_]
Much of its diet, especially of the mother mouse during the time that
she is nursing her young ones, is made up of insects. A personal
experience accentuates this. Since these are such pretty little
creatures, having such cunning ways, it was my ambition to catch a
complete family of mother and young ones which sometimes numbered as
high as ten. My ambition was finally gratified and I was able to get a
mother of eight and her tiny mouslings, which have a habit of fastening
themselves securely to her breasts while she runs about, and drags them
all along in a most ludicrous fashion. At times, under these
circumstances, the combined weight of the brood exceeds that of the
mother mouse but they are exceptionally strong creatures for their size,
a mature mouse being able to jump out of a 3-foot barrel with one leap.
In observing this brood of mice, I was particularly anxious to see what
kind of a diet they throve on and tried the mother's appetite with
tidbits from the table. While she ate most everything, it soon became
apparent that something was wrong because the young ones became weaker,
finally to the extent that they were unable to nurse, and one morning I
found several on their backs with their feet feebly waving in the air
indicating that they were dying of starvation.
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