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#21
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#22
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"Laura R." wrote in message .. . circa 5 Apr 2004 13:34:31 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Steve G ) said, No. I have some gaoled wild mice (they were swiping my seeds, so they are in chokey until they reform) and gerbils. Gaol, I know, but what's chokey? Not sure here, but in "Matilda" (Roald Dahl), the chokey was a tiny closet-like space where Miss Trunchbull (huge, beefy, former hammer-thrower headmistress of a school) put the kids she wanted to punish. It had only enough space to stand upright - barely. Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon |
#23
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"Laura R." wrote in message .. . circa 5 Apr 2004 13:34:31 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Steve G ) said, No. I have some gaoled wild mice (they were swiping my seeds, so they are in chokey until they reform) and gerbils. Gaol, I know, but what's chokey? Not sure here, but in "Matilda" (Roald Dahl), the chokey was a tiny closet-like space where Miss Trunchbull (huge, beefy, former hammer-thrower headmistress of a school) put the kids she wanted to punish. It had only enough space to stand upright - barely. Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon |
#24
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equalizer wrote:
It was the bit about cruelly picking up the mice by the tails that got me. Sounded like a very well-crafted troll. I was trying to imagine what he thought the correct way of handling mice was -- perhaps cradling them gently on their backs and scritching them on their bellies and under their chins? eq Clearly you haven't educated yourself about the care of domestic mice. (Not that I expect you to have, but jumping to conclusions based on misinformation isn't very clever.) Picking a mouse up by the tail, especially away from the base of the tail, and not supporting the body is an unpleasant way to treat the creature and could result in stripping the skin from the tail. A skittish mouse that must be picked up quickly may be gripped firmly at the base of the tail and scooped with the other hand. A mouse in the process of taming should not be exposed to this rough treatment; herding it into a container like a cardboard tube and picking that up is preferred. A tame mouse is generally scooped up bodily and accepts this treatment happily. (Heck, my pet mice would run into a proffered hand at any time; one would even come when called to do so.) Pet store employees that handle the stock like this (or that scoop fish out of the water and handle them bodily when transferring them to bags for sale) are just asking for the animals to get stressed and sick, and are clearly undereducated about their job. So, I agree with Dennis, troll or no, that he shouldn't have bought mice from a place that mishandled them so, since he's just supporting the mistreatment. -Alison in OH |
#25
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equalizer wrote:
It was the bit about cruelly picking up the mice by the tails that got me. Sounded like a very well-crafted troll. I was trying to imagine what he thought the correct way of handling mice was -- perhaps cradling them gently on their backs and scritching them on their bellies and under their chins? eq Clearly you haven't educated yourself about the care of domestic mice. (Not that I expect you to have, but jumping to conclusions based on misinformation isn't very clever.) Picking a mouse up by the tail, especially away from the base of the tail, and not supporting the body is an unpleasant way to treat the creature and could result in stripping the skin from the tail. A skittish mouse that must be picked up quickly may be gripped firmly at the base of the tail and scooped with the other hand. A mouse in the process of taming should not be exposed to this rough treatment; herding it into a container like a cardboard tube and picking that up is preferred. A tame mouse is generally scooped up bodily and accepts this treatment happily. (Heck, my pet mice would run into a proffered hand at any time; one would even come when called to do so.) Pet store employees that handle the stock like this (or that scoop fish out of the water and handle them bodily when transferring them to bags for sale) are just asking for the animals to get stressed and sick, and are clearly undereducated about their job. So, I agree with Dennis, troll or no, that he shouldn't have bought mice from a place that mishandled them so, since he's just supporting the mistreatment. -Alison in OH |
#26
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equalizer wrote:
It was the bit about cruelly picking up the mice by the tails that got me. Sounded like a very well-crafted troll. I was trying to imagine what he thought the correct way of handling mice was -- perhaps cradling them gently on their backs and scritching them on their bellies and under their chins? Clearly you haven't educated yourself about the care of domestic mice. (Not that I expect you to have, but jumping to conclusions based on misinformation isn't very clever.) Picking a mouse up by the tail, especially away from the base of the tail, and not supporting the body is an unpleasant way to treat the creature and could result in stripping the skin from the tail. snipped and re-ordered Actually, here's a picture of a mouse I caught in my old apartment, in a live trap. I picked it up by the tail. The picture was taken seconds after I released it. If you look closely, you'll see there's absolutely NO damage to its tail. http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/mouse.jpg I don't see how your response is an adequate rebuttal either to my description of the standard of care for *domestic* mice, nor to my cautionary note that this mishandling *could* result in a stripped tail. -Alison in OH |
#27
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equalizer wrote:
It was the bit about cruelly picking up the mice by the tails that got me. Sounded like a very well-crafted troll. I was trying to imagine what he thought the correct way of handling mice was -- perhaps cradling them gently on their backs and scritching them on their bellies and under their chins? Clearly you haven't educated yourself about the care of domestic mice. (Not that I expect you to have, but jumping to conclusions based on misinformation isn't very clever.) Picking a mouse up by the tail, especially away from the base of the tail, and not supporting the body is an unpleasant way to treat the creature and could result in stripping the skin from the tail. snipped and re-ordered Actually, here's a picture of a mouse I caught in my old apartment, in a live trap. I picked it up by the tail. The picture was taken seconds after I released it. If you look closely, you'll see there's absolutely NO damage to its tail. http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/mouse.jpg I don't see how your response is an adequate rebuttal either to my description of the standard of care for *domestic* mice, nor to my cautionary note that this mishandling *could* result in a stripped tail. -Alison in OH |
#28
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On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 16:38:02 -0400, Alison wrote:
Sorry. As a veteran cat and mouse owner I'll urge you to ALWAYS worry. I have lost many mice to the cats, including mice that were housed in heavy glass aquaria with sturdy mesh lids duct-taped on and weighted by 20 lb. toolchests. It is a good thing then that the cats cannot open a round doorknob and push the bathroom door open, and that we habitually keep the bathroom door closed accordingly. =^^=;; Mice are sweet affectionate little guys, but no matter what you do, they're sitting ducks for the predators you house. Yeah, that's kind of what we're learning here. I really wish I didn't buy from that shop in the end (hard lesson - never EVER buy anything from a pet shop in a mall, even if they pointedly don't sell Hartz... and I should know better, having attempted to breed cats... Doh!), but I'm at least pleased to know that these are two little ones who aren't going to either turn into snake chow or be mishandled as such. As for the matching pair... um.... hooboy. Alison, would you by any chance know about how much your vet would charge to neuter a mouse, ballpark figure? Or should we just get another cage? -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
#29
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On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 16:38:02 -0400, Alison wrote:
Sorry. As a veteran cat and mouse owner I'll urge you to ALWAYS worry. I have lost many mice to the cats, including mice that were housed in heavy glass aquaria with sturdy mesh lids duct-taped on and weighted by 20 lb. toolchests. It is a good thing then that the cats cannot open a round doorknob and push the bathroom door open, and that we habitually keep the bathroom door closed accordingly. =^^=;; Mice are sweet affectionate little guys, but no matter what you do, they're sitting ducks for the predators you house. Yeah, that's kind of what we're learning here. I really wish I didn't buy from that shop in the end (hard lesson - never EVER buy anything from a pet shop in a mall, even if they pointedly don't sell Hartz... and I should know better, having attempted to breed cats... Doh!), but I'm at least pleased to know that these are two little ones who aren't going to either turn into snake chow or be mishandled as such. As for the matching pair... um.... hooboy. Alison, would you by any chance know about how much your vet would charge to neuter a mouse, ballpark figure? Or should we just get another cage? -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
#30
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On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 13:34:31 -0700, Steve G wrote:
Asking if a carnivore and its prey will be best buds is a bit like asking if cheese would be a suitable material from which to make an artifical kneecap. Oh, so THAT is why my right kneecap bothers me so. Also explains the intense urge to use my knee for making quesadillas. =^^= Seriously, though, I kind of figured this - thus the original question. In any case, thanks again everybody for their answers. -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
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