Predatory Mice.

Posted by gail in Animal on April 14, 2007 at 9:17 pm


mice

The mice of Gough Island have turned carnivorous and are threatening the existence of the Tristan albatross, which is three hundred times their weight:


Nearly three feet (one meter) tall, a Tristan albatross chick can weigh
up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms), or about as much as a turkey. Gough
Island mice weigh just 1.2 ounces (35 grams) on average.

While the albatrosses know how to defend themselves against larger predators, they aren’t "programmed" to deal with mice:


Video cameras revealed one pack of ten mice feeding on a Tristan
albatross chick’s wounds as it nested on the ground. Footage also
showed mice devouring Atlantic petrel and great shearwater chicks.

The birds did not fight off their attackers, even as some mice fed inside the body cavity of one albatross chick.


Previous post
this post? Please Email this               
Next post


FUN PRODUCTS FROM THE NEATORAMA SHOP:


COMMENT

5 comments to "Predatory Mice."

  1. Jane
    April 15th, 2007 at 1:09 am

    I heard this story on Quirks & Quarks today. The host said the video was horrible, and yeah. Not going to click that link. Poor chicks.

  2. heroic
    April 15th, 2007 at 11:43 pm

    ugh. i don't think i needed to see that picture scrolling through the main page. =(

    was it explained why the mice were preying on the birds?

  3. Ali
    April 16th, 2007 at 12:06 am

    The way that mouse is looking at me makes me feel weird. It's like...it's...undressing me with it's eyes and eating me alive...@_@

  4. AK-00
    April 16th, 2007 at 3:25 am

    And nobody got a shot of the body cavity thing? Gah...

  5. gail
    April 16th, 2007 at 6:51 am

    That's probably on the video.

    Ali, on my home blog, I captioned it "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" (But I know there are delicate sensibilities here..)


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. Comments aren't censored, but those that are abusive or off-topic may be edited or deleted.


Stay updated on the comments with Comment RSS