white-footed mouse

American  

[hwahyt-foot-id, wahyt-] / ˈʰwaɪtˌfʊt ɪd, ˈwaɪt- /

noun

1. any of several North American woodland mice of the genus Peromyscus, especially P. leucopus, having white feet and undersides.

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white-footed mouse British  

noun

1. any of various mice of the genus Peromyscus, esp P. leucopus, of North and Central America, having brownish fur with white underparts: family Cricetidae See also deer mouse

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Etymology

Origin of white-footed mouse

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60

Example Sentences

If a tick feeds on an infected white-footed mouse, the tick has a 90 percent chance of picking up the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, says Felicia Keesing, a Bard College disease ecologist.

From Scientific American • Jul. 7, 2022

The white-footed mouse, which has historically proliferated from the Tennessee Valley through the northern Atlantic Coast, has already expanded its northern limit into Québec, Hoffman said.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2022

This arachnid picks up the bug while feeding on a white-footed mouse and delivers it to the next mammal it bites.

From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2021

But like the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, Babesia protozoans are transmitted to humans by ticks, which acquire the infection from the white-footed mouse and white-tailed deer.

From New York Times • Jul. 30, 2012

A white-footed mouse walked over my woodpile as if it were his.

From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George