Mice sing just like birds, but we can’t hear them

[n2doc]

It's true: Mice actually sing, especially when they're looking for a mate. That's not anything new. But unlike birdsong, mouse-song is much too high-pitched for humans to hear. So no, it's not exactly Cinderella-esque, as you can hear for yourself in the above video. But it is shockingly intricate.


In a new study published Wednesday in Frontiers of Behavioral Neuroscience, researchers at Duke University took a new approach to analyzing mouse songs: They analyzed them the way scientists analyze bird songs. They looked for changes in the way mice string together syllables, hoping to analyze whether they used and responded to different songs in different situations.

Sure enough, male mice on the lookout for an unseen female (an illusion the researchers created by exposing them to female urine) gave loud, complex song performances. But once they were in a female's presence, they simmered down. Females seemed to be more receptive to those first, more complex songs.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/04/01/mice-sing-just-like-birds-but-we-cant-hear-them/

[Adsos Letter]

1. I will sing to you the songs of my people. n/t

[BlueCaliDem]

2. OMG! That sounds so cute! I've never kept mice (only guinea pigs who are VERY vocal) and this is new

to me!

Thanks for posting, n2doc!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. That mouse song sure got one of my cats stirred up.

Cats should be able to hear mouse songs in their normal pitch range; they can hear much higher pitches than we can. So listening for mouse songs must be one way cats hunt.

[Mnpaul]

10. My cat took notice as well

he even interrupted his dinner to check it out.

[OrwellwasRight]

15. Mine too!!!

They both perked up and then ran away!

[femmocrat]

4. I have heard them chirping.

It is difficult to distinguish their chirp from birds outside.

[TlalocW]

5. We've know this since at least the late 60s/early 70s

TlalocW

[bvf]

9. Arthur Ewing and His Musical Mice

Haven't seen that in years--still hilarious!

Thanks!

[Warpy]

6. My old cat couldn't chase them, but she could still hear them

The sweet old girl always told me exactly where to set the traps.

After the massive infestation when a neighbor with chickens moved and the mice didn't, there hasn't been a single mouse sighting this year, nothing caught in the peanut and cat food baited traps but the occasional big desert cucaracha.

[AlbertCat]

7. Mice sing just like birds, but we can’t hear them

Well, then they DON'T sing just like birds....'cause we can hear birds.

[joanbarnes]

8. I worked in a mouse infested place, whistling a catchy tune once, one ran out to me.

[diane in sf]

11. I wish they would slow these down like the cricket songs, which sounded like a heavenly chorus when

played at a speed in proportion to their life span.

[Smarmie Doofus]

12. I caught one on a glue trap once.

Believe me, they sing, squeal and HOWL when stressed.

You can hear them .... with or without electronic enhancement.

Hideous stuff. Nothing should have to suffer that way.

I trashed the rest of the glue traps that morning and invested in the less effective but infinitely kinder spring traps.

[dolphinsandtuna]

13. I run the vacuum cleaner

They hate that. Twenty minutes or so of vacuuming 2-3 days in a row, no mice. No little dead bodies.

[dangin]

14. That's why they electrocute themselving...

Chewing electric cables. Those cable emit sounds they can hear that we can't.

[Judi Lynn]

16. So beautiful learning this happens with these tiny animals. Such a wonderful sound.

What a shame most people will never learn to respect other life forms.

There's so much to be learned.