Looking at the singularly universal "sign of mice" left on the corner of my couch yesterday, I couldn't help but wonder: Were mice made for the sole purpose of turning food into poop?
I mean, it seems like every single place a mouse goes, it leaves poop -- like the instant they stop moving, they're bound to leave something behind. Why is this? Why don't mice have times in between bowel movements? Do they not have bowels? Maybe it's just a straight chute in there.
Maybe poop is the equivalent of mouse graffiti, like an "I was here" statement. But it doesn't seem to be marking territory, unless mice have a need to claim every territory they've ever set foot on.
Thoughts are welcome, but I understand if it's too gross to contemplate long.
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3 comments:
too gross to contemplate, yes. too gross to google, never. in general, though, smaller things are faster on every metabolic level.
so...turns out, mice poop about every 10-20 minutes, and if we're talking multiple mice, it really adds up. elephants, on the other hand, only poop about 16 times a day, or once every 90 minutes.
why humans might be an exception to this, i don't know. perhaps we have disproportionately large intestines for our size.
at any rate, a day's worth of elephant poo might weigh 300 pounds. so i'd be grateful for the mice instead.
here, enjoy the Bristol Stool Scale, ext 1997: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale
If you really break it down, the whole goal of planetary
life in general is to "eat" and make "poop" (waste), so... I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that mice are just playing their part.
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