White-footed Mouse
Female with sucklings
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Neotominae
Genus:	Peromyscus
Species:	P. leucopus
Binomial name
Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)

White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is a rodent native to North America. It ranges from the Ontario, Quebec, Labrador and the Maritime Provinces (excluding island of Newfoundland) to the southwest USA and Mexico. It is also known as the Woodmouse, particularly in Texas.

Adults are 90–100 mm in length, not counting the tail, which can add another 63–97 mm. A young adult weighs 20–30 grams. While their maximum life span is 96 months, the mean life expectancy is 45.5 months for females and 47.5 for males.^[1]

This species is similar to Peromyscus maniculatus, the Deer Mouse. Like the deer mouse, it may carry hantaviruses, which cause severe illness in humans.^[2]

It has also been found to be a competent reservoir for the Lyme disease causing spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi.^[3]

[edit] References

• Baillie, J. 1996. Peromyscus leucopus. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 24 October 2008.
• White-footed Mouse, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry
• White-footed Mouse, CanadianFauna.com
• White-footed Mouse, Canadian Biodiversity Website