The times., 1901-06-23
THE LATEST FAD IN PETS
A Growing Demand for Mice OF
Various Breeds and COlOrs.
When Properly Trained They ohcr
an Endless Source of Amusement
A Fnncier Tells What He Knows
About Them-speciaI Diet Required

tie animal, the mouse is becoming q
fashionable pet said a well-known
dealer in animals and birds in this city
a few days ago. 1T certainly has need
ed little more than the usual amount
of common courage to overcome an in
born repulsion to the small pets, but
once the trail of the long, snaky tail
over the hand has ceased to jar ones
feelings, the keenness of the fancier as
serts itself, the pattering of the little
cold feet on the palm makes no impress
sion on the nerves, other than that of
delight, and the delicate softness of the
fur impresses one rather as vitalized
velvet
I'm point of age mice are desirable
pets. in that a mouse of three years old
is patriarch and does not end his days
victim to the hundred and one Ills
which mar the falling years of an old
pet dog or cat. Add to this the fact
that they are no trouble to keep. are
of cleanly habits, are cheaply fed, ana
are an endless source of amusement II
trained to perform queer antics, and
many will be inclined to overcome their
nreiudices in favor of another inmate
of the home
Their sphere Of usefulness, indeed,
is limited. If you want a singing mouse
he must, first of all, develop asthma,
and you must choose a mouse, too, for
the purpose of song who has received a
musical education from his earliest
years. or rather days, the rule to be OBJ
served being, no asthma, no song. In a
natural state the mouse will be of use
in disposing Of scraps of food, bits OF
meat, bacon, etc, but petted and Gagged.
he must be looked after and given the
simplest of diets. canary seed. dry
bread soaked in milk, oats. and bran
forming the daily meal which should be
given regularly, while in cold weather
a little chopped suet or well-broiled
meat will help him through the winter.
| II these directions are carefully follow
ed and the feeding tins are kept well
scalded and the cages constantly clean
led out. the objectionable smell usually
associated with mice will be gotten rid
| Of
IF you want TO train your mice to do
tricks. or even if you don't want to
scare them TO death, avoid indiscrimi-
nate opening of the sleeping quarters,
| and pushing them out or poking them
about. This will utterly spoil them and
render it impossible to overcome their
fright sufficiently to train them in
tricks. People rarely realize the rela-
| tive difference in size between the hu-
man and the small creatures, and speak
to them in tones which must sound
thunderous to such mites, or handle
them as though they were made of in
dia-rubber. The result very often is
death from extreme fright or internal
injuries received through roughness Of
touch. It is well to remember that the
mouse is gregarious, rarely thriving
alone. In fact, to get well-kept speci-
mems it is essentially necessary that the
nest should be shared with compan-
ion. as in that case all their affection
and intelligence comes to the surface,
and they then are so much easier train
ed.
For learning, the pure albino is cas-
| lest taught; but a dash of black by way
of marking will get you more sensi-
tized animal which. when it is once
broken in to climb fiagstaffs, etc, will
take to tricks with the ease and
grace Of finished comedian. The trou-
bic. however, with obdurate pupils lies
rather with the teacher than the ami
NAL. AS a breed the fancy mouse is
| both intelligent and thoughtful, and his
memory abnormal.
This species. by the by said the
dealer, referring to a cage in his es-
| tabIishment, lis smaller than the gen
| eral run of fancy mice. II is called the
'waltzing mouse and seems to be of a
more delicate build and constitution
than all others, probably from inbreed-
| ing. as the refinement of this mouse is
unmistakable Its habit of waltzing is
most curious; it always happens when
the cage is brought suddenly in the
! bright light after being in the darkness.
or when the mouse suddenly rushes out
| of its dark nest into the light. The lit
! tie fellow rushes round in giddy circles
| for quite minute, with its snout point
| ing to a centre, when the action is re-
versed. and the circles are completed
in the opposite direction. Then, slowly
recovering itself. 1t goes about as other
mice do, apparently unaffected by its
| strange freak. 1t Is usually supposed
to be caused by parasite in the brain,
| but il Is more probable that the smaller
brain is not properly developed, as the
tendency is passed on to every fresh
| generation. Very much the-same thing
happens to human beings. Instance a
man standing on the brink of an over
hanging rock high up a mountainside
| and looking for the first time into i'm
measurable depths straight underneath
| him; the brain, through the sight, can
not accommodate itself at once to look
| ing downward such a depth and gets
| beyond itself and upset, as it were with
the result that the man feels giddy. and
twisting around in a circle falls over.
| With practice day by day the brain ul-
| timateIy accommodates itself to looking
| downward, and the feeling of giddines
wears off Much the same thing hap
} pens to good shots shooting down into
valleys for the first time.
I'm the case of the waltzing mouse
the sudden change from darkness to
light is analogous in this way-that the
smaller brain, which is practically the
nerve centre. being undeveloped, is not
| sufficiently receptive to the sudden
change from darkness to light; hence