Mouse: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

For the computer peripheral, see computer mouse.

A stay mouse is part of the rigging on some sailing vessels.

A mouse is a mammal that belongs to one of numerous species of small rodents in the genus Mus and various related genera of the family Muridæ. Mus musculus, the common house mouse (or laboratory mouse) is found in nearly all countries. The American white-footed mouse (Hesperomys peromyscus), and the deer mouse (Hesperomys leucopus) sometimes live in houses. These species of mice live commensally with humans.

Mice are popular as pets; special varieties of mice, especially albino ones, are also bred as laboratory specimens. In the 2006 Biosatellite project, for example, a group of mice-astronauts will orbit Earth inside a spinning spacecraft to learn what its like to live on Mars. [1]

However, mice can also be harmful pests, damaging and eating crops and spreading diseases through their parasites and feces. The domestication of cats is thought to have been for their predation of mice and their relatives, the rats. A mouse trap can also be used to catch mice.

Mice generally live on a herbivore diet, but are actually omnivores - they will eat meat, the dead bodies of other mice, and have been observed to cannibalise their tails during starvation.

Famous cartoon mice include: Mickey Mouse, Jerry of Tom and Jerry, Pinky and the Brain, and Itchy of Itchy and Scratchy, a show-within-a-show on The Simpsons. See also List of fictional mice.