12 November: Mice

Today is Fancy Rat and Mouse Day, a celebration of these popular pets. Rats we've covered already, so here are some facts about mice.

1. There are lots of different species of mouse, including the house mouse, field mouse, dormouse, wood mouse and zebra mouse.
2. Mice are usually around 1-7 inches (2.5 - 18cm) in length (not counting their tails, which can be as long as their bodies), depending on the species. The smallest mouse, just an inch long, is the African pygmy mouse.
3. Mice are usually portrayed as being fond of Cheese. In actual fact, their favourite food is grains, fruit and seeds. They are omnivores, however, which means they will eat anything, including cheese, and if food is scarce, even other mice. They eat as often as 15 times a day.
4. If you have mice and they've chewed up Paper and wires, they're not actually eating those things - they're using them to build nests. A female mouse starts having babies at about 4-7 weeks old and can have a new litter every three weeks. There are a number of names for baby mice depending on how old they are. Pinkies are newborn mice without any fur. Once they've grown a little fur they're called fuzzies. Hoppers are baby mice who are mobile but smaller than adults.
5. Mice have poor eyesight, but use their whiskers to detect changes in ground temperature and terrain.
6. A mouse can jump up to 18 inches into the air. They're also very good at climbing and can swim.
7. Mice are similar to humans in many ways, which is why they're often used in experiments. Also, they're small, cheap, easy to keep and they breed quickly.
8. Musophobia is the word for an irrational fear of mice.
9. A wild mouse only lives about six months, as so many bigger animals see them as a tasty snack. Pet mice can live for up to two years.
10. In 1972, five mice orbited the Moon 75 times. They were on board Apollo 17 and remained in the command module with astronaut Ronald Evans while Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon. The mice were called Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum and Phooey.

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Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

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