deer mouse
- noun
- /dɪr maʊs/
- Specialized
- Deer mice disappeared completely from our Placitas, Sevilleta, and Navajo sites in New Mexico.
- deer mouse density
- deer mouse population
- deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)
Examples
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As many as 20 percent of Yosemite's deer mice carry hantavirus, Gediman estimated.
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The surviving deer mouse scoots downhill.
Academic text (2000) -
The 44% trap success in September 2012 indicated that the deer mouse population there was more robust than in previous years.
Academic text (2014) -
The Colorado sites maintained low populations of deer mice, with seroprevalence levels generally below 10%.
Academic text (2002) -
I had a deer mouse get into one of our bays after only one night in Yosemite.
Blog text (27) -
The number of infected deer mice declined as well, with no infected rodents detected at four of the nine sites.
Academic text (2002) -
The presence of SNV (14% seroprevalence) among these deer mice was comparable to the 16% seroprevalence reported previously in deer mice trapped at similar elevations in California (19).
Academic text (2014) -
Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are the reservoir for SNV (8), which infected mice shed in their urine, saliva, and feces.
Academic text (2014) -
Public health officials believe that only deer mice carry hantavirus in California.
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Many more deer mice increased the possibility of human exposure to the virus.
Synonyms
A small animal with a pointed nose, small ears, and a long tail
A small brown mouse from North America that often lives in woods and fields
A small wild mouse called a deer mouse that lives in North and Central America
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'deer mouse' is transparently built from 'deer' modifying 'mouse' to indicate a type of mouse that resembles or is associated with deer (e.g., deer-like coloring or habitat). This productive noun+noun naming pattern is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows 'deer' and 'mouse' can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Deer mouse gets its name from the animal's look. This small mouse has a brown, deer-like color and long back legs, so people put deer and mouse together to name it.