Mousies!

[ellen_datlow]

So...how many of you know that there are Mouse shows (like cat and dog shows) where enthusiasts show their mice? I just discovered this on a listserve I'm on (ghost stories not mice) and was pointed to this site:
national mouse club

Go to "breed standards" and you'll some really pretty mice. Especially the "satin"--champagne and the agouti under the "AOV" section.

I was hoping they preened or did special walks as dogs do but no such luck. Still. Cool, no?

Comments

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

I would love to have gone.
Gila monsters are very pretty but aren't they also very poisonous?

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

Very much so, but the bright side is that they mellow out very nicely in captivity. Nobody's quite sure as to why this is (I suspect that it has everything to do with the amount of UVB the lizards receive in the wild), but they become remarkably dog-tame with regular handling. Naturally, they still give about the same kick as a Western diamondback rattlesnake, and their bites are still horrendous even without the venom, but as I said, they're my totem animal. (Spending nine months of the year underground, emerging only to suck eggs, and confronting interlopers with a venomous bite and a surly disposition...yep, that sounds like me, all right.)

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

Gila monsters carry venom sacs in the back of their jaws, and when they bite or chew on their prey or someone's hand the venom dribbles down from the sacs and along grooves in the rear fangs, whereby it seaps into the wounds. The venom is not nearly as toxic as, say, the rattle snake's (rattlers inject their venom). Gila venom can cause sickness, though, and even the loss of a limb, if not treated. And the bite is very painful.

Gilas are very shy and seldom encountered by humans. But when a herpetologist *does* encounter one in the wilds it is cause for celebration. (I love reptiles...)