Common Rodents: Rats and Mice

Photo Credit: Red Squirrel
by Gilles Gonthier on Photopedia
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Rodentia, the rodent family consists of not only rats and mice but also beavers, muskrats, porcupines, woodchucks, chipmunks, squirrels, prairie dogs, marmots,chinchillas, voles, lemmings, and many others.

May I barge in here? Chipmunks and squirrels aren't actually rodents at all. They're their own family, called Mephits.

By the way, the Rodentia does not include rabbits either; because rabbits have an extra pair of incisors and in other skeletal features. Rabbits, hares, and a few other species make up the Lagomorpha. The Lagomorpha members are commonly called Lapines.

In the pirate show One Piece, there's a bear-like species of rabbits called Lapins. Clever, huh?

Shrews, moles and hedgehogs are also not rodents; they are classified in the Insectivora because they eat insects.

Being a common rodent myself, I'd prefer cheese, thanks.

When we think of rodents we think of their teeth and their ability to gnaw. That is just what the word rodent means, to gnaw. That ability to gnaw is what defines rodents.The meaning of the word "rodent" is "to gnaw" and rodents are designed for gnawing.
Mice are notorious for their ability to nibble. Mice eat many different kinds of food but usually prefer to eat grains and seeds.

A single mouse doesn't each very much food in a day or even in a whole year. Scientists have measured the amount of food the average mouse eats and discovered that they eat only only about 3 grams of food per day or about 8 pounds per year. So why are mice and other rodents considered such pests? Well, when mice nibble they don't eat the whole pile of seeds in front of them but nibble a bit here, scurry around and nibble a bit there. They make take one bite, discard the rest of the seed and scurry over to another, contaminating a much larger pile of seeds or other food.

Photo Credit: Rodent Teeth
on Wikipedia, Creative Commons

Two Spinifex Hopping Mice Huddle Together to Keep Warm
Edwards, Jason
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What can I say, that thing looked good 'til I tasted it.

Mice don't drink water but get water from the food they drink.

Sort of like desert animals. Did you know jerboas and gerbils pretty much never drink?

House mice forage mostly at night but can sometimes be seen during the daytime.

Mice make round balls of fibrous materials for their nests that they weave together loosely. Their nests may be 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Look for these rodent nests in sheltered locations.


Hazel Dormice, Sleeping, UK
Tipling, David
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Mice, common rodents, become adults and begin to breed when they are 6 to 10 weeks old no matter what time of year.This means that one nest of these common rodents could produce as many as 2,500 rodent offspring in just six months.

A mouse usually travels no more than 10 to 30 feet from its nest to obtain food and water.

Photo Credit: Gould mouse Pseudomys gouldii
From WPClipart

Hey, do YOU wanna lug that food back more than 300 times your own length?

Photo Credit: Rodent Droppings
Illustrations from the A.C.T. Parks and Conservation Service

Under perfect conditions a nest of mice can deposit 18,000 droppings or scat.

Common rodents such as rats or mice prefer to travel around the perimeters rather than across empty spaces. This is because they have a highly developed sense of touch.. Common Rodent whiskers, known to scientists as vibrissae as well as specialized hairs along the rodent's body are highly sensitive to touch.

Photo Credit: House Mouse
on WPClipart

Have you ever tried going across a room at night with the lights out? The safest way is to put out your hand and feel along the wall. Humans are sensitive to touch in our hands, Common rodents are sensitive to touch in their hairs.

Rats, another common rodent, prefer to have their bodies continually in contact with at least one wall when moving from place to place.

Common rodents are not afraid when new objects are placed in their environment and are curious to "check things out". This curiosity make trapping mice and rats easy because they willingly go into the traps to check out the new object.

...Hey!

In My Secret Garden
St. Clair, Mary...
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This was also in that section I talked about. It's a little more on topic.

Everyone needs a few mice around. Toy mice are fun to play with and spark children's imaginations. When my children were younger I always kept a few in my pocket book or in their coat pockets for times that we were out and the children needed to quietly keep busy. T

They would pull out their mice in the car, on the bus or in a train, start to show them the sights and soon there would be a whole story going on.

When we got home there would be a new story to write down. We have these stories lovingly stored on the book shelf and occasionally put them out to reread and remember the adventures of the Family of Mice in the Pocket.

I like to turn them into the characters in the Redwall Series. Fun fun fun!

Whitefoot the Woodmouse
Available on Amazon

Fiction and Non-Fiction books about mice and rats to spark the imagination and bring better understanding to the world of mice and rats.

Having a pet in the classroom is important for children to learn first hand how to care for pets and is the best way to observe animal behavior.

I like to have at least one member of the rodent family in the classroom. We set up a schedule with parents and children to come in on weekends to care for them. Animals usually go home on long weekends and vacations.

You may find that children in older classes or in high school are happy to help out as well.

Harvest Mouse Standing Up on Corn, UK
Andy Sands
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Havahart traps are the ideal way to capture and observe wild mice, rats, chipmunks and squirrels.

My daughter discovered this last summer when the chipmunks decided that our kitchen was a free restaurant.

We put all the food in glass jars and then set out the Havahart trap.

As we caught each one we observed it for about 20 minutes, writing down everything that we noticed.

Soon she was able to distinguish each individual.

These little finger puppets are great for pretending to be in Redwall or for any other Rat and Mice play. They make great stocking stuffers and can be carried in a pocket book to keep kids amused on trips to the doctor or dentist.

Hamtaro is a lovable hamster born at an adoption center. He finds himself bought by a young girl named Amy, and his world becomes full of adventures and fun...other than the trouble he gets into along the way!

After quite a few adventures and lots of mischief, Hamtaro one day discovers a tunnel to the outside, and meets Oxnard and Boss, who help him form the Ham-hams, a helpful band of justice-serving hamsters. And even more adventures are yet to come!

The Redwall Series are my favorite books. I live in Redwall because the rodents are the heroes.