The deer mouse is one of the most widely distributed rodents in North America, but Missouri’s recent record is thin. Its 27 logged records, mostly from GBIF with 8 from iNaturalist, come from 9 counties, and DeKalb County in the northwest holds 14 of them. Deer mice aren’t picky about habitat: they do just as well in grassland, cropland edges, and dry upland woods as along wetland edges.
Records spike in August, with 14 logged that month and no more than 3 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
