History House mice usually live in proximity to humans, in or around houses and/or fields. They are native to
India, and later they spread to the eastern Mediterranean about 13,000 BC, only spreading into the rest of Europe around 1000 BC. This time lag is thought to be because the mice require agrarian human settlements above a certain size. The house mouse first arrived in the Americas in the early sixteenth century. It was carried aboard on the ships of Spanish explorers and
Conquistadors. About one hundred years later, it arrived in North America with French fur traders and English colonists. They have since been spread to all parts of the globe by humans. Many studies have been done on mouse phylogenies to reconstruct early human movements. For example, one study suggests the possibility of a previously unsuspected early link between Northern Europe and Madeira on the basis of the origin of Madeiran mice. House mice were thought to be the primary reason for the
domestication of cats.
As pets The first written reference to mice kept as pets occurs in the
Erya, the oldest extant Chinese dictionary, from a mention in an 1100 BC version. Human domestication led to numerous strains of "
fancy" or hobby mice with a variety of colours and a docile
temperament. Domestic varieties of the house mouse are bred as a food source for some
carnivorous pet reptiles, birds,
arthropods, and fish. The effects of domestication can be rapid, with captive-reared mice differing in boldness and activity patterns compared to wild-caught mice after 4–5 generations in recent research.
Mice as pests , Germany. Mice are widespread
pest organisms, and one of the most common rodents to infest human buildings. They commonly forage outdoors during the spring and summer, but retreat into buildings through the autumn and winter to seek warmth and food. They typically feed on unattended food, leftovers and garden produce. Their foraging risks the contamination and degradation of food supplies, and can also spread other pests such as
fleas,
ticks,
lice and
mites. When infesting homes, house mice may pose a risk of damaging and compromising the structure of furniture and the building itself. They gnaw various materials to file down their growing teeth and keep the length under control. Common damage includes gnawed electrical wires, marks on wooden furniture and construction supporting elements, and textile damage.
Mice and diseases House mice can sometimes transmit diseases, contaminate food, and damage food packaging. Although the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a list with diseases transmitted by rodents, only a few of the diseases are transmitted through the house mouse.
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCMV) can be transmitted by mice, but is not a commonly reported infection in humans, though most infections are mild and are often never diagnosed. Some concern exists that women should not be infected with LCMV during pregnancy. House mice are not usually a vector of human plague (
bubonic plague) because they have fewer infestations with fleas than do rats, and because the fleas which house mice normally carry exhibit little tendency to bite humans rather than their natural host.
Rickettsialpox, caused by the bacterium
Rickettsia akari and similar to
chickenpox, is spread by mice in general, but is very rare and generally mild and resolves within two or three weeks if untreated. No known deaths have resulted from the disease.
Murine typhus (also called endemic typhus), caused by the bacterium
Rickettsia typhi, is transmitted by the fleas that infest rats. While rat fleas are the most common vectors, cat fleas and mouse fleas are less common modes of transmission. Endemic typhus is highly treatable with antibiotics. The U.S. CDC currently does not mention rickettsialpox or murine typhus on its website about diseases directly transmitted by rodents (in general). In Central Europe, the Dobriva sequence of
hantavirus has been found in house mice. This is the most serious type of
hanta that can infect humans. Mice contribute indirectly to the transmission of
Lyme disease by acting as hosts for tick larvae. When young ticks feed on infected mice, they acquire the bacteria responsible for the disease. As these ticks mature, they can transmit the infection to humans and other animals through subsequent bites, thereby playing a crucial role in the disease's ecological cycle.
Invasive species Mice have become an
invasive species on islands to where they have spread during the period of European exploration and colonisation. New Zealand had no land mammals other than two species of bat prior to human occupation, and the house mouse is one of many species that have been introduced. Mice are responsible for a reduction in native bird species since they eat some of the same foods as birds. They are also known to kill lizards and have a large effect on native insects.
Gough Island in the South Atlantic is used by 20 species of seabirds for breeding, including almost all of the world's
Tristan albatross (
Diomedea dabbenena) and
Atlantic petrel (
Pterodroma incerta). Until house mice arrived on the island in the 19th century with sailors, the birds did not have any mammalian predators. The mice have since grown unusually large and have learned to attack
albatross chicks, which can be 90 cm tall, but are largely immobile, by working in groups and gnawing on them until they bleed to death. In the grain belt of southeastern Australia, the introduced subspecies
M. m. domesticus breed so successfully, every three years or so they reach plague proportions, achieving densities of 1000 per hectare and causing massive disruption to communities, and losses to agriculture of A$36 million annually.
As a model organism Mice are the most commonly used mammalian laboratory animal, due to their relatively close relationship, and associated high
homology, with humans, their ease in maintenance and handling, and their high rate of reproduction. Laboratory mice typically belong to standardized inbred strains selected for the stability or clarity of specific harmful mutations. This allows research with laboratory mice to easily restrict genetic and biological variables, making them very useful model organisms in genetic and medicinal research. Mice have been used in scientific research since the 1650s.
In folk culture Importance of mice as a house and agricultural pest resulted in a development of a variety of mouse-related rituals and stories in world's cultures. The
Ancient Egyptians had a story about "The mouse as
vizier". Many
South Slavs had a traditional annual "Mouse Day" celebration. In the eastern Balkans (most of Bulgaria,
North Macedonia, the
Torlak districts of
Serbia), the "Mouse Day" () was celebrated on 9 October of the
Julian calendar (corresponds to 27 October of the Gregorian calendar in the 20th and 21st centuries), the next day after the feast of
Saint Demetrius. In the western Balkans (
Bosnia,
Croatia), the Mouse Day would usually be celebrated in the spring, during the
Maslenitsa week or early in the
Lent. ==See also==