CHAPTER II 
THE PANTRY MOUSE 
THE house-mouse (Mus musculus) needs no 
description. The only native species with 
which it can be confused is the harvest-mouse, 
from which it may be readily distinguished by 
its larger size and by the plain or ungrooved 
upper incisors. Like the rat it is a native of 
the Old World, very fertile, adaptable and 
hardy, and from time immemorial has followed 
civilization so closely that it soon becomes es- 
tablished in any settled region: It is therefore 
a world-wide nuisance, but by no means so 
great or difficult a one as is the rat. 
Characteristics.—The little house-mouse can 
hardly be confused with any other, for its ash- 
gray coat, becoming gradually lighter and 
often yellowish on the under parts, has fur- 
nished the language with a distinctive term, 
‘‘mouse-color’’; and its pointed nose, large 
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