It is a mice of mice from the coastal areas of the North American Pacific, with a very limited capacity to adapt to highly transformed habitats, which has made much of its populations today concentrated in the native vegetation areas best preserved within its range. Like the rest of mice of mice, it obtains the practical totality of the water it needs from the metabolism of the dry seeds that constitute the basis of its diet, without depending on liquid water sources. It lives in a relatively narrow section of California and the north of Lower California, where several populations show color differences associated with the local type of treatment, more pale on clear soil and darker on its volcanic origin.
Small rodent, gray brown fur with variable tones depending on the population and local substratum, body covered with rigid hair on the back, and long tail with terminal moss. It differs from other mice from its area by cranial details and by its more restricted distribution to shrub and coastal shrub zones.
Small footprint with lengthy rear legs, 1.5-2 cm, with coupled jump marks typical of biped rodents. Small, lengthy feces, 4-6 mm, left dispersed near the strawberry. Excavate simple strawberries in loose soil under dense debris, with the entrance often covered during the day.
Matorral and coastal chaparral, from low lands to middle mountain quarters. Distributed by a fraction of California, United States, and the north of Baja California, Mexico.
Granivorous, it feeds mainly on seeds, complemented with succulent vegetation and occasional insect.
Solitary and strictly nocturnal, it remains in its nursery during the hours of daytime heat.
Its populations are considered stable in most of its distribution area, although locally sensitive to the loss of well-preserved native shrub.
Loss and fragmentation of native crop and crop by urban expansion in some areas of California.
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