π¦ Animal world π Mammals
The mouse
π In short
The mouse is a small animal with soft fur, a pointed nose, round black eyes, round ears and a long thin tail. It's a rodent, an animal that gnaws with its sharp front teeth.
π€© Did you know?
- The pygmy mouse is one of the smallest rodents, about 5 centimeters long.
- A female mouse can have babies every 20 to 30 days.
- There are more than 400 kinds of mice.
- A mouse can squeeze through a tiny hole about the size of a pencil.
π Find out more
π Teeth that keep growing
A mouse's front teeth keep growing all its life, so it gnaws hard things a lot to keep them short. That's why it may chew wood, paper and even wires!
π Nose and whiskers
A mouse relies on its strong nose and long whiskers to find its way in the dark and find food. Its ears hear the faintest sounds.
π‘ Big families
A mother mouse has many babies each time, and can have babies about once a month, so mouse numbers grow very fast.
π― Many kinds of mice
There are many mice: the house mouse, the field mouse and the jumping mouse of the desert. Some people keep white mice as pets.
𧩠Test yourself
1 Why does a mouse gnaw hard things?
2 The mouse belongs to the group of:
3 The pygmy mouse is one of the smallest rodents, about ?? centimeters long.
4 Which picture shows βThe mouseβ?
π¦ Discover more
π· Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons
- George Shuklin (talk) Β· CC BY-SA 1.0
