The North American deermouse is nearly everywhere in Washington, and its 14,644 records make the point. Pend Oreille, Clark, and Skamania counties each hold close to two thousand, and the record spans 37 counties on both sides of the Cascades, from Colville and Kaniksu national forests in the northeast to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in the south.
The classic mouse of the continent
Big-eyed, large-eared, and white-footed, the deermouse is the most widespread rodent in North America, at home in forest, shrub-steppe, meadow, and the occasional shed or cabin. It is nocturnal, feeding on seeds, berries, and insects and caching food against lean times, and it climbs well enough to forage off the ground, a habit that helps set it apart from the look-alike house mouse.
Slowing down, not sleeping through
Deermice do not truly hibernate, though they can drop into short bouts of torpor and hole up in nests during the coldest stretches. Washington’s records thin from November through February and build to a June crest, matching the season when warm nights, abundant seed, and new litters put the most mice on the move.
Status in Washington
NatureServe ranks the North American deermouse S5, Secure, in Washington, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
