The deer mouse is one of Ohio’s most widespread small mammals, equally at home in open fields, deciduous woods, and the brushy edges between them, which is part of why its 288 records don’t cluster tightly around any one kind of place. Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area both offer that mix of open ground and cover, but a deer mouse doesn’t need a named refuge to turn up. It’s one of the most adaptable rodents in the eastern United States.
Reports peak more than once across the year, in March, May, and November, rather than building to a single high point. That multi-peak pattern fits the species’ biology: deer mice can produce several litters a year, with breeding pulses in spring and again in fall, so there’s more than one stretch when young animals and increased activity make them easier to record. Ohio’s NatureServe rank is SNR, unranked, and the deer mouse is native to the state, part of the baseline rodent fauna that owls, foxes, and weasels across Ohio depend on.
Full species profile
