Beach Mice Information and Facts

Alabama beach mice are an interesting and lesser know type of mouse. They have large black eyes and a smooth, short coat. They are typically white on their underside and light brown on the top of their heads and backs.

They are listed as an endangered species and are native to the Alabama coast in the US. They can still be found all across the Gulf Coast in Alabama and surrounding areas. Although development and progress in these areas has serious disrupted them and damaged their population.

This has resulted in several subspecies of the beach mouse being listed as endangered. It’s sad to think that this is the result of human progress and development, but it’s an unfortunate reality.

If you live in these areas there are some things you can do to help preserve their natural habitat. These include:

• Don’t walk over sand dunes, this is where the they nest
• Don’t drive over sand dunes if you’re using a vehicle on the sand, use paths ways or flat sand
• Don’t allow pets like dogs to dig and burrow in the sand dunes
• Don’t use poisons in or around sand dunes
• Don’t litter the beach as rubbish attracts predators

Keeping Beach Mice as Pets

Being an endangered species you cannot keep beach mice as pets. They need to be left in their natural environment and allowed to populate and breed. It’s possible human intervention will be needed to help populate numbers, but this will be done in a controlled fashion and not through pets.

They are not tame mice by any means. If you see one in the wild it will not want to come up to you, they are more likely to hide in the sand as quickly as possible.

What Do Beach Mice Eat

Beach mice eat various plants, seeds and insects that they can find where they live. The beach is actually a breeding ground for small edible insects, so they can manage just fine if they are left alone.

If you have found a nest near where you live it’s not recommended you try to leave food for them. Leaving food will only attract other animals, possibly predators. Just leave them to forage for themselves.

Beach Mice Environment

They nest inside sand dunes and are nocturnal mice so they are most active at night. They help keep their environment flourish by leaving uneaten seeds that turn into plants.

They live in small colonies and will make a network of tunnels to keep food and stay warm overnight. It’s not common to see one by eye. So it’s even more special if you see an Alabama beach mouse going about its business during the day.

Alabama Beach Mouse Predators

As mentioned previously these mice are an endangered species. This is partly due to their nests in sand dunes being disturbed, and also predators. The following main predators prey on beach mice:

• Snakes
• Cats
• Owls
• Other birds

Other factors that disrupt their colonies:

• Flooding
• People, vehicles and pets
• Trash attracting more predators
• Extreme weather conditions