Mary Allen
Rodents communicate primarily with scents. But the animals also know body language. With gestures and movements, they show their counterpart what they like or dislike.
It is well known that cats love to eat mice. The house tigers would have to get along well with many rodents. At least with rats, because the body language of cats and rats has a lot in common. Like the house tiger, hamsters, mice, and co. also have various, and sometimes quite amusing, gestures in their repertoire.
While relaxed grooming shows that the rat feels comfortable, hectic grooming signals uncertainty, for example when an animal is in an unfamiliar environment. A rat will often run both paws over its face. It may look cute, but it’s stressful. With the dwarf hamster – and to a lesser extent also with the guinea pig – it is less the hectic that is decisive, but rather the commitment. If the hamster completely forgets to clean itself, no longer notices its surroundings, and finds no end, it feels uncomfortable or is afraid. The situation is different with the mutual cleaning among conspecifics. This strengthens togetherness in both rats and guinea pigs.
Vibrations as a Warning
Most readers probably think of a cat when they hear the term “make a hump”. But rats can do it just as well, and do it for the same reason: to defend themselves. They also ruffle their back and neck fur to appear as large as possible. “The hair sticks out so that they almost look like hedgehogs, and the corridor looks stilted,” says Priska Staud from the Club der Ratenfreunde CH. Unlike cats, however, rats would walk sideways when doing this. Guinea pigs are no strangers to this behavior either. They don’t buck, but they also raise their fur when they get excited. Dwarf hamsters, on the other hand, threaten in a slightly different way. First, they flinch, then they inflate their cheek pouches and stretch. If the enemy doesn’t run away despite everything, the little rodents start chattering their teeth. This is usually followed by a heavy fight among conspecifics.
Gerbils become more creative when threatened. To warn their colleagues, they stand on their front legs and drum their hind paws. This creates vibrations that conspecifics perceive. If they want to threaten instead, they may stand on their hind paws and quickly whip their tails back and forth. On the other hand, if they swing their tail more calmly and jerkily, they are positively aroused. Males also make other rodents such as rats and hamsters. They stick their snouts up high to smell and find out what’s going on around them. You’re reading a newspaper.
Like Cracking Corn Kernels
Dwarf hamsters will even jump straight up when frightened or just in a really good mood. Similar to the air jump in humans. Guinea pigs are in no way inferior to this. There’s even an expression for their jumps: popcorning. The rodents often get so out of control, run and jump around wildly that it is reminiscent of corn kernels bursting open. For them, too, this behavior is a skipping act. It doesn’t matter if something positive or negative happens to you, if you are irritated, you jump. If a guinea pig suddenly raises its head while being petted, you should keep your distance. Because hitting it up means: “Stop it, leave me alone!”
As with other mammals, yawning in rodents is usually a sign of relaxation or fatigue. But if two conspecifics face each other, it can mean something completely different. For example, guinea pigs open their mouths open as a gesture of submission. Mice, on the other hand, combine the useful with the pleasant. They yawn, then lie down in front of a higher-ranking animal and allow themselves to be groomed.