# Do mice have paws, claws, hands and feet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 2, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505 "2007-06-02T18:53:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2007, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505/1 "2007-06-02T18:53:54Z")

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What do you call the things that mice walk on and pick things up with?

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**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505/2 "2007-06-02T19:48:41Z")

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In college biologial anthropology we called it a “grasping foot-paw.”

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**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505/3 "2007-06-02T23:40:18Z")

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Calling **Mouse\_Maven** …

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505/4 "2007-06-03T19:16:56Z")

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[QUOTE=Hello Again]  
In college biologial anthropology we called it a “grasping foot-paw.”  
[/QUOTE]

That sounds about right. Only primate have hands, so a mouse wouldn’t qualify. A paw is just the padded part of a foot on certain mammalian quadrupeds, and stands in contrast to a hoof. Mice do have claws, and a paw isn’t a paw unless the animal has claws or nails, too.

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**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-mice-have-paws-claws-hands-and-feet/406505/5 "2007-06-03T20:11:50Z")

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I was about to say paw, and then I remembered that deer mice are also called white-footed mice. So paw vs. foot may be a matter of preference.

Claws is a matter of fact; mice have them. I’ve never heard the front paws/feet called hands unless someone was trying to be funny.