ANIMALS: Rodents at Work

Last week these U.S. rodents made this news:

¶ In Mount Vernon, N.Y., a squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) scampered across high-tension wires, caused a short circuit that broke a wire which fell on oil-soaked ties, starting a fire that held up traffic on the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad for an hour.

¶ In Salmon, Idaho, five beavers (Castor canadensis) came downstream on Jesse Creek and built a dam within 100 feet of a site selected by reclamation engineers, thus stabilizing the uncertain water supply and saving the city the cost of a dam.

¶ In New York’s Queens County Court, Judge Charles Golden recessed proceedings to halt a distracting grating noise coming from under the counsel table. The noise proved to be a house mouse (Mus musculus) calmly gnawing the sole of a newspaper reporter’s shoe. Newshawk William Alexander, of the Long Island Daily Press, had been so busy he hadn’t noticed. Judge Golden had the mouse caught and executed. Passing lightly over the mouse’s fate, the New York Times soberly regarded Newshawk Alexander, praised his powers of concentration, added: “He approaches his duties with single-mindedness. He looks up, not down. It is possible to foresee a bright future for him if mice don’t consume him first.”