Wild mice are not the ones which people keep as pets. Pet mice have, over centuries of careful breeding, become a race which differs in many ways from the one which consists of the fancy mice's ancestors.

1. The behaviour of a wild mouse is generally erratic and of a nervous nature when the animal is in the vicinity of humans. A pet mouse, however, will mostly be calm and tame (considering that a 'new' mouse in one's home does need some time to lose initial timidity, and that it depends on the effort of the 'owner' to which extent the mouse really becomes literally tame).

2. Through a very long time of selective breeding, the pet mouse of today has virtually lost its fear of people - whereas a wild mouse has an intense fear of humans. That hungry wild mice may raid your store of food does not mean that it is a particularly cheeky animal; it merely means it is hungry.

3. Wild mice are carriers of a number of diseases some of which can be harmful to humans. A pet mouse which can be bought from a store, directly from a mouse breeder, or even acquired from an animal sanctuary (!) are normally free of any diseases, and therefore safe for people of all ages and circumstances to keep and handle. ... ... However, things can turn out unfortunate, not for the human but for the mouse. One of my mice has apparently a not clearly diagnosed disease which breaks out from time to time - and which makes her a much more expensive than usual mouse to keep!

4. The movements of a wild mouse are extremely rapid while the physical behaviour of a pet mouse is relatively calm. ... ... 5. In fact, a wild mouse cannot be handled by humans; every pet mouse can be handled, and the more skillful the 'owner' becomes the easier it will be to catch a mouse or even, after time, coax it into one's hand.

Good info .

6. Should you try to catch a wild mouse and have the misfortune to succeed ... the animal will probably bite you, and the wound on your hand would have to be treated with an antiseptic application immediately. A pet mouse, however, never bites. ... Exceptions to this are very, very rare - I was once bitten by a 'new' mouse which got either frightened or hurt by my unskillful handling (in my early days of mousekeeping), but the pet mouse's bite is, should it ever occur, completely harmless.

7. The wild mouse is smaller and lighter than the pet mouse, and has the colors grey, brown or black. The pet mouse is larger and heavier and comes in a large variety of colors, color mixes, patterns etc. 8. The wild mouse is active at night and spends the day mainly sleeping and hiding. Pet mice are active both nights and days (one does not have to stay up at night to see them.

9. Wild mice seem to eat just almost anything they find, particularly in the cold and scarcity of winter when they would eat even the most unsuitable food, for example cheese ... ... It comes as a surprise to most that cheese should absolutely not be included in the shopping list for mouse food. A pet mouse has to be fed with great care and knowledge - food which will, after time, lead to its illness and early death includes cheese and other dairy products, acid food like garlic, oranges etc, and peanuts.

10. The average lifetime expectancy of a pet mouse can vary from 1.5 years to 3 years. The lifetime expectancy of a wild mouse is 3 months. One cannot release a pet mouse into the wild. It will not survive.

Some folks may appear to think me crazy coz I say I live with mice at home. I suppose they imagine I catch them in the field? - Perhaps this thread brings some clarification about the difference between mouse and ... well, mouse.

Nice topic and good study about mouse

Hmmz Im just wondering which sorta mouse you are? are you the wild mouse? Or the tame mouse? Coz your certainly different than those? Are you a super breed of Mice? Do you know Piny and da Brain? I lurv dem can you get their autograph for me pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaze

PINKY

11. Only in very, very rare cases has the breeding of pet mice known to have gone wrong, somehow. The mice which resulted from those rare accidents usually are of no use whatsoever; they often register on wapsites pretending to be humans who pretend to be mice. They love writing articles on mice on the net and live a happy but useless life in accomodations with no other humans, ah, mice, no, humans, oh what the hell.

Sorry dear'i rly HATE MICE,but i do THE M0USE........

Are you saying you are human after all! OMG OMW oh this cannot be

some very good mice facts by the world greatest mouse

Human? Me? Yuck, no, I'm of course a real mouse, my avatar shows it clearly enough!

Oh yeah sir! The only speaking m0use in the universe... The M0use. :wink: Thanks for the facts about mice.