the.com/mice
tiny landlords of the planet, paying rent in chewed wires and judgment-free squeaks
means The plural of mouse — small rodents with pointed snouts, long tails, and a talent for getting into places they shouldn't.
from From Old English 'mȳs,' the plural of 'mūs,' which already shifted its vowel back when English was young — the same ancient pattern that gives us 'foot/feet' and 'goose/geese.' Trace it further back and you reach Proto-Germanic 'mūs' and a deep Proto-Indo-European root 'mūs-,' which seems to have meant 'mouse' for a very long time: it's a cousin of Latin 'mus,' Greek 'mŷs,' and Sanskrit 'mūṣ.' One charming (and plausible) thread links that root to a word for 'thief' or 'to steal' — fitting for a creature that's been raiding human pantries since the first grain was stored.
- breeding speed
- one female yields hundreds of descendants yearly
- sweet tooth
- they prefer seeds and grains over cheese
- agile escape
- they squeeze through gaps the width of a pencil
- ultrasonic songs
- males sing love ballads humans can't hear
- heart rate
- up to 632 beats per minute
house mouse — mus musculus, the most common lab and household rodent species worldwide
deer mouse — peromyscus maniculatus, carrier of hantavirus in north america
mickey mouse — disney character created 1928, iconic animated mouse
mighty mouse — cartoon superhero mouse debuted 1942 on terrytoons