Can you eat mice?
In this brief article, we will answer the question, “Can you eat mice”. We will further elaborate on the taste of mice as well as the benefits and disadvantages of eating mice.
Can you eat mice?
Yes, you can eat mice. From history, it is evident that people used to eat mice. In fact, eating mice was a delicacy. Mice are also eaten now in some areas of the world. Although mice are one of the most abundant rodents, it requires a skill to slice only the finest of cuts from mice as it is a small animal.
What are the different ways of eating mice?
There are three ways of eating mice:
- By frying them
- By boiling them
- By roasting them
The taste of mice
Although the taste of the meat of mice varies, a majority of people regard it as sweet. The meat of mice has much resemblance with chicken in terms of taste. Talking about the color of mice meat, it is dark and its taste is a bit gamier than chicken. While some people say that the taste of mice resembles the taste of rabbits.
The habitat of mice
The habitat of mice is diverse. Mice can be present in man-made structures, forests, and grasslands. Mice who live in the wild usually make a burrow underground to get protection against predators.
People who keep mice at home, place them in a wire cage along with a plastic tray floor. Ventilation holes like vivariums and a secure wire lid must be present in tanks where mice are kept.
Types of mice
Following are some of the types of mice
Deer mouse: The deer mouse is one of the fifty-three species of small rodents. The habitat of deer mice is Alaska and northern Canada. The eyes of deer mice are bulging and large.
House mouse: The fur of house mice is smooth and they have pointed muzzles, small eyes with large hair. The feet of house mice are short and broad and their color is black. The tail is scaly and semi-naked.
White-footed mouse: The feeding source of white-footed mice is seeds and insects. These are omnivores. White-footed mice don’t prefer to interact with humans. The habitat of a white-footed mouse is the ground floor walls of homes and apartments.
Pachyuromys duprasi: The body of Pachyuromys duprasi is round and flattened. The necks of these types of mice are not clear and their ears are oval-shaped.
Pilliga mouse: The color of the Pilligia mouse is brown and black with its upper parts being gray-brown. The color of the hairs of feet is white while feet themselves are pale pink. The head-body length of the Piligia mouse is 73-80 mm while the tail is shorter than this.
What are mice used for?
Following are some of the benefits of mice
Used in studying complex diseases: To study numerous complex diseases, mice are used. These complex diseases include atherosclerosis, hypertension and diabetes etc.
The reason behind using mice for studying diseases is that various genes are similar between humans and mice. So by analyzing the genes of mice, we can have the know-how of the genes of humans.
Beneficial in biomedical research: As the size of mice is very small and their maintenance doesn’t require much money, these are widely used in biomedical research. Mice are also very useful for carrying out surgical procedures and some other testing.
Many distinctive strains of mice have been developed that feature the intricate nature of human diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease and hence, in this case, mice present ideal animal models for the analysis of these disorders.
Used in studying behavior: The reason behind using mice in behavioral studies is that mice are very social and they mimic the behavior of humans in the best way.
For instance, the expansion of a 3-base pair sequence that is present in the FMR1 gene. This sequence is accountable for Fragile X syndrome. This syndrome is most common in people suffering from inherited intellectual disability.
What are the drawbacks of using mice in research?
Following are some drawbacks of mice. Due to these drawbacks, another alternative is being analyzed.
Small size: The body size of mice is very small. This small size implicates frequent blood collection and creates hindrance while dissecting small arteries.
Can recapitulate human diseases: Due to genetic alteration of mice, they have recapitulate human diseases. These diseases include cancer, heart diseases and diabetes etc.
Failure in mimicking human phenotypes: Although mice models are frequently used for mimicking human phenotypes. But these mouse models have failed to mimic human phenotype in the best way.
Conclusion
In this brief article, we have provided an answer to the question, “Can you eat mice?”. We have further elaborated on the taste of mice as well as the benefits and disadvantages of eating mice.
