Photography And Half-Thoughts By Mitchell Hegman

...because some of it is pretty and some of it is not.

Friday, September 24, 2021

Water and Mice

This week I caught two mice in my house by means of a live trap.  My habit is to carry the captured mice a fair distance down my country road, give them a sharp scolding, and then release them in the sagebrush and juniper.

I am not sure how the mice are finding entrance to my house.  I have read that an adult mouse can fit through an opening the size of a nickel.  Younger mice can use openings the size of a dime.

After releasing the last mouse I caught, I got to thinking about water.

What do mice do for water while living in the hollows of my house?

Off to my Google machine one more time.

A little research revealed that mice are pretty much stomachs equipped with tiny feet.  They are all about eating.  Mice spend all of their waking time seeking something to nibble on.  They can go for only two to four days without eating.

Water is another story.

A mouse can survive for a month or more without directly drinking water.   To take in water, mice rely on indirect sources.  They get water from foods they eat.  Even foods that seem dry to us will supply mice with enough water to sustain them.

The ability to intake water indirectly allows mice to permanently inhabit all manner of places.   

Mitchell Hegman

 

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