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| Distribution |
In NC, it is essentially limited to the mountain region, and there found mostly from 3,500 feet and higher, though ranging down to about 2,000 feet in winter. There are only a few records for the western Piedmont, where questions remain about regular occurrence.
By far the most wide-ranging native mouse that occurs in North America, occurring from coast to coast and from northern Canada south to the southern Appalachians and down into Mexico. It thus is absent from most of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain provinces. |
| Abundance |
Abundant in the mountains, mostly above 4,000 feet; less numerous at lower elevations, where it broadly overlaps with the White-footed Deermouse. Very rare, apparently, in the western Piedmont, where it is uncertain if it is a resident, or a stray from the mountains. |
| Seasonal Occurrence |
Active year-round. In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it has been recorded below 2,000 feet in winter or early spring, but in summer the same site was occupied by only the White-footed (Linzey 1995), suggesting that there is some altitudinal movement to lower elevations in the colder months. |
| Habitat |
Strictly in cool forests, preferably where moist. Favored are spruce-fir or spruce-hardwoods, but cove forests or hardwood forests with much rhododendron cover are also utilized. It is seldom found in dry forests, and hardly even in fields and brushy habitats.
See also Habitat Account for General Montane Mesic Forests |
| Behavior |
Essentially nocturnal. Spends much time in areas with rocks, logs, and other heavy cover on the forest floor. |
| Comments |
This is possibly the most abundant mammal in the state at the middle and higher elevations in the mountains, along with the Southern Red-backed Vole and possibly one or two shrews. There is a moderate range overlap with the White-footed Deermouse, especially from about 2,000 to 4,500 feet elevation; both can occur in the same habitats. The few records from the Piedmont, east of the higher foothill ranges, are puzzling. Does the species occur at all in the South Mountains or the Brushy Mountains? Records for those mountain ranges do not appear on the Lee et al. (1982) range map. |
| Origin |
Native |
| NC List |
Official |
 State Rank |
S5 |
| State Status |
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| Global Rank |
G5 |
| Federal Status |
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| subspecies |
Peromyscus maniculatus nubiterrae |
| other_comName |
Deer Mouse |
| synonym |
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