Thursday, March 10, 2011

Deer Mouse

Deer mice, or white footed mice, constitute some 55 species in the genus Peromyscus, family Cricetidae, order Rodentia. These numerous mice weigh 14 to 57 g (0.5 to 2 oz) and are 9 to 17 cm (3.5 to 6.7 in) long, not including the tail, which may be up to 20 cm (18 in) long. The eyes and ears are relatively large. The fur is soft, dense, and varied in color. Deer mice are found from Alaska to northern South America.


This mice have killed of 27 Americans in 1993 because of respiratory infection, weather extremes cause by El Ninos can effect the spread of infectious diseases. Navajo Indians were among the victims of hantavirus, Navajo art has a long tradition of depicting a connection between increased rain, illness, and an important carrier of the hantavirus diseases, the deer mouse. In the 1991 – 1992 El Nino bought heavier than normal rain and snow. By the spring of 1993 seeds and nut crops flourished, and the deer mouse population boomed.

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