How are you looking at the biro? End on or side on? I think the size of the mouse's skull plus a mm or two would determine the size of the minimum gap it could squeeze through. You could get it through a smaller gap but what comes out the other end may display fewer mouselike qualities.
Math Maniac
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What's a biro?
cyborg
deus ex machina
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I believe this will answer your question:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/László_Bíró
End on I believe AgeGap - I think mice are supposed to be able to fit through very small gaps because their bones are considerably more flexible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/László_Bíró
End on I believe AgeGap - I think mice are supposed to be able to fit through very small gaps because their bones are considerably more flexible.
RSLancastr
www.StopSylvia.com
Well, unless Laszlo Biro was exceedingly tiny, I would imagine that a mouse would easily fit through a hole his size.
What a silly question!
Math Maniac
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I can honestly say that I've never heard the ballpoint pen referred to as a "biro." Where is that common?
Re the mice: I have no clue but it seems too unlikely to be true. I've dealt with mice a couple of times and can say that they easily fit inside of a normal vacuum tube, however.
Carnivore
Salad Dodger
Biro is common usuage in UK and NZ at least. How do you get mice into a vacuum tube? Do you mean you seal them inside the glass when the tube is manufactured?
Math Maniac
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By normal vacuum tube, I mean the wand attached to a regular household vacuum cleaner. In no way did I intend to suggest a laboratory vacuum tube.
arthwollipot
Limerick Purist Pronouns: He/Him
And Australia. In fact I was under the impression it was a trademark, like using the term "hoover" to refer to a vacuum cleaner, or "xerox" for a photocopier.
I don't have an original, genuine Biro but I do have a Bic...... and based on the Bic, I would have to say "Not true".
I determined this in the following totally scientific experiment: I took the Bic and attempted to pass it through the bars of a cage I have used in the past to house mice. The bars are wide enough to allow the Bic to pass through freely (although there is no extra room) and yet I successfully kept mice *IN* this cage many times.
It is possible a Biro is thicker, and would give enough space for a mouse to crawl through. Someone who actually has a Biro can perform that experiment.
zombiebex
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Mice are very capable at flattening themselves to fit under doors and other spaces... but make themselves small enough to fit into a ballpoint pen is impossible. Trying to remember the size of my mice when I had them as pets... their heads are much bigger than my girly thumb.. which cannot fit into a pen.
quixotecoyote
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Has anyone mentioned that it depends on the size of the mouse?
Giraffe107
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Cats and mice are definitely flexible, but the one thing they can't crush is their skull. If my cat an squeeze his head through something, he can get the rest through easily.
I am guessing house mouse, which is a sort of world-wide pest. (They can make cute pets too.
) They are all pretty much about the same size, as far as the adults go.Here in NM I have to deal with the deer mouse, which is a pretty similar size to the house mouse. I've never tried to keep one of them in that cage I spoke of (deer mice can carry Hanta virus, which I am not excited to experience) but they seem to be a similar size going by the 200 or so individuals I have trapped...... so far...... and I think that cage would easily keep one in.