Few Missouri mammals turn up in as many different places as the deer mouse. Its 237 logged records, mostly from GBIF with a handful from iNaturalist, come from the same wetland refuges as many other small mammals here, Mingo, Big Oak Tree, and Swan Lake, but deer mice aren’t picky about wetlands specifically. They do just as well in grassland, cropland edges, and dry upland woods, part of why they’re one of the most widely distributed rodents in North America.
Records spike hard in March, with 59 logged that month against roughly half that in any other, likely tied to when small-mammal trapping surveys run rather than a true seasonal surge in the mice themselves, since deer mice stay active through winter.
NatureServe ranks the species S5, Secure, in Missouri, the least-concerning rank on the scale, which fits a mouse whose whole strategy is thriving in whatever habitat it finds itself in.
Full species profile
