# Where Do Mouses Live?

> Where mouses live: Buildings, fields, and grassland worldwide, native range cues, and human overlap. Status Least Concern.

- **Species:** Mouse (*Mus musculus*)
- **Conservation status:** Least Concern
- **Diet:** Omnivore (mainly seeds and grains)
- **Habitat:** Buildings, fields, and grassland worldwide
- **Lifespan:** About 1 year wild (2–3 in captivity)
- **Top speed:** 13 km/h (8 mph)
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/mouse/where-do-mouse-live/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/mouse/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

The house mouse is a small rodent with large ears, a pointed snout, and a thin tail roughly as long as its body. It is one of the most successful mammals on Earth, living alongside humans almost everywhere, and is a major laboratory animal. House mice weigh only about 12–30 g, breed rapidly year-round, and usually live around a year in the wild.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a sighting hotline. This page is native range and habitat.

## Behaviour and senses

House mice are mainly nocturnal and intensely curious, constantly exploring their surroundings while staying close to cover. They have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell, hearing that extends into the ultrasonic, and sensitive whiskers that let them feel their way along walls in the dark. They communicate using scent marks and ultrasonic calls that are too high for people to hear.

## Help protect the Mouse

Even familiar animals lose ground as wild habitat keeps shrinking worldwide.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

---
Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/mouse/where-do-mouse-live/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.