Family: Muridae, Mice and Rats view all from this family

Description Plain brown to grayish-fawn above; white below. Tail short, white to pale gray. L 4 1/2 -5 1/2" (115-140 mm); T 1 3/4 -2" (45-50 mm); HF 5/8" (15 mm).

Endangered Status The Perdido Key Beach Mouse, a subspecies of the Oldfield Mouse, is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Florida and Alabama. This beach mouse lives on Perdido Key, which lies on the Gulf shoreline on the Alabama-Florida border. It owes its endangered status to the destruction of its habitat by tropical storms and the modification of its habitat for human residential and recreational use. Two species associated with humans further threaten this mouse: The house cat, which preys on it, and the House Mouse, which competes with it for food and habitat. Today the Perdido Key Beach Mouse survives in Gulf State Park, on the Alabama side of the key, and in Gulf Islands National Seashore on the Florida side.

Habitat Coastal sand dunes, overgrown fields.

Range Gulf coast at Alabama-Florida border.