The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1901-02-01
THE COMMON MOUSE.
HE is A DECIDEDLY INTERESTING
LITTLE ANIMAL.

Agile and Graceful In His Move
ments. Intelligent and Rather Dniu
ty. Too. and Not Mt All Vicious In
! His Dispositions
The common little house mouse is prob.
ably the best known wild animal in
Amerra. 1t is almost impossible to
avoid learning something of the appear.
ancc and habits of this little fellow. for
he acts rs private tutor on the subject
IL almost every household
As few Of us are fond enough of him.
however. To pay strict attention when he
presents himself as an object lesson. n
brief description of his external appear
ancc may not be out of place. In a cor.
tain quaint dictionary once possessed
the definition of mouse" was given as
/ "a small rat ana this is not such Il very
/ bad one, after all, except for the fact
that the reader is apt to be less familiar
! with the appearance of a rat than a
mouse. The total length of the latter
animal is about G3s inches. Of which the
tail takes up nearly one-haf His head
is longish and his nose sharp. His ears
are large and erect, with very little hair
on either surface. His legs are slender.
and his delicate little toes are provided
with sharp, slightly hooked nails. His
tail is round and taperng. scaly and with
slight covering of short hair In color
he is dusky gray above and ashy he
meath. His eyes and most of his whi~N-
ers are black. and his front teeth are
yelowish.
Altogether he is a very dainty little fell
low, and if persons would only stop to
study him a little instead of throwing
| things ut him or calling in the cat every
time he puts in an appearance they would
soon find him a very intelligent and at
tractiye companion. He is very agile
and graceful in his movements and not at
all vicious in disposition. For some time
1 past | have had a number of mice in
captivity, and find them very amusing
/ pets. They will eat anything and are So
tame that they will take food from my
| hand or drink from a little vessel held in
! the fingers. They are most active at
! night, but often play about in the day
/ time. They are very bright and immc-
diatcly give their attention to any I'M
! usual sight or sound. To do this they
/ usually pause. with their head Slightly
/ on one side and with a most iuquiriug
look in the eyes. After eating they wash
! themselves very rapidly with their front
| paws.
Where there is an abundance of food
mice eat great deal but they seem able
to live on very little, and when once well
established in a house they manage to
/ get along somehow, even if the provisions
are carefully locked up for months ut Il
/ time. When hungry, however. they are
4 very persevering in their efforts to get
! food and will suaw their way into boxes
and cupboards, scale walls and even
cross ceilings when the latter are rough
/ enough to afford Il hold for their sharp
hooked claws. They have been known to
! descend a rope and eat up the contents of
! basket hanging from the ceiling.
They make their nests Of scraps of pa
1 per wool, rags or any soft material.
which they usually chop up very small
/ with their teeth. These homes are usu-
/ ally made in a hole in the wall or beneath
the floor or in an old box. drawer or other
convenient place. Often when clearing
/ out an old desk or trunk one comes upon
such nest. made of fine particles of old
/ letters, penWiperS and such like things.
There are several littcrs of young every
/ year and generally from four to ten in Il
/ litter When the young ones are born
/ they arc very small. pink little creatures,
/ naked and blind. The mother is devoted
/ to them and tends them with great care
/ and evident affection. When they are Il
few weeks old. they begin to come out of
their hole TO play about and see what the
world is made of. They may easily be
distinguished from the older ones by
/ their smaller size and younger looks.
/ While the normal color is gray. very
rarely a black specimen is seen. and the
white mice with red eyes which are often
kept as pets are albinos of this species.
Others are spotted black and white and
at times have been sold at quite good
| prices as "fancy' mice.
OF the many enemies of the little 70.
dents perhaps the house cat stands Mt the
head Of the list. Many people Judge a
cat chiefly by her qualities as mouse
hunter, and. all things considered. it is
perhaps Just as we'll that she does take
hand in the game occasionally.
Next to the cat perhaps the owls and
hawks account for the greatest number.
and toNes, coons, wcasels. skunks ana
crows all look upon mice as Il dclicacy
! i'ul Nht lIbubltS OF inc IOttltS 10 not
end here Scores of Ingenious traps have
been invented for their destruction. and
they are also poisoned in great numbers
every year.
When II becomes necessary to destroy
mice, perhaps the most humane way to
do ii is with the spring trap which Kills
them instantly by a blow Poisoning is
very cruel. and this method is also a
menace to human life, not only because
II is always dangerous to have poison
where there is a possibility Of children
getting hold of il. but because the mice
are apt to die in the walls. floors and 9th
er inaccessible places.
Drowning is also cruel, though | once
knew two dear elderly ladies who were
so kind hearted that they used To drown
their mice in warm water, "because."
they said, iii is so cruel TO drown the
poor things in cold water, in the middle
of winter too. Hartford Times.
Those 0GOOd OLD riyupav