Pet Mice

Eighteenth century poet Robert Burns reflected in a famous line that life does not happen as we expect: "The best laid schemes of mice and men often go astray."

Between A.D. 307 and A.D. 1641 China had a growing interest in mice. During this time there were over 30 documented cases of white mice being taken out of the wild.

In 1654 it was even recorded that when one particular Chinese Buddhist priest traveled to Japan, he brought with him his two pet mice.

It was during the 1700s that the mouse fancy really got its start. In Japan they were increasing in popularity not just as pets but as breeding animals, and many people were experimenting with producing new colors. In 1787 a booklet called 'The Breeding Of Curious Varieties Of The Mouse' was written by Chobei Zenya. This booklet included a number of drawings, descriptions of several breeding programs for creating specific colors, and mention of a number of varieties.

In the early 1800s colored mice began to find their way into Europe. Slowly they increased in number and popularity, particularly in the U.K. It was in 1877 that Walter Maxey, the father of the mouse fancy, acquired his first mice.

In 1895 he helped to found the National Mouse Club in England. This was the beginning of the mouse fancy. The first mouse show was in 1895.

The history of domestic mice in the United States is not as clear as that of Europe and England. Most likely people did catch and keep wild mice as pets. Scientific laboratories are responsible for most of the fancy mice found in the U.S.