Mice can’t burp

 

Mice can’t burp

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Those of a delicate disposition may wish to skip this blog post.

In case you were wondering, mice can neither burp nor vomit.

The following story may be apocryphal but has some basis in fact.

Someone discovered that she had a mouse in her car and naturally she wanted to evict it. She tried traps humane and inhumane and the mouse escaped. She tried laying a trail of tasty treats out and away from the vehicle, but the mouse showed no interest.

Someone told her of a method which had worked for them in their garden shed. It involved a bowl of Coca-Cola. The mouse drank from the bowl, filled up with gas and was unable to relieve the pressure. It went outside for fresh air and exploded.

It may have been a method that was tried, but there is no data to support the story of an exploding mouse. Mice will drink Coca-Cola (other carbonated drinks are available) and may indeed become uncomfortable with stomach ache, but they will not explode.

 Baking soda is sometimes mixed with a tasty bait, like peanut butter, to make a homemade rodenticide. The soda reacts with the hydrochloric acid in the mouse’s second stomach** (the first is used for food storage, rather like a larder!) and creates carbon dioxide which builds up. The pressure created causes internal bleeding or organ failure, and eventually death, after several days. It is an inhumane way to deal with a problem.

However, if it were to be acceptable, maybe Coca-Cola could update its iconic advertisement and song:

Mouse Coke - it’s the real thing to solve your vermin problem!

I’d like to teach the mice to drink

A bowl of Coke for me,

I’d like to seem them try to burp,

Exploding messily.

 

It’s the cruel thing!

**Clarification: Mice don't have two stomachs, but rather one stomach divided into two distinct regions - a fore-stomach, and a glandular region for chemical digestion.

Paramedic mice

 

Paramedic mice

    I read an article recently about a mouse performing a form of CPR on a fellow mouse struck down by illness or accident. Naturally, an experiment (or series of experiments) was conducted to observe such behaviour more closely.

Researchers drugged mice to incapacitate them and watched as the paramedic mice reacted. They pawed the victims, licked them, and pulled their tongues out of their mouths to clear their airways.

It is a phenomenon that has been observed in other mammal species. Something that human beings have to learn and be trained to use seems to come naturally to other animals.

Once upon a time

 

Once upon a time

In a field full of fat, round, juicy pumpkins, six mice had found a perfect place to tarry awhile and enjoy a feast. They called themselves the Pumpkin Mice. They were related, as all mice are, but they were cousins rather than siblings. They were descendants of mouse aristocrats, the Fancy Mice, and some of their ancestors had won prizes at Mouse Fancy Shows and had their photographs taken with a big silver trophy.

Though the Pumpkin Mice were not show mice, they had beautiful, large ears and bright blue eyes which were quite remarkable, having never before been seen in the mouse world. The length of their tails varied considerably and most of them were pink but one was a startling green and quite the longest tail ever seen in Mousedom.

They had scurried away to hide inside the pumpkins when they heard movement in the field. Too many of their friends and relations had met an unpleasant end at the teeth and beaks of larger creatures. Quaking and shivering, they awaited their fate. After a very long time, they emerged blinking into the daylight and gazed around, thankful still to be alive, but what was this? The pumpkins were no longer in the field but lifted high on a tower. They peered over the edges, wondering if it would be safe to attempt an escape. Where would they go? Everything was so unfamiliar. They decided it would be safer to stay where they were, with shelter and food.

As the days went by they noticed that lots of passers-by stopped by the pumpkins on the tower. When they realised they were quite safe and that the little children and their parents were just looking and didn’t want to take their pumpkins away they became braver and began to peek at the people.

The mothers said, ‘Look at the little mice’ and ‘Aren’t they sweet?’ and the little children said, ‘Ooh’ and ‘Ahh’.

The Pumpkin Mice were happy in their new home. The squirrels didn’t worry them, as squirrels don’t bother with pumpkin when there are so many other delicious things to eat. The crows and magpies noticed them but didn’t disturb them. Life was sweet, just like the pumpkins.

Mice can’t burp

Someone I know of had a rodent problem - there was a mouse in her car and she couldn't get it out. She tried a humane trap and the mouse escaped. She tried an inhumane trap and the mouse triggered the mechanism but escaped capture. She tried laying a trail of tasty treats out of and away from the vehicle – the mouse didn't bite.

Then someone else sent her some advice about a tried and tested solution which had worked in their tool shed. Assuming the car is not required for any journeys for a couple of days, a bowl of Coca-Cola is left inside. The mouse drinks it and is filled with gas; because it cannot burp to relieve the pressure it seeks the outside for air and eventually explodes, hopefully well away from anything you don't want covered in shreds of mouse. I presume Pepsi-Cola or any other carbonated drink would work just as efficiently or maybe it's the 'special ingredients' in Coca-Cola that are necessary. (It's also supposed to be very good at removing grime!)

I can't imagine Coca-Cola will be advertising their product's unique property in an effort to boost sales but you never know.

Mouse Coke – it's the real thing to solve your vermin problem!

'I'd like to teach the mice to drink

A bowl of Coke for me,

I'd like to see them try to burp

Exploding messily.

It's the cruel thing!'
I don't think I could use this remedy but maybe I'm not desperate enough.