How To Train Mice

Ferdinand Senn knows tnore about raising white niice probably than any otber man in this country, and Thomas Moody knows more about training theni. Before an explanation of how they are trained. Mr. Senn took a cunning little mouse, white a3 snow, from his coat pocket and put it on his shoulder. The mouse looked around for a moment, tben ran across Mr. Senn's back and sat lown contentedly on the other shoulder. Before setting it at liberty he held the mouse loosely in his left hand and stroked its head and back with his right. "Do they never bite you?" Mr. Moody answered for him, for Mr. Moody does the training: "Never, if they ure properly handled. When a boy piclis ap i white mouse he is very likely fco saueeze him tight to keep him safe; then the mouse turna aronntl and bites. But take them up so-gently- without i(jnee;:ing them at aü, and they do not tbink of biting. öee liere." He took the monse trom Air. Senn's iiand, held its tail between his forefinger ind ttaumb and held it above his head. "They do not mind that at all," he tvent on. "They are what we cali pre:iensile - they can support their weight oy the tail. VVhen this f ello w runs down .4 smooth stick you will see him coil his rail áround it for a brake. But if 1 IiüuW squeeze his tail a little too hard. jr aecidentaüy [iress iny sharp uails igainst it. he wou UI twist around and bite me." HTJNGEB AND WOHRY. What do you f eed them on - cheese?" "Hardly!" he replied. "No food is so good for them as oats - jnst dry oats. Jome breeders bring thein up on bread yid tuilk, bnt that is not as good as oats. Ui) oats they kw.} cleaner and do better. fbe dry oais, of' course, mates them fchirsty, and thön yon can fíive theni a little bread and inilk, squeezed out pretty dry. But it is well to bave them ;hirsty sometimos, when you are training them- and hungry, too, for that natter." Do you mean to say that you starve :hem into tricks or drive them to it by .hirst?" "Not so bad as that, he answered. 'But if a mouse is hungry anti he is to walk over string bridge and he sees iome oats on the other side he vvill go juieker. There are two great secrets ibout making them do as yon wish. ïhe irst is patience. A boy can soon learn x train a white uacrase nearly as well as 1 can if he has the patienee. But the 3oy genorally tires of it in ten minutes ívher i keep it np for two hours - or lalf i ilay, if necessary. 1 worry them ntoit." "That's the other secret," he went on. 'Worry 'em! Suppose you want a mouse .ocliuib a stick, piek up a little üag that ;ou havo put there a-rid Jnug it down. ïou take the uu;iñri when he's hungry :ö beein with. you tie a grain or two of ts to the flagstaff anti you put tüe nouse at the toot of the stick. He won't jo up, of course. Well, when he turns . iround to run away you set hira back igain with his nose to the stick. If he nns away fif ty times set him back fiftyne times. ïhat worries him. Boost jüii up a little; give him a start. You ïiay even have a little twig and switch lim, bnt gently. He soon sees what you i-aut and up be goes. When he finds .he oats he is satisíied and comes down X) eat them. Nest time he will do it without half the trouble, and after a xhile he will n'.n up. and get the üag ivheTiever you pr.t him at the foot of the tück. KEEP AT IT. Teach the mouse i principie, yon iinierstand; tiot merely a trick. The prin;iple in this case is taking something up m his mouth. In a short time Iw v.ill ;ake np anytbing yon wish, vvhether it s a flagstaff or a little toy pail- any;ning be can lift. "Now. there's walking the tight :ope." lie continued. "That looks hard, jut it is easy enongU Yüu must have ;he stjing fastened to the fíoor at both euda, say four f eet apart, and about a 'oot froin eacli end yon brace it up with i stick a foot or so long- gust long ajough to tighten the string. üs big -,wine at iirst, tbr that is easier; graduilly you can malee it smaller, till _ the uonse 11 walk a drnggist'B striug. They bave shai-p claws and a great grip n their feet. Yon take the moase when ie is hungry and thirsty and put some ata and bread and tnilk at one end of ;he bridge. At the other end you put ;he mouse. He will try to run across ;he floor to the foort. but bring him back. start bim a little up the inclined plane. Ho is smart and he soon learns that the nly vvay to get that food is to cross the sridge. Then he crosses, and it ia no ■jouble to him. WoiTy him into it. V ou must not let the mouse tire yon out