But not every mouse is a house mouse. Minnesota has many kinds of mice and close mouse relatives, including voles, lemmings, muskrats, jumping mice, and pocket mice. All are rodents.
Rodents are the most widespread and numerous mammals on earth.
Because many rodents are small, they need less food and tinier shelters than big species need. As a rule, small creatures can find more places to live than big ones can. That's why the world has about 10 times as many species the size of a mouse as it has species the size of a deer. Squirrels, gophers, porcupines, and beavers are bigger rodents. All rodents have two pairs of incisors with chisel-like edges for gnawing and cutting.