Mark Fryes, age 7, of Phoenix, Az. for his question:

Are mice related to gophers?

The gopher is a country cousin of the shy little house mouse. In fact, the gopher has a fancy family name which means Earth‑mouse. Both mouse and gopher belong to the large group of animals called rodents. Rats squirrels, beavers, woodchucks, muskrats, chipmunks, hamsters and porcupines are also rodents.

A rodent is a mammal who gives birth to live babies and feeds them on mothers milk. There are more different rodents than all the other mammals put together, some 6400 of them. Each is classed as a rodent because of his teeth.

He has two pairs of long chisel like teeth in the front of his mouth. He uses them for gnawing. As the tips wear down, the teeth grow up from the bottom. The rodent's remarkable teeth continue to grow all his life.

The gopher is a giant compared to the little mouse. He may be from three to 12 inches long. The mouse eats a mixed diet of meat and vegetables. The gopher eats only plant food. He lives a mole's life underground in a network of tunnels. The mouse lives wherever there are people all over the world. The gopher lives only in certain wide open spaces of North and Central America.