Tiny Mouse Sets Guinness Record

A tiny Pacific pocket mouse has been awarded a Guinness record. Was it for eating the most cheese? Was it for being extremely fast? Was it for navigating the longest maze?

No, it wasn't any of those things. "Pat" the mouse has been awarded a Guinness record for being the oldest living mouse in human care, at 9 years 209 days. Congratulations Bro! He resides at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and he was named after actor Sir Patrick Stewart, who famously portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

According to an article written by the staff at APNews.com, the Pacific pocket mouse only weighs about as much as three pennies! It is the smallest mouse species on our continent, and it used to be very prevalent in Southern California and the northern Baja Peninsula of Mexico. However, because that region had so much commercial development during the previous century, the population of this tiny rodent plummeted. In fact, they were thought to be extinct for about twenty  years until isolated populations were found near Dana Point, California in the mid-nineties.

The Pacific pocket mouse is still considered to be an endangered species, but beginning in 2012, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance began a breeding program in hopes of keeping this species from becoming extinct. They are succeeding, and they are proud to report that last year "the alliance recorded 117 pups born in a record 31 litters." That's great news!

The alliance is planning on introducing many of these mice back into the wild this spring. Per the APNews.com article, the alliance noted that this particular species is important to the ecosystem as the mice help to "disperse the seeds of native plants and their digging encourages plant growth."

So, it's a big week for a tiny mouse named "Sir Patrick Stewart," and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. We hope "Pat" continues to set many more longevity records.

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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.