At 09:11 AM 2/4/00 +0000, Andreana wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>There is something that my male gerbils do, that they have always done, so
>it is nothing new but my curiosity finally got the better of me!
>
>When they are chewing the bars of the cage, they suddenly stop and freeze,
>and they can remain dead still for up to a minute sometimes.
>At first I thought it was because maybe I had startled them, and it was a
>self-defense mechanism, ie. play dead to prey, but they can do it even when
>I don't move.
I saw a program on one of the educational channels about tickling rats. I
can't remember why they tickled the rats (longevity or something? lowering
rat blood pressure?), but the rats really enjoyed it, & would seek out
hands that would tickle them.
They had a special device with a microphone hooked up to it to make the
sounds that the rats were making audible to human ears, because the rats'
"laughing" squeaks were too high for humans to hear. That makes me think
maybe other rodents can hear & make noises higher than we can hear (I know
dogs can), and maybe respond to them like your gerbils were. Maybe yours
hear mice or rats or squirrels or aliens outside squeaking. =)
Rebecca...
