mouse behavior, cargo cult ?

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mouse behavior, cargo cult ?

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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46305
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 17 2:09 pm Post subject: mouse behavior, cargo cult ?
for a while i have been hosting sammy mouse and family in the woodshed. the last 4 times i have provided a container of seeds etc they have taken the food and filled the container ( bag or coffee tin ) with sticks and bits of bark. is this a developing cargo cult or is it normal long tailed behaviour to fill a food source with sticks and bark?

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4635
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 17 7:52 pm Post subject:
They're just paying their grocery bill.

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6623
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Mon Dec 18, 17 8:48 pm Post subject:
Maybe they're hoping you won't notice the swap out?

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46305
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 17 11:35 am Post subject:

it could be either

i cannot see an advantage to collecting food and then filling the place it came from, in terms of concealing a resource cover it between shifts makes sense but the last one is a full on stuffing of an empty can

paying the bill or concealing the "theft" both make sense,sort of

as it worked first time with just a few sticks perhaps they are now going for the full stuffing in the hope of full cans? it seems a bit complex for mouse culture but it is a simple explanation of the observation.

they have me a bit confused but very likely to give more food to see what happens so it is working out ok for them

Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6623
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 17 11:48 am Post subject:
Multiple containers of varying sizes? Maybe you can get them to sort their returns for you. I picture you doing something like this by the end of the month: https://youtu.be/iGXYZwZEZa0

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46305
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Dec 19, 17 1:50 pm Post subject:
praps not i might wire em for video though

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 18 1:09 pm Post subject:

I seem to recall a colleague describing to me an experiment in which, for some reason, he was putting out small dishes of mouse food in a field (of wheat, I think), and he would find that the mice (or possibly voles, he said) would cover up the food with plant debris. He thought maybe this was to hide the food from others. (Sorry my description of this is somewhat vague, but it is many years ago when this conversation took place).

Perhaps there are two things going on:

1) concealment
2) removal

and number 1 has gone a bit over the top.

Mice are great hoarders - you may well find, some time, where they are storing the food.

Henry

Henry

frewen

Joined: 08 Sep 2005
Posts: 11405

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 18 6:43 pm Post subject:
I have this image of mice making craven images of Dpack now

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46305
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 18 10:24 pm Post subject:
they have several granaries that i know of the concealment until they have relocated it all makes sense the amount of concealment must take nearly as much effort as caching the goodies and seems a bit ott considering the gifts are delivered in their wood and compost store safe from rivals and birdies.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 18 12:30 am Post subject:
I wouldn't put anything past them!

Fee

Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 15922
Location: Earth

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 18 6:48 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

i might wire em for video though

This!

(Hello dpack!)

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46305
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 18 9:14 am Post subject:
umm i probably have enough bits n bobs to knock up a suitable camera system.

buzzy

Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 18 11:06 am Post subject:
If you manage to film Wood Mice using voles as slave labour, do let us know! Henry

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46305
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 18 8:22 pm Post subject:
they have militarised the hounds as a cat deterrent. i am pretty sure we don't have any voles round here, plenty not too far away so perhaps they could obtain some.

Fee

Joined: 21 Mar 2005
Posts: 15922
Location: Earth

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 18 5:36 am Post subject:

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