as a stowaway in ship cargo, centuries ago, and does not flourish in natural settings where native mice dominate. A consult of the Guide to Mammals of Pennsylvania reveals that even this expanded lineup oversimplifies nature. The Guide recognizes three subtly different subspecies of deer mouse, whose distinctions arose from living in specialized habitats like wetland and mountaintop forest. The Guide also subdivides our redbacked vole into three subspecies, including the Kittatinny red-backed vole found only along the stony ridgetop border between Berks and Schuylkill counties. With respect for the specialists who can parse out such nuance, we'll think here at the species level, content to afford our native mice and voles even that recognition. It's important that we appreciate this diversity around us. Without that grateful knowledge we can't begin to maintain natural communities that support our own lives. In a more personal sense, recognizing that the world of small native rodents is more complex than an anonymous clump of " mice " opens us to wonder, to the joy of knowing we are not alone on the earth. We weren't alone in the woods when I worked as a counselor in a therapeutic outdoor-living program for troubled adolescent boys. We lived with the boys in canvas tents in deep woods while we built a cabin for winter shelter. We cooked around a central fire and stored our sundries in wooden footlockers under our bunks. Our camp was a magnet for mice I never knew existed. Deer Mouse 56