Wood mouse
Apodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) is a small rodent in the family Muridae, subfamily Murinae, within the order Rodentia of the mammals. It is a nocturnal, terrestrial herbivore with an adult body mass of 30.45 g.
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Quick facts about the wood mouse
Gestation lasts 23.44 days, litters average 5.18 young, there are 3.8 litters per year, and sexual maturity comes at 68 days. Its lifespan is 4.4 years, with values up to 6.3 years reported, and the IUCN Red List classes it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 23.4 g – 30.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 9 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 4.4 years – 6.33 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 23.4 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.18src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 65 days – 71 dayssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 3.8src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the wood mouse?
Photos of the wood mouse
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the wood mouse live?
Not recorded
What is the wood mouse?
The wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) is a murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (A. flavicollis) but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, has slightly smaller ears, and is usually slightly smaller overall: around 90 mm (3.54 in) in length and 23 g in weight. It is found across most of Europe and is a very common and widespread species, is commensal with people and is sometimes considered a pest. Other common names are long-tailed field mouse, field mouse, common field mouse, and European wood mouse. This species is a known potential carrier of the Dobrava sequence of hantavirus which affects humans and may pose serious risks to human health.
From the Wikipedia article “Wood mouse” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wood_mouse&oldid=1383374994), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the wood mouse endangered?
The wood mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the wood mouse classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familyMuridae
- genusApodemus
- SpeciesApodemus sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Apodemus alpinus, Apodemus bergensis, Apodemus butei, Apodemus callipides, Apodemus celticus, Apodemus creticus, Apodemus cumbrae, Apodemus fiolagan, Apodemus flaviventris, Apodemus fridariensis grantii, Apodemus fridariensis thuleo, Apodemus ghia, Apodemus hebridensis, Apodemus hebridensis cumbrae, Apodemus hebridensis fiolagan, Apodemus hebridensis ghia, Apodemus hebridensis hamiltoni, Apodemus hebridensis larus, Apodemus hebridensis maclean, Apodemus hebridensis nesiticus, Apodemus hebridensis tirae, Apodemus hebridensis tural, Apodemus hirtensis, Apodemus intermedius, Apodemus islandicus, Apodemus krkensis, Apodemus larus, Apodemus sylvaticus butei, Apodemus sylvaticus clanceyi, Apodemus sylvaticus creticus, Apodemus sylvaticus dichruoides, Apodemus sylvaticus falzefeini, Apodemus sylvaticus grandiculus, Apodemus sylvaticus hermani, Apodemus sylvaticus hessei, Apodemus sylvaticus iconicus, Apodemus sylvaticus ilvanus, Apodemus sylvaticus kilikiae, Apodemus sylvaticus maximus, Apodemus sylvaticus milleri, Apodemus sylvaticus spadix, Apodemus tirae, Apodemus tural, Apodemus vulgaris, Micromys sylvaticus callipides, Mus algirus, Mus chamaeropsis, Mus hayi, Mus hebridensis, Mus hirtensis, Mus intermedius, Mus islandicus, Mus pecchioli, Mus reboudia, Mus sylvaticus, Mus sylvaticus albus, Mus sylvaticus alpinus, Mus sylvaticus bergensis, Mus sylvaticus candidus, Mus sylvaticus celticus, Mus sylvaticus flavobrunneus, Mus sylvaticus fridariensis, Mus sylvaticus griseus, Mus sylvaticus isabellinus, Mus sylvaticus leucocephalus, Mus sylvaticus niger, Mus sylvaticus parvus, Mus sylvaticus varius, Musculus dichrurus, Sylvaemus sylvaticus flaviventris
Other names and names in other languages (24)
- Common field mouseEnglish
- Field mouseEnglish
- Long-tailed field mouseEnglish
- Long-tailed field mouseEnglish
- Small wood mouseEnglish
- Small wood mouseEnglish
- Wood mouse, long-tailed field mouseEnglish
- Llygod y CoedWelsh
- Llygoden y CoedWelsh
- SkovmusDanish
- Kleine WaldmausGerman
- WaldmausGerman
- Ratón De CampoSpanish
- Mulot sylvestreFrench
- luch-coilleScottish Gaelic
- luch-fheòirScottish Gaelic
- luchan-coilleScottish Gaelic
- luchan-feòirScottish Gaelic
- skogmusNorwegian Bokmål
- liten skogmusNorwegian Bokmål
- småskogmusNorwegian Bokmål
- BosmuisDutch
- lita skogmusNorwegian Nynorsk
- mindre skogsmusSwedish
Relatives of the wood mouse
Other species in the same genus Apodemus.
Yellow-necked mouse
Apodemus flavicollis
Striped field mouse
Apodemus agrarius
Herb field mouse
Apodemus uralensis
Broad-toothed field mouse
Apodemus mystacinus
Korean wood mouse
Apodemus peninsulae
Taiwan field mouse
Apodemus semotus
CompareWood mouse vs Yellow-necked mouseWood mouse vs Striped field mouseWood mouse vs Herb field mouseWood mouse vs Broad-toothed field mouse
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the wood mouse?
The wood mouse is a small rodent in the family Muridae, a mammal of the order Rodentia.
How heavy is a wood mouse?
An adult wood mouse has a body mass of 30.45 g.
What does the wood mouse eat?
The wood mouse is a herbivore.
How long does a wood mouse live?
The wood mouse has a lifespan of 4.4 years, with values up to 6.3 years reported.
How many young does a wood mouse have?
A wood mouse litter averages 5.18 young, with 3.8 litters per year after a gestation of 23.44 days.
When does a wood mouse reach sexual maturity?
A wood mouse reaches sexual maturity at 68 days, with reported values from 65 to 71 days.
Is the wood mouse endangered?
No. The wood mouse is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-mouse
“Wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-mouse.
@misc{wood_mouse_2026,
title = {Wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-mouse},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}