Children's cartoons and books depict a norushka with a piece of cheese in its paws. The animal is ready to do everything for the fragrant product. But do mice eat cheese in real life. This question is asked by the owners of apartments and houses when they put the bait in a trap.
Scientists answer
Scientists from the UK were wondering why mice like cheese. They conducted a series of experiments with mammals.
Experience has shown that mice prefer to eat plant foods, and they don’t like the cheese smell at all. Especially fragrant varieties cause a sense of danger, and they try to bypass the suspicious object.
A free-living animal will eat cereals and fruits, and will eat another food only in case of severe hunger. In the forest or on the field you will not find products created by man. Therefore, it is not surprising that a mammal loves natural food. It looks and smells safe.
Scientists from the British organization Pest Control UK interested in the results of colleagues and conducted their experiment. They used traps with various lures:
- cheese;
- Apple;
- chocolate.
The results showed that mice eat cheese. Trap set with this delicacy, and they liked to run there the most. And chocolate did not arouse interest in animals at all.
It’s likely that the experiment involved different types of mice and different varieties of goodies, so the results are so different from each other.
On a note!
Disinfectors assure that it is worth taking sunflower seeds, flour, wheat, unrefined oil as bait. Pests like this food more.
Where did the statement come from?
Adults are sure that animators and illustrators of children's publications spread the myth. But even in antiquity, people believed that small animals like to dine with this fragrant delicacy.
Previously, when poisons and chemicals did not exist, the fight against mice was that all supplies were securely hidden in jugs and cabinets. The exception was cheese. It should be left unclosed for aging. Here the mice had to gnaw at his hunger.
Multipliers also made the image of the animal with a fragrant delicacy in its paws very popular. Now many are sure that mice love cheese in reality.
The main diet of rodents is sweet fruits and cereals. In nature, they build nests in the fields, where they can easily get grain. The sensitive nose of the pest does not tolerate harsh aromas and artificial products. Mice do not like cheese and will prefer different food if there is a choice.
