THE COMMON MOUSE. 457 



with food, has been known to develop its carnivorous nature into cannibalism, eating the body 

 of one of its companions that had died while in the cage. 



" Y B little vulgar Mouse," as it is quaintly termed by old Topsel, is a truly pretty little 

 creature, with its brown-gray back, gray throat and abdomen, soft, velvety fur, its little bright 

 black bead-like eyes, and squirrel-like paws. A detailed description of so familiar an animal 

 would be quite imnecessary, and we will therefore proceed to its habits and manners. 



Like the rat, it frequents both town and country, doing an infinity of damage in the 

 former, but comparatively little harm in the latter. In the country it attaches itself mostly to 

 farm-yards, where it gains access to the ricks, and when once firmly established, is not so easily 

 dislodged as its larger relative, the rat. However, if the rick be kept under cover, the Mice 

 cannot make any lengthened stay, for the cover keeps off the rain, on which they chiefly 

 depend for drink, and they are then obliged to leave the stack in search of water. If the rick 

 be placed on staddles, it will be then safe from these little pests. 



In the town they are not so objectionable as in the country, for they can only annoy the 

 human inhabitants, and cannot inflict real damage upon them. They are bold little creatures 

 in their way, although easily startled ; and, if permitted to carry on their noisy sport undis- 

 turbed, run about an inhabited room with perfect nonchalance. 



In old buildings in which the walls are papered over canvas, Mice run scuffling and 

 squeaking between the canvas and the plaster, as if they were the legitimate owners of the 

 place, and the tenants were only located there in order to cater for their benefit. Many a wall 

 is riddled with holes that have been made by irritated occupants making furious lunges — 

 always unsuccessfully, by the way — with all sorts of instruments, at the wiry little creatures 

 as they scurry about behind the paper. 



They are odd little animals, and full of the quaintest gamesomeness, as may be seen by 

 any one who will only sit quite still and watch them as they run about a room which they 

 specially affect. They are to the full as inquisitive as cats, and will examine any new piece 

 of furniture with great curiosity. 



Mice are very easily tamed, and, as far as my own experience goes, the common brown 

 Mouse is more readily brought under subjection, and more docile, than the white or albino 

 variety. I have kept many a set of Mice, brown, white, and mottled, and have always found 

 them to be very susceptible of kindness. To tame a young brown Mouse is an easy task ; but 

 it must be remembered that, as all Mice are very cleanly animals, the strictest care is needful 

 to rid their cage of all impurity. Their bedding should be constantly changed, and the false 

 floor of their cage should be double, so that, while one is in iise, the other is getting dry after 

 being thoroughly washed. Any soft substance, such as hay, cotton wool, or rags, will suffice 

 for their bedding ; but I have found that black cotton wool, or black "wadding," as it is some- 

 times termed, is fatal to Mice in the course of a single night. Why it should be so, I cannot 

 venture to guess, but that such is the case I have had practical experience. 



Mice are cunning creatures, and when they once have taken alarm at a trap, cannot be 

 induced to put themselves within such peril, no matter how strong the inducement may be. 

 For a while it is possible to entrap them by changing the kind of bait as soon as they have 

 began to learn the result of eating that particular substance ; but in a few weeks the trap 

 must be entirely removed until the animals have forgotten it. 



It is a marvellously prolific animal, producing its young several times in the course of the 

 year, and at a very early age. The nests are made in any sheltered spot, and formed from any 

 soft substance, such as rags, paper, or wool, that the mother can procure. On taking up 

 some boards in my own room, I once found a Mouse-nest nearly as large as a man's head, com- 

 posed wholly of scraps of paper, and containing six or seven tiny red, semi-transparent mouse- 

 lets, through whose little bodies one could almost see the substance of the nest on which they 

 were lying. Another Mouse-nest which I discovered, was made in an old disused harmonicon, 

 which had been put away in a cupboard, and was filled by the Mice with empty nutshells, the 

 refuse of a bag of hazel-nuts which had been placed in the same cupboard ; no very enviable 

 bed, as one would fancy, and the reason for its construction not at all obvious. 



