Feed mice: breeding, maintenance and other aspects

This text is devoted to feeding mice to cats and contains a description of methods for slaughtering rodents. If the topic makes you feel strongly about it, please skip this article. We have a lot of interesting materials of a more neutral nature.

The use of food mice in the diet of cats is one of the most controversial and “hot” topics that leaves few people indifferent. But you and I are interested not in the emotional, but in the practical side. Are feeding mice really that useful? Is it possible to breed them at home? Is this pampering or a real necessity for a cat?

Why feed mice

It is no secret that in nature, the basis of a cat’s diet is made up of various types of mouse-like rodents. The house mouse (Mus musculus) is one of them.

But “naturalness for the sake of naturalness” is a dubious argument. Let's better analyze the nutritional value of mouse from a scientific point of view.

Information about the composition of the mouse is taken from here.

The uniqueness of the composition lies not in individual elements (they can be found in other products of animal origin), but in the ideal balance. Please note that the mouse fully meets the cat’s needs in terms of the content of biofuel and basic macro- and microelements.

The fur is another bonus that distinguishes the mouse from traditional meat products. Wool is not digestible, but has a beneficial effect on intestinal motility and serves as a natural prebiotic.

In world practice, feeding animals with mice is not a fad, but a common occurrence. Rodents are actively bred to feed reptiles, birds of prey, ferrets and other exotic animals. Ready-made frozen food can be purchased at some pet stores or ordered directly from the manufacturer.

How ethical and justified this is, everyone decides for themselves. A complete natural diet for a cat can easily be formulated using more traditional meat products, but if desired, mice can be a useful addition to the diet.

Yellow-necked mouse - Apodemus flavicollis

Yellow-throated mouse
This is a fairly large mouse, the body length reaches 10-13.5 cm. The color of the fur is brown and red, a strip of yellow fur is visible around the neck, and a thin black line runs along the back. The ears are clearly visible and round in shape. The tail is bald, long, exceeds the length of the body, sometimes reaching 13 cm. This is a forest mouse, it lives in the forest and mountain forest zones of Western Europe. They inhabit nests and hollows, and can also dig holes. The mouse hole is lined with dry twigs, leaves and moss. To spend the winter they settle in human houses, and in the spring they return back to freedom. The yellow-throated mouse feeds on large seeds of deciduous trees. Prefers such food species as: acorns, maple seeds, linden, beech nuts. The wood mouse makes large reserves of food for the winter, which can sometimes reach 4 kg. They keep them in their homes. This red mouse is an excellent tree climber; it can climb trees up to 4 meters above the ground. She can also jump up to 1 meter in length. And if you compare the body size and the length of the jump, then the yellow-throated mouse is ahead of even the gray kangaroo. The female gives birth to 5-6 litters per year, with 6 cubs in each.

Mouse farm at home: pros, cons, nuances

Some people think that breeding mice is easy. You put a couple in a cage, and then they rapidly multiply on their own. This is wrong.

The following describes the basic standards for keeping food mice. They meet minimal ideas of humanity, but are designed specifically for short-term (before slaughter) maintenance and successful reproduction. If you are interested in keeping mice as pets, with an emphasis on quality and longevity, look for more information in specialized sources about pet mice.

Manufacturers' choice

The easiest way to buy your first breeders is from a supplier of food rodents (contacts can be easily found in groups about snakes) or at a pet store.

Most often these are standard white mice, but they can also be colored. So-called linear mice are usually used for scientific experiments, but are sometimes found commercially.

Linear animals are a set of individuals of the same species that have reproduced for at least 20 generations by closely related crossings (inbreeding). L. zh. are characterized by certain biological characteristics that are inherited from generation to generation. Source

Ordinary mice are better suited for breeding for food than linear mice. It doesn’t matter to a cat how genetically homogeneous its food is, and linear mice are often more capricious in their maintenance. Also, some lines carry mutations (such as a tendency to tumors), which are interesting and needed only by scientists.

It is better if your first sires are not relatives, that is, it is advisable to take males and females from different litters. This will delay the onset of inbreeding depression, after which it is necessary to replace the livestock.

Inbreeding depression is a decrease in the viability of individuals that occurs as a result of inbreeding. Inbreeding depression in animals is characterized by reduced fertility, lower productivity, poorer growth rates, etc. Wikipedia

When purchasing, pay attention to the appearance and behavior of the mice. They should be active and well-fed, with shiny coat, clear eyes, nose and anus.

Content

Mice live in groups - “families”, consisting of a male and several females. You cannot keep two or more mature males in one cage. This can lead to violent fights and stress for the entire group.

Aquariums are absolutely not suitable for keeping rodents, because... extremely poorly ventilated. Plastic dunes are suitable for raising food animals, but standard (purchased or homemade) lattice cages are still preferable.

Recommended cage size: minimum 50*30*30 cm for a small family (3-4 individuals).

Even in large cages, it is better not to keep more than a dozen mature mice. This is especially true for plastic cages with inadequate ventilation.

Keep in mind: the smaller the cage area, the more often you will have to clean it.

Unfortunately, when breeding, it is not possible to completely avoid the characteristic “mouse” smell, but large areas and regular cleaning will minimize it.

Never neglect hygiene. As it gets dirty, you need to completely change the bedding, wash and disinfect the cage. The drinking bowl and food bowl are washed daily.

Place the cage in a well-ventilated (but without drafts!) room. Natural light is highly desirable, but the cage should not be placed in direct sunlight. If possible, it is best to keep mice in a separate room from cats. Cats' increased interest in the cage can lead to chronic stress in mice. This is both cruel and not the best for productivity.

The best bedding option is corn litter. Sawdust is also suitable, but should not contain softwood. It is important to pay attention to the quality of the litter. Dusty litter often leads to respiratory problems. Do not use clay or silica gel litter for cats - mice can eat it.

You should not keep mice in an empty cage. These are active and curious animals, for which it is important to have houses, vertical space and at least minimal entertainment. It would be good if the cage had a running wheel and several shelves.

Remember, breeding food animals must be humane. Avoid crowded and impoverished environments, unsanitary conditions, and saving on feed. Mice deserve to live out their short lives in comfort.

Feeding

The diet of mice must contain three main elements:

grain mixture;
plant products;
products of animal origin.

The grain mixture is the basis of the diet and should always be in the cage. The easiest way is to buy ready-made grain food for mice (food for rats, hamsters and other rodents in its pure form is not suitable). The brands Vitakraft, JR Farm, Versele Laga have proven themselves well. You can make a grain mixture yourself, but this requires a little more effort + basic knowledge about the needs of mice.

Plant products include vegetables, fruits, berries, herbs, wild herbs (including in the form of hay) and tree branches. They are given every other day or daily, in small quantities. Before feeding, make sure through specialized resources that mice can do this. Typically, a restriction or prohibition applies to foods that are too sweet, too sour (citrus fruits), spicy, or that cause excess gas (legumes, cabbage).

It is important to have enough animal protein in your diet.

These are meat and offal (including bones), eggs, fish and seafood, and feed insects. They are offered 1-2 times a week. Recommendations differ on the form in which meat should be given - raw or boiled. Heat treatment is recommended in case the meat contains pathogenic microflora.

Raw meat, of course, is healthier than cooked meat, but for mice (unlike cats), the loss of nutrients during cooking is not critical.

A couple of times a week you can give fermented milk products of moderate fat content: yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. Milk and cheese are not advisable.

Offer any new food in small quantities and monitor the reaction. Some foods can cause allergies and diarrhea.

Fresh drinking water must be available at all times. This is one of the keys to livestock health. Do not neglect the hygiene of the drinking bowl - it must be thoroughly washed every day.

It's no secret that feeding affects body composition. The better and more varied the food your mice eat, the healthier it is for your cat. The quality of the diet also affects the health, weight and reproduction rate of mice.

Reproduction

Mice are able to reproduce starting from the age of one month. However, if you want to get healthy offspring, it is not advisable to mate mice younger than 2-3 months. For the same reason, upon reaching sexual maturity, it is better to distribute young animals by gender.

Even in young mice, sex determination is not too difficult. Firstly, the distance between the anus and the urethra is greater in males and smaller in females. Second, unlike males of other species, male mice do not have nipples.

Pregnancy lasts about three weeks, the litter size is from 5 to 15 mice, usually 8-9.

With constant cohabitation with a male, females quickly become exhausted from constant childbirth. To avoid this, the male can be removed periodically. However, since we are talking about food animals, females that are no longer capable of producing numerous and healthy offspring are often simply replaced with new ones. .

When feeding terrarium animals, the following division of mice into age groups is practiced:

pebbles;
pubescent;
runners;
adults.

Nabbies are newborn mice without fur. Pushata are slightly older babies who have their first velvet fur. Runners are teenagers. Adults are sexually mature animals weighing 20-25 grams. Animals starting at four weeks of age are considered adults, although this is not entirely correct. Yes, such mice are capable of producing offspring, but they still continue to develop.

Eating newborns

Cannibalism can have different causes, but the most common causes it is observed are:

in conditions of crowding and stress;
with insufficient amount of protein in the diet;
from sick animals.

Eating their own offspring is common among mice, but is not the norm. If this happens regularly in your group of mice, this is a sign of problems.

Health

When properly maintained, mice rarely get sick. Those who stay too long until they are older may develop tumors. Such animals are discarded and not used to feed cats. Culling is also relevant in the case of other health problems - it is not advisable to treat food animals, it is an extra time and financial expense without a guarantee that the carcass will ultimately remain edible.

However, if you suddenly become sincerely attached to some of your mice, in case of problems, contact a veterinarian-rodentologist. General practitioners are not competent in treating rodents.

Economic (un)justification

Breeding mice for food is not as cheap as it might seem. Yes, mice reproduce quickly, but in terms of kilograms the yield is far from impressive.

The average weight of an adult mouse is 20 grams. The average food requirement of an adult cat is 100-200 grams per day. That is, from five to ten mice. This is 150-300 animals per month. If you suddenly want to feed your cat only mice, you will have to simultaneously maintain dozens of cages and one and a half to two hundred animals of different ages. In the conditions of an ordinary city apartment this is unrealistic.

Even if you have a large non-residential premises, in order to create an analogue of a farm or vivarium out of it, you will have to completely re-equip it in accordance with basic veterinary and sanitary standards and hire specially trained personnel to maintain this system.

In short, breeding food mice at home allows you to occasionally pamper your cat with fresh meat, but not achieve significant production volumes or savings.

In numbers

A mouse eats about three grams of food per day. Even high-quality bedding requires replacement at least (sometimes more often) once a week. In a month, the average female will, at best, produce a dozen mice, which need to be fattened to adult weight for another month.

By correlating this data with prices in your region, you will understand that the cost of a homemade food mouse will be the same as that of a purchased one - from 50 to 100 rubles per piece (20 grams). In terms of kilograms, it turns out to be no less than 2000 rubles/kg.

Moreover, in calculations I advise focusing on the maximum. The more you save on consumables, the lower your fertility and higher your mortality.

Slaughter

ATTENTION!

This section contains a description of methods of physical euthanasia.

If you want to read about buying and feeding cats already frozen mice, scroll down a little.

The most unpleasant part. Unfortunately, at home it is impossible to kill a mouse “beautifully” without getting your hands dirty.

For physical euthanasia of small rodents, the method of cervical dislocation is most often used. When performed correctly, it ensures a quick and painless death. However, it is psychologically unpleasant for the performer and requires a steady hand and some practice to develop the skill.

The following is a quote from “Methods of euthanasia of laboratory animals in accordance with European Directive 2010/63” (Rybakova A.V. - Ph.D., Makarova M.N. - Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, St. Petersburg Institute pharmacy):

“When euthanizing mice and rats, the thumb and index finger are placed on either side of the neck at the base of the skull or a metal restraint is placed at the base of the skull. With the other hand, they jerk at the base of the tail or hind limbs, tearing the spine from the skull.”

For an unprepared person, constant work with food animals can provoke stress and other adverse psychological reactions. If you are not confident in your abilities, you should not do this. Believe me, the cat will not suffer in any way from the lack of fresh and personally slaughtered mice in its diet.

Mice that died naturally (at an unknown time and from unknown causes) are not suitable for feeding cats.

Bad slaughter methods

Contrary to popular myth, freezing is NOT a humane method of killing. When placed in a household freezer, mice do not “just fall asleep,” but suffer and remain alive for several hours. Drowning and suffocation also cause unnecessary suffering to animals.

Feeding live mice to a cat cannot be considered humane. Theoretically, cats are able to kill prey quickly, but in practice they often play with the mouse for a long time, causing a lot of damage to it in the process, or even eat it alive.

Yes, this is a natural behavior that can often be observed in nature. But there is no need to practice this at home.

Satisfaction of basic instincts is undoubtedly important for the psychological well-being of a cat, but this can be ensured without the use of live prey. Do not neglect communication and games with the cat, enriching its environment - this way it will be happy even without live prey.

Description

The field mouse is a rodent up to 12 cm in size, 70 percent of its body length is its tail. The mouse has a pointed muzzle with whiskers, beady eyes and round ears. The body is covered with thick short hair. The color depends on the living conditions - from light red to dark brown. The fur on the belly is lighter. In young individuals, the color is more intense; in older individuals, the coat becomes lighter and grayer if the mouse lives to an old age. A distinctive feature of all voles is a dark stripe running along the upper back.

The hind legs are longer than the front legs. The claws on all paws wear down because mice are constantly digging for food. The mouse can hold food with its front paws. Voles move quickly: they run, jump and swim.

Field mice have many natural enemies, so they rarely live long. We can say approximately how long a vole lives. Under favorable conditions and the absence of enemies, a mouse can even live up to ten years.

In appearance and body length, the field mouse differs little from house mice. Both types of rodents can coexist in the same territory, in the same household: brownies go out into the garden in search of food, field rodents sneak into the house.

Field mice, like many other species of rodents, have teeth that grow throughout their lives, so the animals have to grind them down. If this is not done, the animal will die.

How to give mice to a cat

After slaughter, the carcasses are offered fresh to cats or frozen and stored in the freezer like regular meat. Pet mice can be kept in the same refrigerator as human food as long as basic hygiene is maintained.

Mice do not require special treatment before serving. Most often, cats eat them whole, but they may leave the stomach, intestines and gall bladder. If your cat encounters a mouse for the first time and does not understand that it is food, it is permissible to cut the carcass into several parts - the smell of blood promotes appetite.

Mice are suitable for daily nutrition and can even form a mono-diet, although they are more often used to add variety to the regular diet.

How old should mice be?

The nutritional composition of a mouse changes as it grows and ages.

Mouse composition data taken from here.

If we focus on the amino acid composition, then young animals aged 20-60 days are optimally suited for feeding cats. But for the sake of variety, you can pamper your cat and mice (keep in mind that they contain less calcium). Adult (six months and older) mice are also edible, although not as rich in taurine.

What harm do voles do to mice?

As mentioned above, mice are constantly forced to chew something in order to wear down their ever-growing teeth. Because of this, they damage fruit plants and their roots. They can also gnaw passages in wooden, brick and concrete buildings, in home and garden furniture.

Mice spoil the harvest - in the field, vegetable garden and garden. They eat any fruits, buds, inflorescences and whole plants. They also disrupt the root system of plants, intensively breaking through tunnels in the ground.

If mice make their way into a barn, basement, basement, grain or vegetable storage, they destroy or severely spoil the products stored there. Moreover, they not only eat them, but also leave their feces on them. It is also worth considering that these are very active animals that are found in a variety of places, including garbage dumps. Moving around the surrounding area, they carry pathogens of dangerous diseases on their paws and fur: tularemia, toxoplasmosis, typhoid, leptospirosis and others.

Purchase

Fortunately, to feed your cat mice, you don’t have to breed them yourself.

It is best to buy food mice from large manufacturers that have veterinary certificates for their products. Frozen mice are not available in all pet stores, so you often have to order them online.

A little worse is buying from private owners. No one here guarantees that the animals were kept correctly and were not sick. Cats share few diseases with rodents, but eating sick or recently medicated animals is not good for anyone.

You definitely shouldn’t take mice for food from breeders and hobbyists who keep them as pets. It's simply unethical.

What diseases do rodents carry?

This is what a plague doctor looked like in the 1800s.
Rodents can spread more than 20 diseases dangerous to humans. Bubonic plague, murine typhus, salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and West African Lassa fever are just a few of the potentially fatal diseases carried by rats. These diseases caused the death of 25 million Europeans from the XIY to the XYII centuries.

It is believed that over the past millennium, diseases carried by rats have claimed more lives than all wars and revolutions combined.

At the end of the 20th century, medical attention was focused on rodent-borne hemorrhagic (mouse) fever viruses. From 1995 to 2000, at least 25 “new” hantaviruses and arenaviruses associated with rodents of the Mouse family were discovered. Approximately 200 thousand new cases of fever with kidney damage are recorded annually in Asia, with a mortality rate of 1-15%. Each virus is usually associated with one specific host species. Humans become infected through contact with rodent urine, feces or saliva.

Doctors first encountered this disease in Russia in the 30s of the last century. Today, mouse fever occurs almost throughout the country. In 2021, more than 8 thousand Russians fell ill with hemorrhagic fever.

Other types of food rodents

In addition to food mice, you can find rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, mastomys, gerbils on sale... Is it possible to feed cats with them? It is possible, but there are nuances.

Rats are quite close in nutritional composition to mice, but many cats do not like their taste.

Due to their herbivorous lifestyle, rabbits and guinea pigs have longer intestines than mouse-like rodents. Cats are not connoisseurs of such products, so carcasses often have to be gutted (remove the stomach and intestines) before serving, which is not very convenient.

The problem with many feed items is the lack of data on composition, especially on taurine content.

Taurine is a sulfonic acid. Unlike most other animals, cats are not able to synthesize it, so they must receive taurine in their diet. A deficiency of taurine in the diet leads to serious consequences such as dilated cardiomyopathy and retinal degeneration.

What we do know about mice is that they contain enough taurine, are suitable for constant feeding and can make up a large part of the diet. It is better to use other rodents occasionally in a cat’s diet, without neglecting variety.

Wood mouse interesting facts. What does a mouse eat in the forest, who eats a forest mouse

The wood mouse (Aroietis uralensis) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. Known as the dwarf mouse. Found in Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine .

It is about 90 mm long and is sometimes considered a pest.

Habitat

Wood mice live in forests, meadows, and cultivated fields, seeking to find more wooded areas in winter. Almost entirely nocturnal and terrestrial, they dig burrows, build nests, and live in houses in winter.

What do they eat

These are, first of all, seed eaters of trees such as oak, beech, ash, linden, hawthorn, and plane tree. They eat young plants, weeds, buds, and moss. If there are a lot of seeds on the ground, they carry them into burrows for storage.

They may eat small invertebrates such as snails, insects, arthropods, earthworms, caterpillars, especially in late spring and early summer when plants are not available.

In the fall, they eat berries, fruits, mushrooms, roots, sweet corn, wheat, oats, and blackberries. In winter they can hunt bats.

Behavior

Wood mice are active at night to avoid predation. Females may be more active during the day to collect sufficient food. While searching for food, noticeable objects such as leaves and branches are selected and distributed, which are used as landmarks during exploration.

Despite the name, they prefer hedges to forests. During the cold months, wood mice do not hibernate, but they can fall asleep and reduce physiological activity.

Females defend the nesting territory. The mouse squeals and emits ultrasonic signals during defense. Males emit ultrasound during copulation and until 24 days of age. Insensitive to red and infrared light, like badgers (they can be easily observed with a lamp covered in clear red plastic).

Who eats them

Predators of wood mice include foxes, snakes, weasels, hawks, owls, domestic dogs, cats, badgers, wild boar, owls, and kestrels.

Life cycle, how long they live

The wood mouse has a breeding season from March to October, when many matings occur between individuals of different sexes, leading to competition and fighting.

The gestation period of wood mice is 25–26 days, the female gives birth to five cubs, naked and blind. The pups become independent in about three weeks, and ready to reproduce in two months.

Lifespan – 18 – 20 months. Mortality is very high in the spring among those who spent the winter. In juveniles it increases in spring and summer after mating fights.

Presence indicators

The droppings of a forest mouse are larger than those of a common mouse (3 – 5 mm). The animal holds the seeds between its front paws to gnaw and leaves them behind. You can find teeth marks on the edges of holes drilled into hazelnuts.

Eats the peel of rose hips, neglects the flesh. Opens snail shells at the base. Makes blanks under upside-down trunks, in cracks, holes, and old bird nests.

Fingerprints: Rarely visible. It has 4 toes on the front paws and 5 on the hind paws (more than a house mouse).

The pest is very agile. Can make large jumps if pursued (up to 80 cm). Can climb trees. The wood mouse suffers from environmental pollution, especially if it lives on the outskirts of roads.

Wild mice

Walking animals, as a rule, independently enrich their diet with rodents. But always remember that (unlike feeding lab mice) this is not a safe practice.

A cat that comes into contact with wild rodents must, firstly, be vaccinated against rabies, and secondly, regularly receive anthelmintics. It is also impossible to completely exclude the possibility of poisoning with substances used for deratization.

The article is the intellectual property of www.catnutrition.ru

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Bats are constantly screaming

At least during the hunt. This is what their amazing echolocator is based on. The mechanism is this: the hunter emits high-frequency pulses with his throat (they cannot be heard by the human ear). The pulses fly around the mouse, bounce off objects and return back to the hunter's ears. The brain analyzes the information and builds a map of the area - where the branch hangs, where the mosquito flies, how the circles spread across the water.

Surprisingly, mice conduct “echo reconnaissance” while hunting, eating, and simply in flight. Fantastic speed and accuracy: running at full speed between threads swaying in the wind without hitting any of them is a common thing!

Poems about mice for children

Poems about mice are funny and funny; they will introduce kids to this funny animal. Read together poems about mice for children and learn something new about an old friend)))

* * *

The mouse to her friend hurried for tea: - I’ll arrive at twelve sharp. Meet me! I'll go with a black mole by car, I'll be there for lunch without being late. The baby mouse put on a shirtfront, checkered pants, like a monkey's; A raincoat with a clasp, earrings on the ears, a bracelet on the paw. Scarf and hat. The little mouse tried very hard: It took seven and a half hours to get ready. Night outside has come imperceptibly. Mouse to her friend For tea - late.

E. Frantsuzova

* * *

The mouse said to the mouse: “How much I love books!” I can't read them, but I can eat them.

Samuel Marshak

* * *

One day the mice came out to see what time it was. One two three four. The mice pulled the weights. Suddenly there was a terrible ringing sound - the mice ran away.

Samuel Marshak

* * *

The cat said to the mice: “Guys, let’s play hide and seek with you. Physical education does not harm, it increases appetite!” “Cunning cat,” the mice decided, “We’re not that stupid, let one play hide and seek, let’s run away, guys!”

Logacheva Tamara

* * *

The mouse put it in the pantry for the cats in the cat trap. And it was not without reason that they got caught, Three cats are in the cat-catchers - Now the thieves will know how to get into the pantry to get a mouse! “This is chalk, and this is a midge, There is a trap with bread crumbs...” Teaches the little ones from a book Under the bed is a mother mouse. “Don’t squeak loudly, children, Danger awaits on the buffet: Even though the white cat is dozing, It might bite you on the tummy!”

Lesnaya Yu.

* * *

The mouse found a piece of cheese. The mouse decided to eat it. It has gnawed so many holes in it that it itself is as round as cheese.

* * *

Little mouse in checkered pants Everyone was terribly tired - Every now and then the mouse ate. I ate everything. From morning till night! Well, at night I ate a lot. After all, with a rumbling stomach, you sleep wrong, and your dreams are wrong. That's why in the mink All the crusts have been eaten, The leg of the sideboard The frame of the portrait, That's why the mouse's pants are cracked Checkered, new, With a burgundy button... There are rumors that by summer the Mouse will go on a diet, But for now, for this year, They're digging in the mink new entrance.

T. Efimova

* * *

A mouse grumbled in the pantry: “Why is there a lid on the jar? What's under the lid? How to find out? Don't smell it, don't get it! There is, without a doubt, very tasty jam in this jar! Or my favorite jam! How can I eat it now?! Apparently “someone” forgets that this is just a storage room! Treat for friends! It’s not an exhibition, it’s a museum!”

S. Son

* * *

The mouse was in a hurry to visit, On the path she refreshed herself - She quickly ate a pound of selected millet, Forty pieces of bread crusts, Cheese crumbs Eight bowls And pistachios A couple of cups... She would have eaten a dozen, But she was in a hurry for dinner!

A. Vasiloi

* * *

The mice stole the cheese, threw a feast in the hole, sat down at the tables, ate their fill, lay down in their beds and fell asleep sweetly. They dream that there is a big Cheese Moon hanging over the hole!

N. Volkova

* * *

Two mice at the hillock Digged a small hole And four pantries To store grain. So they worked - they tried, They were almost left without paws: Very hard ground On a hillock near a stump. It's a pity that people didn't come up with shovels for mice.

A. Alferova

Effective baits for catching mice

Catching a mouse using a mousetrap is not difficult for a person, especially since the rodents described are omnivores. But in order to catch, say, a whole family of mice, the sooner the better, you need to make every effort, using the most effective baits for this process.

To create the best bait for catching mice, you will need the following products:

Lard, the smell of this food component, is very attractive to mice, especially when it comes to the smoked variety of the product being described.
In order to lure a mouse into a mousetrap, it is enough to place a small piece of lard in it. Using this product, you can easily catch the entire family of rodents in the house; Lard is a bait for mice. You can only use the skin
Unrefined vegetable oil. A similar bait used for mice will be even more effective if the described trap oil is used, left over after preparing meat dishes;
White bread is a good bait, especially when coated with the unrefined oil described above;
Sausages, which, although they attract rodents less than the products described above, nevertheless, these meat ingredients show good results in catching rodents, especially rats;
The most overrated bait for mice, and also ineffective as practice has shown, is cheese.

Mice love cheese as much as bread and everything else.

In order to catch all the mice in the house, you need to properly install a mousetrap and select the right bait, using the foods that mice prefer to eat.

Signs and superstitions

Facts about mice should be supplemented with various interesting signs, which many still believe in.

Mouse in the house The most famous sign is the statement that rodents are the first to leave the ship. The sailors noticed that before the storm they became restless and tried to leave the ship. This happens because mice hear better than humans. Round ears detect changes in the sound of waves, wind strength and feel approaching thunder.

But there are other interesting superstitions associated with restless little ones:

A mouse in the apartment promises a quick move.
If the voles have stored food supplies in the house, then wealth awaits the owners.
Mouse squeaking and fussing under the floor brings misfortune.
A person who is bitten by a mouse will soon fall ill.
If a rodent ruins clothes, then its owner will face failure in business matters.

Many signs have a logical basis. Our ancestors simply did not have sufficient knowledge to explain various facts, so they came up with signs. But some superstitions no longer apply. So, little sneaks don’t escape from modern ships.

There are many more amazing facts about these rodents. The most interesting ones are collected here.

Why do rats die at home?

The rat is a fairly active animal, constantly exploring the surrounding space, tasting new objects. Therefore, rodents often die prematurely due to the carelessness of the owners who did not protect the pet from potential dangers. The causes of early death of domestic rats are often:

injuries received from other pets (cats or dogs);
eating plants dangerous to rats (geranium, aloe, tulip, daffodil, dieffenbachia);
chewing electrical wires;
falling from a window or balcony;
great fear.

Also, rat owners often inadvertently step on or sit on the animals. Fluffies are very nimble and easy to miss, especially in the evening and at night. Therefore, in order to avoid troubles, it is necessary to organize a safe walk for them in a fenced area. The rest of the time, the pet rat should be kept in a tightly locked cage.

What to do if you are bitten by a rat

To reduce the likelihood of tragic consequences, it is important to know what to do in the first place if a rat bites you. If you delay or make a mistake when providing assistance, a person may become infected with a dangerous disease.

First aid for a rat bite:

Do not stop the bleeding immediately. This will help get rid of most of the bacteria and pathogens that entered the human body instead of with the rodent's saliva.
Wash the bite area with soap and water. This will help prevent further spread of viruses and kill some bacteria. It is best to do this with a rubber bulb and laundry soap.
Treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide.
Lubricate the area around the damaged tissue with brilliant green or iodine.
Apply a bandage with antibacterial ointment to the wound.
Seek help from a medical professional.

In a serious situation, when a person was attacked by several rodents at the same time, a small child was attacked, the bite was on the neck, severe bleeding appeared, or if there is a suspicion that the rat had rabies, you should immediately call an ambulance.

If you find rats in your home, grocery store or cafe, start fighting them as quickly as possible. As the population increases, it will be much more difficult to get rid of insolent rodents. Exterminating rats using professional methods is the most effective option. Seek help from a specialist. A team of experienced employees will quickly rid you of the presence of dangerous rodents. For consultation, contact the manager by phone or email.

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Conditions and life expectancy in the wild

The house mouse can live both close to people and in the wild in wooded areas or fields. Prefers to live in places with well-moistened soil. The average life expectancy in nature is very short - about a year. The animal is in constant fear of being caught by predatory animals, such as:

foxes;
predators of the mustelid family (marten, weasel, ferret, mink, badger and others);
birds of prey (owl, hawk, falcon, eagle and others);
large reptiles (snakes, lizards).

Mouse in nature

In the wild, it feeds on plant seeds, insects, and green parts of leaves. He needs water every day for normal functioning.

Interesting!
A mouse can live without food for about a week, but without water it won’t last three days.

She lives in small burrows about a meter long. Deep in the underground labyrinth there is a nesting chamber where the female lives with her cubs.

In winter, the rodent can migrate up to 5 km closer to the countryside. There, mice live in barns, haystacks and feed on livestock feed or human food supplies found in cellars and pantries. During the summer, they return to natural conditions.

Classification, representatives of the order Rodents

In total, as of 2005, 2277 species of rodents were described. In the past, they were divided into three suborders based on the structure of the jaw muscles. Today there are 5 suborders and more than 28 families.

Suborder Myomorpha

Consists of eight families:

mouse;
mouseworms;
jerboas;
mole rats;
spinaceae;
hamsters;
hareliphamsters;
mouse-hamster.

Almost 2/3 of all rodent species belong to one single mouse family (Muridae). This family contains 1,303 known species, and this number is constantly increasing as a result of new discoveries. Murids are distributed throughout the world, including Australia and New Guinea, where they are the only land-based placental mammals (not counting the recently introduced rabbits). They represent the family mainly of mice and rats.

Field mouse (Apodemus agranius)

Representatives of the mole rat family (Spalacidae) are most adapted to life underground. Their eyes are completely hidden under the skin, and their ears and tail are absent.

Common mole rat (Spalax microphthalmus)

To a greater or lesser extent, all representatives of the jerboa family (Dipodidae) are adapted for movement by jumping or rebound running.

Long-eared jerboa (Euchoreutes naso)

Suborder Squirrel-like (Sciuromorpha)

Consists of three families:

squirrel;
aplodontiaceae;
dormouse.

The squirrel family (Sciuridae) is the second most diverse after the mouse family (including 273 species). Representatives of squirrels are distributed throughout Europe, Africa, North and South America. The common squirrel is its most famous representative. This also includes gophers, chipmunks and marmots.

Common squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

Dormice (Gliridae) are a cross between mice and squirrels in appearance. They are the only rodents that do not have a cecum, indicating a low amount of cellulose in their diet.

The only species of the family Aplodontiidae is Aplodontiidae (mountain beaver).

Suborder Beavers (Castorimorpha)

Presented in three families:

beavers;
gopheraceae;
pouchhopper.

Beavers (Castoridae) are large rodents with cheek pouches and strong limbs. The most famous, of course, is the beaver. It is famous primarily for the fact that it can change the landscape in its habitat. Using powerful cutters, he cuts down trees, building dams and huts from this material (more about beavers in this article).

Representatives of the gopher family (Geomyidae) spend most of their lives underground in their own burrow system. Outwardly they look like moles.

Plains gopher (Geomys bursarius)

Sacrifuges (Heteromyidae) are nocturnal burrowers that inhabit diverse landscapes in the Americas.

Suborder Porcupines (Hystricomorpha)

This suborder unites about 300 species in 18 families (agoutiaceae, porcupines, pigs, mole rats, chinchillas, rock rats, etc.).

Most of them are large rodents that live within South and Central America. Among them, the most famous are porcupines, guinea pigs, mole rats, nutria, chinchillas, etc.

North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)

Suborder Spiketails (Anomaluromorpha)

Includes 2 families:

long-legged;
spiny-tailed.

The first family (Pedetidae) is represented by one species - the long-legged, living on the African plains. This animal looks like a miniature kangaroo.

Strider (Pedetes capensis)

Spiketails (Anomaluridae) from the rain forests of Africa are similar in appearance to squirrels, but are very distantly related to them.

Squirrel Spiketail (Zenkerella insignis)

How many mice does a mouse give birth to?

Like all small rodents, mice have increased fertility. If mice are kept in good conditions and given good nutrition, they can breed throughout the year. A mouse can bear an average of 5-10 litters per year. In one litter, as a rule, there are from 1 to 15 mice.

Mice are born without hair, their eyes and ears are closed. They are helpless and hardly move. On days 3-5 after birth, the baby mice's ears open and fur begins to grow. Mice's eyes open at the age of two weeks. And at three weeks of age, the pups get out of the nest and begin to consume food on their own. Young animals can be separated from the female 3-3.5 weeks after birth.

How long do wild rats live?

Wild rats have impressive body sizes; their weight can be up to 0.5 kg. Therefore, novice breeders often think about taming them, mistakenly thinking that due to their size they will live longer. In fact, everything is exactly the opposite.

Wild rats are not adapted to life in a domestic environment. They cannot stand confined spaces and are very afraid of people. Therefore, in captivity they live 1-1.5 years. In addition, savages are more susceptible to cancer.

How long a rat can live at home is a controversial question. Much depends on the person - the owner can either extend or shorten the pet’s age. In order for the fluffy to please all family members for as long as possible, it is necessary to organize good living conditions for him, as well as give the animal unlimited care and love.

Mice for keeping at home

Thanks to modern selection, ornamental mice have hundreds of species, among which there are singing, “waltzing”, and animals with unusual coat colors (white albino mice, pure black mice, ashy and cream-colored animals).

Some types of mice are especially popular:

The Japanese dwarf mouse is very tiny, up to 5 cm long. The white skin is decorated with black and brown spots. Friendly, clean and energetic. Leads a nocturnal lifestyle. There are 5-7 mice in a litter.
The spiny mouse or akomis is a large decorative mouse with many needles located along the entire back. The color is reddish-brown or blackish-red. The neck is framed by a voluminous fat hump. The nose is elongated, the eyes are bulging, the ears are large and oval in shape. The mouse is very active and quickly gets used to people.
The decorative African striped mouse has an interesting coloring: light and dark stripes alternate along the body. The animal does not emit an unpleasant odor. It climbs well on vertical surfaces. The striped mouse is a very shy animal. In case of danger, it can pretend to be dead or jump to a height of up to 2.5 m. The body length rarely exceeds 10 cm.

House mouse: choosing a pet

Decorative mice are friendly, non-aggressive, clean, quickly get used to their owners, and are very easy to care for.

When choosing an animal, you should pay attention to the habits and appearance of the rodent. An animal in good health looks like this:

the fur does not stick out, there are no bald patches;
teeth white, straight;
the animal has moist and shiny eyes;
the animal does not have mucous discharge from the nostrils and eyes;
The mouse is actively moving and feeding.

We must not forget how many years mice live. The maximum lifespan of these animals is 3-4 years, so it is better to choose a pet under the age of 12 months

You need to pay attention to the gender of the rodent, since several males will not live in one home

Males are slightly larger than females, their body resembles an elongated pear. A 30-day-old male mouse has formed testicles under its tail. And in the female, from the 3rd day after birth, 5 pairs of rudimentary nipples are clearly visible.

The house mouse is a collective animal, so it is better to purchase several individuals. If further breeding of animals is planned, then males and females must be kept separately until mating.

Interesting facts about mice. Briefly:

Mice cannot stay awake for long or sleep for long. They expend energy evenly throughout the day. They have up to 20 rest breaks per day.
With the onset of cold weather, wood mice can migrate closer to residential buildings to stay warm and feed on stored or homemade grain. For the sake of a goal, these small rodents can travel a distance of 3 to 5 km.
Mice live almost everywhere. There is a gerbil mouse - it lives in the deserts of Asia and Africa. And there are also mountain mice. They, you guessed it, dig holes in rocky areas.
Many people consider mice to be dirty animals, but this is not so - the mouse is very clean. If its hole is slightly wet or the plant litter in it has deteriorated, the rodent will leave the home. In this case, the mouse will go to dig a new shelter.

What interesting facts about rodents do you know?

Rodent control

Man has long tried to fight rodents. Even in the most ancient written sources, the use of fast-acting nonspecific poisons was mentioned. The Greek philosopher Aristotle described the use of strychnine in the 50s. IY century BC. However, the use of fast-acting poisons such as strychnine, thallium sulfate, etc. has negative consequences - both technical and environmental. Rodents that are poisoned but not killed avoid poisonous baits for a long time. At the same time, poisons pose a danger to other animals.

Since 1945, when warfarin was first synthesized, several anticoagulants have been developed for rodent control. These substances reduce the ability of blood to clot, which over time leads to death as a result of internal or external bleeding. The first generation of anticoagulants were designed to deliver multiple doses of venom and were initially effective in controlling species such as the gray rat. However, some rats soon acquired genetic resistance to the substance. And other species, for example, the black rat, had such resistance from the very beginning.

Second-generation anticoagulants, based on active ingredients such as brodifacoum and bromadionol, are designed to take only one dose and are usually fatal to most species of rodents. However, we should not forget about the danger that these poisons pose to other animal species. They can be released into the environment and accumulate in predators as they eat more and more poisoned rodents until they themselves are killed.

The simplest method of exterminating small numbers of rodents is traps. However, only a few of them are effective; most simply mutilate their victims.

“Advanced” methods of rodent control are sometimes proposed, including relatively new ones such as chemical sterilization, ultrasound and electromagnetic fields, but these are not superior to the use of anticoagulants.

Wild or domestic (cats, dogs) predators are practically unable to reduce existing rodent populations. Their role may be to limit population growth. Many people believe that predators do not, in the narrow sense, control their prey, although an increase in the number of prey can also lead to an increase in the number of predators. For example, mongooses were brought by humans to the West Indies and Hawaii, and cobras were introduced to oil palm plantations in Malaysia. Rats have not disappeared from these places, and mongooses and cobras are now considered pests themselves. The former are seen as carriers of rabies, and the latter as posing a direct danger to people.

Literature: Mammals: Complete illustrated encyclopedia /Translated from English/ Book. II. Half-ungulates, ungulates, rodents, lagomorphs, elephant jumpers, insectivores, chiropterans, edentates, marsupials, monotremes. / Ed. D. MacDonald. – M: “Omega”, – 2007.

Arguments against animal experimentation

The animals almost always die at the end of the experiment. On the rare occasion that they survive, someone takes them home, but they usually end up being killed under anesthesia and disposed of.

Animal rights activists have been campaigning against animal experimentation for many years. Their arguments:

During experiments, rodents have to endure terrible torment. To test a drug for a disease, you must first induce it in an animal, after which treatment is carried out. For example, they create a tumor in mice, then inject medicine and see if it shrinks.
Very often, experiments are carried out without anesthesia: it can affect the quality of the study (intensity of breathing, heartbeat, blood flow speed).
Experiments on acute toxicity are completely inhumane: animals are injected with a very large dose of the substance. In such experiments, rodents can die from heart rupture, convulsions, hemorrhage, and paralysis.
The most common test performed by cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies is the sensitivity and irritation test. The substance is applied to the animal’s skin or injected under it, which can cause unpredictable consequences - from redness to purulent wounds. Testing the safety of substances on the mucous membranes of animals often leads to bleeding and even blindness.
One argument against testing on rodents is that the average human weighing 60-70 kg bears little resemblance to a rat. Each human body is unique, so a drug can help some, but only harm others. And since people are so different from each other, then what can we say about comparing animals with humans.
Many human diseases are never found in rodents, so they are subjected to cruel manipulations for research purposes. For example, they inject cancer cells, inject a neurotoxin into the brain to induce tremors similar to Parkinson's disease, and lock rats in a water tank from which they cannot escape to induce depression.

The best traditional ways to get rid of rats naturally

Rats cannot stand the smell of some plants. They can serve as natural repellents if you plant them in your yard. Among these plants are mint, tansy, bouzilka and other plants. Many people also use peppermint oil as a rat control solution. All you need to do is roll up cotton balls, soak them in this oil, then leave them in areas where animals are active - and you will notice the effect. Although the choice of these oils is truly enormous, we recommend that you purchase the best to ensure the results. This is the No. 1 bestseller in the “Scented candles and home fragrances” category on Yandex Market.

Price: 1380 rub.

According to the National Institutes of Health, black (pet) rats also cannot stand the smell of eucalyptus oil, so be generous with this product and spray it generously in areas where rodents have been found.

Keep in mind that cats are the main enemies of all tailed animals. Of course, having a pet doesn't guarantee anything, but allowing a cat to roam outside the home can go some way to helping reduce the rat population, since cats are hunters by nature. Another DIY hack that also involves furry pets: Use your cat's urine in the yard as a natural repellent. This is not the most pleasant rat repellent, but it has proven to be very effective due to the fact that they are afraid of the smells of their enemies.

Find out how to get rid of the dead rat smell yourself.

Riddles about mice for children

Treat yourself and your kids with exciting riddles about rats and mice. Will the company guess the rodent? We offer you children's riddles about a mouse:

Lives in a mink. He chews the crust. Gray baby - Who is this?.. (Mouse)

Lives in a hole, gnaws on crusts. Short legs. Afraid of the cat. (Mouse)

Collects grains in a hole. Runs away from evil cats. Everyone is scared of the baby, This little one... (Mouse) (A. Makarova)

He looks out of the crack, he’s afraid to get out. (Mouse)

Katya squealed something. The baby is surprised: “Why did you tremble, Katya?” After all, sitting in the corner... (Mouse)

In a hole, in a small house, Hiding from a cat... (Mice)

Underground, in a closet. She lives in a hole. Gray baby. Who is this?..(Mouse)

I dug a hole - and in the hole lives Beady Eyes, baby. Gray-gray chews a ripe grain in a mink... (Mouse) (A. Izmailov)

Came out of the hole for a crust of bread. Bargained with a white cat, Paid with a gray fur coat. (Mouse)

Who hides crusts of bread in a deep hole, Gray with a little tail? (Mouse) (S. Azar)

Who scratches under the floor in the silence of midnight?.. (Mouse)

What kind of gray animal is it, its tail is long, like a lace, as soon as it saw the cat, it immediately ran into a hole? (Mouse)

Who rustles behind the wall, squeaks in a thin voice, You can’t hide the cheese from them. A thief to all thieves... (Mouse)

Who is rustling behind our closet? At night he scares Masha. The silly girl is hiding in the corner. Little gray one... (Mouse) (Ernst)

She's afraid of the cat. There's a hole in the floor, hiding there. Hiding for a break... Who does the cat catch? ...(Mouse) (G. Stupnikov)

Sharp teeth, Gray fur coats, Quick legs Running away from the cat. (Mice) (A. Alferova)

Pi, pi, pi - she said and immediately ran into the hole. What kind of baby is this? This is a little... (Mouse)

Rodent control

The simplest method of exterminating small numbers of rodents is traps. However, only a few of them are effective; most simply mutilate their victims.

The most interesting and surprising facts

Mice help scientists make discoveries that save people's lives. But just recently the genome of the rodent was discovered. It matches the human one by 80 percent. And not only in this way is the mammal similar to a human. In animals and humans, joints have the same number of parts and are arranged in a similar way.

Today mice are a popular pet. They are affectionate, calm and do not require special care. Some owners note the fact that their pets respond to their own nickname. But few people know that the baby was tamed back in ancient Egypt. These animals were also bred in China. And to this day, residents of this country are sure that the fact that there are no rodents in their home is a bad sign. Rodents The following information about mice is also very interesting:

Pests are among the most studied animals on the planet.
The bat is the only flying mammal.
Weasels distinguish between red and yellow color spectrums. And blind animals detect the change of day and night.
In nature, rodents prefer to be nocturnal. Decorative species of mice adapt to the rhythm of humans and sleep at night.
Mice do not like to eat cheese, and the smell of this product can scare them away. The mouse diet consists of grains.
Animals can live without water for a long time. But they need to eat enough carbohydrates.
An interesting fact is that “mouse” is translated from the ancient Indo-European language as “thief”.

Not only interesting and unusual facts are known about rodents. There are many superstitions and signs among people associated with these mammals.