Science
Related: About this forumMice sing just like birds, but we can’t hear them
It's true: Mice actually sing, especially when they're looking for a mate. That's not anything new. But unlike birdsong, mouse-song is much too high-pitched for humans to hear. So no, it's not exactly Cinderella-esque, as you can hear for yourself in the above video. But it is shockingly intricate.
In a new study published Wednesday in Frontiers of Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers at Duke University took a new approach to analyzing mouse songs: They analyzed them the way scientists analyze bird songs. They looked for changes in the way mice string together syllables, hoping to analyze whether they used and responded to different songs in different situations.
Sure enough, male mice on the lookout for an unseen female (an illusion the researchers created by exposing them to female urine) gave loud, complex song performances. But once they were in a female's presence, they simmered down. Females seemed to be more receptive to those first, more complex songs.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/01/mice-sing-just-like-birds-but-we-cant-hear-them/
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)to me!
Thanks for posting, n2doc!
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,878 posts)Cats should be able to hear mouse songs in their normal pitch range; they can hear much higher pitches than we can. So listening for mouse songs must be one way cats hunt.
Mnpaul
(3,655 posts)he even interrupted his dinner to check it out.
OrwellwasRight
(5,170 posts)They both perked up and then ran away!
femmocrat
(28,394 posts)It is difficult to distinguish their chirp from birds outside.
TlalocW
(15,392 posts)TlalocW
bvf
(6,604 posts)Haven't seen that in years--still hilarious!
Thanks!
Warpy
(111,367 posts)The sweet old girl always told me exactly where to set the traps.
After the massive infestation when a neighbor with chickens moved and the mice didn't, there hasn't been a single mouse sighting this year, nothing caught in the peanut and cat food baited traps but the occasional big desert cucaracha.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)Well, then they DON'T sing just like birds....'cause we can hear birds.
joanbarnes
(1,723 posts)diane in sf
(3,919 posts)played at a speed in proportion to their life span.
Smarmie Doofus
(14,498 posts)Believe me, they sing, squeal and HOWL when stressed.
You can hear them .... with or without electronic enhancement.
Hideous stuff. Nothing should have to suffer that way.
I trashed the rest of the glue traps that morning and invested in the less effective but infinitely kinder spring traps.
dolphinsandtuna
(231 posts)They hate that. Twenty minutes or so of vacuuming 2-3 days in a row, no mice. No little dead bodies.
dangin
(148 posts)Chewing electric cables. Those cable emit sounds they can hear that we can't.
Judi Lynn
(160,638 posts)What a shame most people will never learn to respect other life forms.
There's so much to be learned.