What is the history of the domesticated mouse?

Answer 1

The common mouse is the most familiar and most widely distributed rodent in the world; there are four
subgenera and 36 species. The best-known species is the common house mouse (M. musculus); this species
lives wherever humans live.
The word mouse comes from an old Sanskrit word meaning “thief ”; Sanskrit is an ancient language of
Asia, where scientists believe the house mouse originated. The house mouse was originally a wild field animal.
Grain and other foodstuffs stored in human settlements offered an attractive source of food for mice, which
adapt quickly to new environments.
From Asia, the house mouse spread throughout the world. The common house mouse is one of the world’s
most successful mammals; mice multiply extremely quickly and are able to adapt to almost any condition.
Their reputation has been as a dirty animal associated with carrying diseases and as a very destructive animal
capable of causing tremendous economic losses of stored grains and other property.
Subsequently, mice have gained a place in history. The ancient Egyptians and Romans had a phrase that
described the mouse’s reproductive ability; they used to say, “it’s raining mice,” or, “mice are made of raindrops.”
The Greeks and the people of India believed that mice were lightning bolts born of thunderstorms. In
some places, mice were kept in temples and worshiped as sacred animals. They were viewed as instruments of
punishment. People would present sacrificial offerings to stop or prevent a mouse plague.
More than 4,000 years ago, the Cretans built a temple in Tenedos, Pontus, where they fed and worshiped
mice. In the Cretan victory over Pontus, according to legend, mice helped by chewing through the leather
straps of the shields of the Pontic soldiers so that they were unable to defend themselves.
Paintings on ancient bowls and other clay artifacts tell us that Egyptians also kept mice about 4,000 years ago.
The first white and spotted mice appeared about 4,000 years ago in Greece, Egypt, and China. White mice in
particular were considered sacred; people used them to predict the future, as lucky charms, or to keep wild mice
away. Waltzing mice originated in China 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. The Japanese bred white and colored mice
systematically 3,000 years ago. In the 1800s, people in Europe began to exchange “fancy mice.” Fancy mice have
different coat colors and patterns.
In ancient Rome and during the Middle Ages, mice were used as medicine against all kinds of diseases. They
were dried, pulverized, sliced, or marinated in oils, and then used as a compress or taken internally. Their blood
was a favored ingredient of drugs and tonics. Mice were supposedly good for flesh wounds, snakebites, warts,
bladder irregularities, diabetes, enlarged thyroid glands, diseases of the eye, and loss of hair.