House mouse
Mus musculus
Alfie Benbow · Pukaha National Wildlife Centre
Key facts in one look
- Status in Georgia
- Native, widespread
- Size
- Head and body 7–10.3 cm, 12–39 g
- Habitat
- Homes, stores, fields
- Family
- Muridae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The house mouse (Mus musculus) has tied itself to people so closely that many of its populations now live only around homes and stores. It is the ancestor of the laboratory mouse, one of the most important model animals in biology and medicine. It originated in south-western Asia and today lives on every continent except Antarctica. In Georgia it has been found at more than 180 places: from Batumi, Poti and Gagra to Kazbegi, Shatili and Akhalkalaki. If you find signs of mice in your home, do not touch their droppings or nests with bare hands.
Identification
House mouse: how to identify it
A small mouse with a pointed snout, large rounded ears and a long, almost hairless tail. The back is a uniform greyish brown and the belly paler. In open country it is most easily confused with the Macedonian mouse.
Head and body 7–10.3 cm, tail 6.7–10.4 cm, weight 12–39 g. The tail is as long as the head and body, and the ears and tail are almost hairless.
The back is a uniform greyish brown and the belly paler. In wild mice the colour ranges from grey and light brown to almost black. The upper incisors are notched.
The Macedonian mouse has a tail shorter than its head and body, about 81%, and never enters houses. Wood mice have longer hind feet. A mouse found inside a house is almost always a house mouse.
Colour
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
Often confused with
It lives mostly alongside people: in houses, barns, stores and sometimes even cold-storage rooms. Wild populations live in fields, irrigated crops, along pond margins and in scrub. In Georgia it has been found almost everywhere: on the coast at Batumi, Kobuleti, Poti and Sokhumi, in the mountains at Kazbegi, Gudauri, Shatili, Khulo and Oni, in Javakheti at Akhalkalaki, and in the east from Lagodekhi to Dedoplistskaro. Its extent of occurrence in the country is over 20,000 km².
The house mouse map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. Records are still too few to mark any region.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Region with records
It is omnivorous. In wild mice invertebrates make up most of the diet, followed by seeds and other plant matter. In houses it eats whatever it finds.
It is active at dusk and at night and avoids bright light. It jumps, climbs and swims well. It lives in colonies: one territory usually holds one dominant male, several females and young. Males mark their territory with urine. Gestation lasts 20–25 days, a female carries 1–11 embryos, and one female can have 5–10 litters a year. That is why a few mice in a house quickly become many.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
It does not attack, but it spreads disease. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus passes to people from the fresh urine, droppings, saliva or nesting material of infected mice. Rodent waste also contaminates air and food. So do not touch a mouse or its droppings with bare hands.
Remove what mice need: food, water and shelter. Keep food in closed containers. Look for holes around the house and seal them. If fresh droppings appear after cleaning, mice are still present.
The two look very alike. The house mouse's tail equals its head and body length, while the Macedonian mouse's is shorter, about 81%. The Macedonian mouse never enters houses, so a mouse found indoors is a house mouse. In open country only a specialist can tell them apart for certain.
Yes, it is regarded as native in Georgia. The species arose in south-western Asia and spread around the world with people. In Georgia it has been found at more than 180 places, from the seashore to high mountain villages.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
