A couple of months ago, a friend of mine adopted two white mice. She thought that both of the mice were male. Turns out that one was less male than another – two litters were born.
As a professional rodent rancher, she asked for my help. We separated all the little albino pop corn pups by sex. As the boys grew older, they became more aggressive. I was called in to look at them.
“They’re biting each other on the tail!” my friend exclaimed, showing me the scabby tails with withered tips.
“That’s typical for males,” I said. “The one without any injuries is probably the culprit. You’re lucky to catch this now, tail chewing can escalate into penis biting, and that can be nasty.”
“Penis biting?” chirped her eight-year old stepson. I think he was eavesdropping in the hall.
:eek: *Oh crap! Ok, be cool. * “Mice communicate differently than you or me. If you’re mad, you can say. The mice fight because they’re angry.” Phew! Saying “penis” is no big deal. Saying “penis” is no big deal.
We’re getting a ton of snow here in the Denver Metro area. The kid stayed home today. My friend emailed me this exchange:
“Why is the news on now?”
“The President is talking about what’s going on in Iraq.”
“If the President and the bad guys where mice, they’d bite each others’ penises and it would be all over.”
Wow. This takes “the best laid plans of mice and men” to a whole new level.
