The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-05-09
THE COMMON MOUSE.
He is a Decidedly Interesting Little Ami
NAL After ALL

He is Decidedly Interesting Little Ami
NAL After All.
The common little house mouse i.
probably the best known wild ANNA
in America. It is almost impossibl,
to avoid learning something of the ap
pearance and habits of this little fel
low, for he acts as private tutor or
the subject in almost every household
AS few of US are so fond of him, how
ever, as to pay strictattention when he
presents himself as an object lesson, a
brief description of his external appear
ance may not be out of place. In Ger
tain quaint dictionary l once possessed
the definition of "mouse" was given as
"a small rat and this is not such a
very bad one, after all, except for the
fact that the reader is apt to be less
familiar with the appearance of rat
than mouse. The total length of the
latter animal is about 3S inches, of
which the tail takes up nearly one-half.
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 hook
ed nails. His tail is round and taper
ing, scaly. and with slight covering of
short hair In color he is dusky gray
above and ashy beneath. His eyes and
most of his whiskers are black, and his
front teeth are yellowish.
Altogether he is very dainty little
fellow, and if persons would only stop
to study him little instead of throw
ing things at him or calling in the cat
every time he puts in an appearance
they would soon find him very intelli-
gent and attractive companion. He is
very agile and graceful in his move
ments and not at all vicious in DISPOSE
ton For some time 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 little vessel held in the fingers.
They are most active at night, but of
ten play about in the daytime. They
are bright and Immediately give their
attention to any unusual sight or sound.
To do this they usually pause, with
their head slightly on one side and with
most inquiring look in the eyes. At
ter 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 house they
manage to get along somehow, even if
the provisions be carefully locked up
for months at time. When hungry,
however, they are very persevering in
their efforts to get food and will gnaw
their way into boxes and cupboards,
scale walls and even cross ceilings
| when the latter are rough enough to af-
ford hold for their sharp, hooked
claws. They have been known to de-
scend rope and eat up the contents of
basket hanging from the ceiling.
They make their nests of scraps of
paper, wool, rags or any soft material,
which they usually chop up very small
with their teeth. These homes are
usually made in hole in the wall or be-
meath 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 filters of young
every year and generally from four to
ten in a litter. When the young ones
are born, they are very small, pink
| little creatures, naked and blind. The
mother is devoted to them and tends
them with great care and evident affec-
ton. When they are 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 distin-
guished from the older ones by their
smaller size and younger looks.
In al
rarely black specimen is seen, and the
white mice with red eyes which are
| often kept as pets are albinos of this
white and at times have been sold at
quite good prices as fancy mice.
| Of the many enemies of the little
rodents perhaps the house cat stands
at the head of the list Many people
judge a cat chiefly by her qualities as a
mouse hunter, and, all things consider
ed, it is perhaps just as well that she
does take hand in the game occasion
ally.
| Next to the cat perhaps the owls and
hawks account for the greatest number.
and foxes, coonS, weasels, Skunks and
crows all look upon mice as a delicaCy.
But the troubles of the rodents do not
end here. Scores of ingenious traps
have been invented for their destruc-
ton, and they are also poisoned in great
numbers every year.
When it becomes necessary to destroy
mice, perhaps the most humane way to
do it 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
it is always dangerous to have poison
where there is a possibility of children
getting hold of it, but because the mice
are apt to die in the walls, floors and
other inaccessible places.
Drowning is also cruel, though once
knew two dear elderly women who were
so kind hearted that they used to drown
their mice in warm water, because"
they said, sit is so cruel to drown the
poor things in cold water, in the middle
of winter, too"
Kidney complaint kills more people than
any other disease This is due to the
disease being so insidious that it gets a