in July–November, with a smaller rise in January–February and May.

Occurrence map

Where House Mouse has been recorded in New Mexico

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 New Mexico records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Rio Grande Valley State Park	15
Carlsbad Caverns National Park	3
Río Grande Del Norte National Monument	2
Santa Fe National Forest	2
Carson National Forest	1
Petroglyph National Monument	1
La Joya Waterfowl Management Area	1
Pecos National Historical Park	1

Protected places with the most house mouse sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in New Mexico

County	Records
Bernalillo County	182
Sandoval County	122
Roosevelt County	58
Valencia County	54
Santa Fe County	47
Otero County	35
San Juan County	23
Rio Arriba County	21
Grant County	18
De Baca County	15
Socorro County	15
Eddy County	15
16 other counties	96

The complete county distribution, spread across 28 New Mexico counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

House mice show up in New Mexico wherever people store grain, keep livestock, or live close to open ground, and the state’s record reflects that far more than any wild habitat choice. NatureServe lists the species as exotic here, part of the same Eurasian lineage that has followed agriculture and shipping around the world.

Only 50 of the state’s 701 records carry an iNaturalist photo; the rest are GBIF specimen data, which fits an animal most people don’t stop to photograph. Santa Fe National Forest and Petroglyph National Monument each show just a single logged sighting, more a sign of incidental notice near a trailhead than a real habitat hotspot.

Reports peak in August and September, though that likely reflects survey timing and late-summer building activity rather than a genuine jump in New Mexico’s mouse numbers.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist.

House Mouse in other states

Louisiana

Full species profile House Mouse Mus musculus Size 5–10 cm2–3.9 in Weight 12–30 g0.4–1.1 oz Lifespan Up to 4 yr View the full profile

More mammals in New Mexico in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"