EmmaDonovan
Free Ranging
A baby Southern grasshopper mouse* got trapped in the henhouse tonight. I guess it slipped in during the day. I saw it on the camera this evening. I thought, "Hope your affairs are in order little guy," figuring the chickens would get it. They didn't.
Okay, it's dark, the chickens can't see it. I'll turn the lights on and that'll be the end of it. Nope. The mouse ran right over the chickens' feet. They shrieked and jumped and danced out of its way. They didn't want to be anywhere near it. It's gone now but they're still all huddled up at the opposite end of the henhouse from where they usually sleep because that's where the mouse was.
What gives? I've seen hens tear apart a hapless mouse that got into their coop. Lizards, too. I figured it was in their DNA to go after little critters and this was a little critter, I don't think it was even 1.5" long, plus tail. Do I have defective chickens?
*The Southern grasshopper mouse is a pretty cool little dude. It aggressively hunts and eats desert scorpions and centipedes. It's virtually immune to their venom. It also howls. It throws its head back and emits a long vocalization. No one is really sure why they do that, it's probably to mark their territory and tell all other Southern grasshopper mice to get lost. Or maybe it's a warning to the scorpions.
This particular Southern grasshopper mouse took off out of the henhouse as soon as I opened the door without so much as a good-bye.
Okay, it's dark, the chickens can't see it. I'll turn the lights on and that'll be the end of it. Nope. The mouse ran right over the chickens' feet. They shrieked and jumped and danced out of its way. They didn't want to be anywhere near it. It's gone now but they're still all huddled up at the opposite end of the henhouse from where they usually sleep because that's where the mouse was.
What gives? I've seen hens tear apart a hapless mouse that got into their coop. Lizards, too. I figured it was in their DNA to go after little critters and this was a little critter, I don't think it was even 1.5" long, plus tail. Do I have defective chickens?
*The Southern grasshopper mouse is a pretty cool little dude. It aggressively hunts and eats desert scorpions and centipedes. It's virtually immune to their venom. It also howls. It throws its head back and emits a long vocalization. No one is really sure why they do that, it's probably to mark their territory and tell all other Southern grasshopper mice to get lost. Or maybe it's a warning to the scorpions.
This particular Southern grasshopper mouse took off out of the henhouse as soon as I opened the door without so much as a good-bye.
