North Carolina Animals

1. Deer Mice By: Rosemary and Genesis

2. Description The deer mouse average size ranges from 6 to 8 inches long including its tail. Deer mice can live up to 8 years. It has large ears which are rounded and hairless. Their eyes are large and very bulgy.

3. Everyday Habits They also have 4 litters a year, that usually contain 2-7 young's. They are active year round and don’t hibernate throughout the winter. During the summer they eat seeds, small fruits, berries, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and underground fungus called endogone. Since deer mouse are found pretty much anywhere they are major food sources for carnivores such as coyotes, foxes, bobcats, weasels, skunks, badgers, grasshopper mice, snakes, owls, and other birds of prey. Deer mice are an important link to the food chain because when plentiful, they become a major food item for a variety of predators. For example, at times many owl pellets have been found to be containing over 40% of deer mice bones in it.

4. Habitats They usually make their nest in a hole found inside a tree stump, under logs and sometimes even an abandoned squirrel nest! They usually make their nest out of moss, shredded bark, leaves and other materials. They can be found in North Carolina in the Appalachian Mountains, Maryland, and Virginia.