Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1891 — Use of Mice Tails. [ARTICLE]

Use of Mice Tails.

Before we had much observed mice» the use of their long tails was a question that had puzzled us. We do not know of what service they are to the females, but to the bucks they are, we see, of use in their combats: for when they fight they very often face one another standing on their hind legs, the tail then making, as with kangaroos, the third feature of a tripod. Their appearance when they thus stand facing one another with their heads thrown back and their paws in front of their faces is, on account perhaps of the resemblance it bears to the posture of prize-fighters, extremely comic. Small mice, also, when attacked by their bigger congeners, raise their paws before their faces, the attitude in that case strangely suggesting one of deprecation. What occurs when belligerent bucks actually engage, only instantaneous photography could record, so rapid are their movements. Presumably they try to bite; but must consider defense the better part of valor, for they never appear to get hurt much, and between the rounds will nibble away at the crust which brought them into the vicinage, only showing their excitement by rattling their tails against the ground. Occasionally, a tail seized by the teeth leads to one mouse having to drag his enemy over the floor till the latter lets go.—Naturalist.