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Pine Mouse
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- Length
- 6 inches.
- Description
- Uniform rusty brown on the upper surface, lighter on the sides, where it passes gradually into the silvery-gray of the under parts. Young individuals are quite gray above with no reddish tints. The short, dense silky fur distinguishes the species from any other mouse.
- Range
- Southern New York and Connecticut to Illinois and southward to Florida.
- Range
- Southern New England and Middle States.
- Range
- Lower Mississippi Valley.
This is the most distinct of all the meadow mouse tribe. So soft and silky is its fur that we think at once of the mole, the very small eyes and ears likewise resemble this animal, but the teeth at once show it to be a mouse and the rusty colour is not found in any of the mole tribe. The points that the pine mouse possesses in common with the mole are evidently the results of similar habits, for this little beast is the most strictly subterranean of any of the mice. He is not content with a runway on the surface among the grass roots but must go strictly underground, and many a one have I caught in raised tunnels that I took to be the work of the moles. Much damage done to vegetables and plants in the garden which is usually attributed to the meadow mouse is, I am quite sure, really the work of this silky haired cousin, the pine mouse.
Varieties of the Pine Mouse
1. Pine Mouse. Microtus pinetorum (Le Conte). Description as above, range Southern Atlantic States.
2. Northern Pine Mouse. M. pinetorum scalopsoides Audubon and Bachman. Light in colour.
3. Mississippi Pine Mouse. M. pinetorum auricularis Bailey. Darker and richer in colour, with rather larger ears.