Florida mouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Florida mouseTemporal range: Late Pleistocene – Recent
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Podomys
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| Species: |
floridanus
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| Synonyms | |
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Hesperomys floridanus Chapman, 1889 |
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The Florida mouse (Podomys floridanus) is a small rodent that lives only in Florida. It is the only species in its group, called Podomys. This makes it very special, as it's the only mammal group found nowhere else but Florida!
People also call this mouse the big-eared deermouse or gopher mouse. It lives in specific parts of central Florida and a small area in the Florida Panhandle. You can find it in hot, dry places like high pinelands, sandhills, and coastal scrub areas.
The Florida mouse eats both plants and insects, making it an omnivore. It measures about 195 mm (7.7 in) long from nose to tail. It has big ears and fur that is brown or orange on top and white underneath.
These mice breed all year long. They usually have two or three babies at a time. They raise their young in special nests they build inside the burrows of gopher tortoises. Sadly, new buildings and fewer gopher tortoises are putting the Florida mouse at risk. Because of this, the IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable.
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What Does the Florida Mouse Look Like?
The Florida mouse has soft, silky fur. Its back is brown, and its cheeks, shoulders, and lower sides are orange. Its belly is white. Young Florida mice are gray.
This mouse has a unique smell, a bit like a skunk. It has large ears that are almost bare, about 16 mm (0.63 in) or longer. Its tail is fairly short, about 80% of its total body length. It also has large back feet, 24 mm (0.94 in) or more, with five pads instead of the usual six. Male and female Florida mice look the same.
The Florida mouse looks a lot like mice from the Peromyscus group. In fact, it was once thought to be a part of that group. However, the Florida mouse is bigger and has different colors, which helps tell it apart from other mice in Florida, like the cotton mouse and oldfield mouse.
Scientists have studied the Florida mouse's genes. They found that different groups of Florida mice have some differences in their genes. This helps them understand how much variety exists within the species.
Adult Florida mice are typically about 195 mm (7.7 in) long. Their tail is around 88 mm (3.5 in), their hind foot about 26 mm (1.0 in), and their ear about 19 mm (0.75 in).
How Scientists Classify the Florida Mouse
The Florida mouse was first described by a scientist named Frank Chapman in 1889. He wrote about it in a science journal after finding a mouse in Gainesville, Florida.
Later, in 1909, Wilfred Hudson Osgood suggested it should be its own separate group, or subgenus, within Peromyscus. However, other scientists debated this idea for many years. In 1993, Michael Carleton and Guy Musser agreed that it should be its own unique genus, Podomys. There are no different types or subspecies of the Florida mouse.
Where Does the Florida Mouse Live?
The Florida mouse is the only mammal group that lives only in Florida. You can find it across central Florida, from one coast to the other. There's also a small group living in Franklin County, Florida in the Florida Panhandle.
These mice live in some of Florida's driest spots. They are common in sand pine scrub areas. They also live in high pinelands with turkey oak and longleaf pine trees. You can find them in scrubby flatlands and coastal scrub areas too.
Each mouse usually has a home range of about 1 acre (0.40 ha). Their populations are larger in scrub and flatland areas than in the higher pinelands. Many Florida mice live in places like Ocala National Forest and the scrubs along Lake Wales Ridge.
How the Florida Mouse Lives
The Florida mouse is a nocturnal animal, meaning it is active mostly at night. It stays active all year, except when it's very cold. While it can climb, it mostly stays on the ground. Scientists have observed that these mice use their front paws to dig and push dirt backward, which is different from some other mouse species.
Finding a Home
The Florida mouse is sometimes called the gopher mouse because it often shares the long, deep burrows of the gopher tortoise. Inside these burrows, the mouse builds its own nest chambers and small side tunnels. It might even line the floors of its chambers with oak leaves and wiregrass.
The mouse uses these small openings, the main entrance, and side passages to go in and out of the burrow. If there are no gopher tortoise burrows around, the Florida mouse will use burrows made by the oldfield mouse or dig its own.
What Do Florida Mice Eat?
The Florida mouse is an omnivore, meaning it eats both plants and animals. Its diet includes acorns (when available), insects, seeds, nuts, fungi, and other plant parts. They also eat small vertebrates.
One study in 1987 found that Florida mice even eat ticks that have fed on gopher frogs and gopher tortoises.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Florida mice can breed throughout the year. They have more babies between July and December, and a smaller peak in January and February. Breeding slows down or stops in April and May.
Pregnancy lasts about 23 or 24 days. The mice dig side tunnels off the main gopher tortoise burrow. They line these tunnels with shredded plant material to create nurseries for their young. A mother mouse usually has two to four babies in a litter, with an average of about three.
Newborn mice weigh about 1.9–2.9 g (0.067–0.102 oz). Their teeth start to appear around the fourth day. They become active and can move well by about the 10th day, and their eyes open around the 16th day. The mother nurses them almost constantly for the first two weeks. They stop drinking milk at three to four weeks old, and by this time, they act like adult mice.
Staying Safe and Surviving
Florida mice can have many different parasites. These include mites, ticks, fleas, and a type of louse. They can also have internal parasites like protozoans, trematodes, tapeworms, and nematodes.
Scientists don't know the exact number of Florida mice, but they estimate there are several thousands, and the number is decreasing. Snakes, birds of prey, bobcats, raccoons, and foxes are likely predators. Many mice have short tails, which might be a way for them to escape predators by losing their tail.
Most Florida mice in the wild live for less than a year. However, some mice kept in captivity have lived for several years. One male mouse in captivity lived for seven years and four months!
Protecting the Florida Mouse
The Florida mouse probably doesn't directly affect human interests much. However, farming and building new homes are big threats to its very specific habitat. It's hard to study these mice in dry areas because millions of ants quickly eat the bait in traps. Collecting live mice is an option, but by the time the mouse is caught, it has usually digested the bait, making it hard to study what they eat.
As early as 1998, the Florida mouse was recognized as a species needing special attention. It was considered threatened by Florida's wildlife groups. The mouse lives in a very limited area in the United States, and its home is shrinking. This is due to farming, new buildings, and even efforts to stop wildfires, which can change their habitat.
The Florida mouse depends on gopher tortoise burrows for shelter. But gopher tortoises are also facing problems like disease and habitat loss, which means fewer burrows for the mice. Red imported fire ants are also a threat to both tortoises and mice.
The IUCN has listed the Florida mouse as Vulnerable. They suggest more studies on the species, protecting gopher tortoise populations, and managing suitable habitats for the mouse. Luckily, the Florida mouse is protected in several conservation areas across central Florida, including Archbold Biological Station and Ocala National Forest.
