Get These Mice Some Birth Control!

[clair_de_lalune]

Tonight I went to a dinner lecture. While there, one of my work colleagues told everyone about her family's pet mice. Her son bought them from a pet shop a couple of months ago and named them "Petie" and "Pee Wee". It turns out that Petie was named correctly and is a male. Pee Wee is female. Together, they're very prolific. She was telling us

Comments

[corvus_coronis]

I remember reading in a friend's LJ about the time her family kept mice for a short time. They turned cannibal very quickly, with the babies soon being eaten straight after birth. Eventually, they ended up with six males & one old (and continuously pregnant-but-otherwise without offspring) female. In the end, they ate her as well (my friend said they must have gotten tired of waiting). It was all pretty creepy.

[rattlesnakeroot]

Eek! That is horrible about the cannibalism!

We had a gerbil for a year, and all it did was ride on a wheel and chew up cardboard, so it made alot of noise. It was somewhat cute, but it looked too much like a rat for me, and I didn't enjoy handling it when I had to clean the cage.

If I want mice, all I have to do is leave my back door open for 10 minutes. We've had field mice, house mice, wood rats, voles, chipmunks, and even an opossum once run in and hide behind the refrigerator, and we have to chase them out with a broom. I rescued a baby rabbit from a cat once and it immediately headed for my back door. I don't know why these creatures think it my kitchen is their safe haven.

Baby mice are cute - a bit of fluff with a long tail - but they like to chew up things like books, food, and clothing. I hope your friend's mice don't get loose in the house!

[clair_de_lalune]

*lol* I can't imagine an opossum fitting behind the fridge - at least, the ones around here are pretty big!

[clair_de_lalune]

Ewww! That's awful! Maybe they were mentally unstable mice from inbreeding, if there is such a thing...

[cjmr]

There are vets who will spay mice. Not many of them will, though and I wouldn't want to be the person calling around asking. Unfortunately, mice are really hard to tell apart until they're sexually mature, and by then it's generally too late to separate them.

-----

You've been to more places than me (both states and countries), even when I count states and countries I've only been in airports in.

[clair_de_lalune]

It's really only been the last few years that I've traveled a lot for work and/or had the money to travel for vacation. And, I'm only free to do so because I don't have a family...a situation I figured I'd make the best of. ;-)

[alwaysholly]

I have heard that about mice before. I have a patio and before my dog died they used to come from my canal bank and sneak in to eat his food. They got behind some stuff on the patio and a female gave birth to what had to have been 20 little mice. We had to get rid of them all. EEK.

[clair_de_lalune]

I remember that our cat growing up used to catch mice and bring them in the house every once in a while. Then my dad would have to run around catching them, which wasn't easy! One of them bit him on the thumb once and my parents called animal control to have the mouse tested for rabies. They turned it over in an empty Cool Whip container with some holes punched in the top. Apparently, the animal control people left it in the container overnight and the next morning had to call my parents to say that the mouse had chewed its way out and escaped. *lol* Obviously, it didn't have rabies, since my dad was fine - so, I guess it all worked out for the best for us and the mouse!

[alwaysholly]

Well thank goodness for that!

Yeah rats/mice are real pains about chewing stuff up. I remember when I was a little girl there were some in our attic and they chewed up some boxes.

[cynodd]

We'll have to plan a visit to Kansas together, since we're both missing that one! lol crabbydragon is also missing West Virginia, as he is always pointing out to me. It's a hard state to get to, unless you're going there specifically. You don't ever go through it from here on your way to just about anywhere else. I can't swear with 100% certainty that I've been there, I'm just pretty sure as a child I drove through it.

I counted states I drove through, even at night (not really sure which these might be), but not places where I've only been to the airport (although I think I've been to most of those now).

[clair_de_lalune]

I've been to Kansas. The missing spot on the map is Oklahoma. I've also never been to West Virginia, though I've been to all the states that surround it. Perhaps we should go there, since crabbydragon needs that one and you're not sure about it. ;-)

I'm off to the airport in a few minutes for San Antonio, TX!

[cynodd]

Oops. I didn't mean Kansas or Oklahoma. I meant North Dakota. I'm missing that one, as is crabbydragon. West Virginia would be an okay second choice.

Have a good time in Texas (gah!). I'll see you Monday for tree decorating.

[rattlesnakeroot]

Have fun in Texas! I hope you don't run into any ice and snow along the way.

My travel map is so pathetic, that I only need half of it: