Is my mouse insane? Seriously.

Tue Jan 20, 2004 9:59 pm

I think Crazy is abnormal.

She has become really bossy, and I think it may be to the point of really picking on the other two. I can only see this stuff happening when I'm lying in bed about 6 feet away, because if Crazy sees me up, she goes running back into the tree stump house like I'm going to catch and eat her or something.

She seeks out Thimble and attacks: leap, pounce, chew, angry squeaking (from whom I'm not sure). Then she does the same to Yoli. Then she runs around the cages in an absolute frenzy, bouncing off the walls, and stops only to jump straight up and down in one corner as if she's having a terrible fit. Sometimes she'll begin to dig furiously in one corner and throw litter everywhere, then teleport to the wheel, throw off anyone who might be using it, run like a madwoman for quite a while, and only stop for a drink of water or to threaten anyone who walks by.

She also intersperses this with more sudden corner fits, only also picks up a piece of paper towel or Carefresh in her mouth, lifts her head to the sky, and does the Dance of Her Country, flinging litter everywhere and spazzing as if she's on really bad drugs. Sometimes she just drops the paper or litter and goes to do something else (eat, attack, wheel, whatever), and sometimes she brings the piece up to the tree stump and tries to stuff it in.

She will lie in wait for Thimble or even hunt her down, then do what looks like biting her and dance on her head at the same time, while Thimble protests loudly (I think it's Thimble hollering, I hope it's not Crazy's war cry or something). Sometimes this will prompt Thimble to turn round and beat on Yoli for a change, with more hollering, but that's rare. Usually Crazy finishes terrorizing one cage mate then moves to terrorize the other.

The other two fight her off, and she has to go have a fit somewhere, but she always comes back and annoys them again.

Also, when she's on the wheel, she will often leap off, then leap right back on and keep running, doing this over and over again as if she cannot bear to leave the wheel. Once she's been on it for a while, Yoli can make her trade off, though, and they go back and forth, taking reluctant turns. They often both end up on it and then it doesn't move cos they want to run in different directions, and it's usually Yoli who gives up.

Last night Thimble commandeered the wheel simply by leaping on it and outrunning Crazy, who leapt off to save her life (but not before she had to do a few involuntary loop-de-loops). Also, Thimble leapt on it while Yoli was running, I guess, cos I heard it suddenly begin to spin faster, and opened my eyes to see a yellow blur whizzing round, then heard: thwap, thwap, *doink* and saw Poor Yoli going round the outside and getting smacked against the floor and ceiling! The *doink* was her tail whapping the floor, then she fell off and disappeared for a while. Shocked

So, I'm probably not describing this very well since I see it all mostly by moonlight, but I am serious that Crazy worries me. It is funny, but I can't hardly laugh til I know if it's okay; or is it that Crazy is truly deranged and dangerous? Is she just a bitch, or is she insane, or what? Is this at all normal for mice, does anyone know?

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Tue Jan 20, 2004 11:18 pm

Maybe it's just dominant mouse behavior? For the brief period when Nick was with the girls, he'd do the chasing/attacking part, which I first thought was a prelude to trying to mate, but I never saw him tackle that end. No one ever actually seemed hurt though.
As for the wheel, I sort of think it's a captive animal thing, kind of like tigers pacing in a zoo. Even though we try to enrich the environment as much as we can, there is still a surplus of time that in nature would be spent looking for food or raising babies. With a full bowl of food and no kids to tend to, the wheel is their major activity. I think they sometimes get off to go tend to other chores, then realize that there's nothing to tend to so they jump right back on. I'm sure they don't process it quite that way, but it's the only way I can think to explain my theory.
Loop-de-loops are fun to watch, aren't they! I oiled the girls wheel the other night so it runs very smoothly (and quietly.) Holly was running by herself then would stop and ride the loops. I counted as many as thirteen to fifteen rotations each time, with her just hanging on, before she'd get it going again just to stop and ride. I started to get dizzy and had to stop watching.

Wed Jan 21, 2004 12:02 am

I thought about that wheel thing too, that they need more to do and don't have it, so run like the wind. That's why I can't wait to build a bigger cage, with all sorts of different things in it that I can change round for them to explore each week.

Oh, I had put a seed stick in the cage bottom several days ago, and they hadn't touched it. So I took it out, wired it like a porch swing, and hung it horizontally from under a level. Now they're all over it. Mr. Green

I hope Crazy is just being dominant. Who'd a thunk it, that meek little terrified baby is now the dictator/terrorist of the mouse world. Shocked

Maybe one does have to be a bit insane to maintain that position.

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:22 am

	Kate wrote:
	Maybe one does have to be a bit insane to maintain that position.

Well, she is your mouse.

Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:38 am

I half wanted to laugh at your description of her behaviour, but I know that if she was mine it would seriously freak me out. Obviously, only having the one mouse, I haven't seen anything like it, but I wonder if anyone on any of the mouse sites can help.

I assume the attacks don't result in anyone getting really hurt? Shocked

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Linda and the RMDs

Many have forgotten this truth but you must not forget it. We remain responsible forever, for what we have tamed.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Wed Jan 21, 2004 3:50 am

Maybe she's in heat?

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Christy
RP Admin
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Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Wed Jan 21, 2004 5:10 am

wade wrote:

	Kate wrote:
	Maybe one does have to be a bit insane to maintain that position.

Well, she is your mouse.

I too was wondering if they're all in heat, cos they're all acting a bit nuts, but Crazy is going over the top. And I know it's funny, and no one gets hurt (that I can see), but she's just so WEIRD and frantic that I wondered if she's nutsier than the other two. If it were Thimble doing the attacking I'd worry that she was definitely a he and finally wanting to get some, but it's Thimble doing most of the whining, I think. Though she does occasionally slap back to stop Crazy, mostly she cringes and runs.

I know this isn't all coming out right, I just wish you guys could see it! It makes my eyes go all woogly at times, I swear. I just can't believe she's able to keep it up like that all night. No wonder they sleep like the undead until at least midnight. I see nothing of them before then, and they're all quite happy to sleep in a dark little ball of mouse inside that tree stump together.

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Jan 21, 2004 7:18 pm

My, my! Kate has her own special emoticom I'd not seen before. I suppose I deserved it though. wink

Wed Jan 21, 2004 9:45 pm

Get 'em here. Mr. Green

_________________
Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous