How Often Do Wild Mice Need to Eat?

Wild mice eat as often as they can, sometimes 15 to 20 times a day, depending on the availability of food. Mice are energetic animals with fast metabolisms, so they require a lot of food each day. When food is plentiful, mice often store it for times of scarcity by utilizing old abandoned animal burrows or empty nests, cavities beneath rocks or bricks, or even the nooks and crannies of old buildings and homes.

Pet mice do best when their owners keep food available for them at all times. Pet mice eat often, just as their wild counterparts do. They have the same nutritional needs -- so a wide variety of seeds, berries, other fruits, nuts and proteins and even some people foods, such as peanut butter or crackers will serve them. Mice do not overeat; they consume only what they need.

Wild mice eat a lot of insects, including grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, caterpillars, insect larvae and pupae, worms, centipedes, moths, butterflies and snails, among others. Sometimes mice eat animals that are smaller and slower than they are, including baby mice or other young rodents, as well as the occasional tiny bird. A mouse will steal and eat a bird's egg from a nest.

Wild mice often eat plant materials such as acorns, pecans, blueberries, cherries, grapes, strawberries, pine seeds, poplar seeds, violets, maple seeds, hickory nuts, beech nuts and the tiny seedlings of black cherry trees. Wild mice also consume root plants such as potatoes and carrots, and fungi such as mushrooms. They also raid gardens and take bites out of vegetables growing there, including tomatoes, peas, corn, bell peppers, radishes and beans, among other garden plants.