And by the way, the videos were made by the same person.
So the mouse fell in by itself (placed near by the plant, obviously) and died in the trap, and didn't escape.
Edit: So, I do believe it is possible, with support from the videos, that mice can indeed die before being able to break through the trap (if attempted). However, human intervention could have been possible behind the scenes, but I doubt it.
1. the guy *just happened* to have the video camera handy at the exact moment the mouse accidently fell in? thats quite a coincidence.
2. If it was a pet,.wouldnt he fish it right out? (if falling in was a legit accident)
if he chose to let his pet mouse die and not help it, the guy is scum.
3. the odds of the whole thing being faked are MUCH higher than it being real..
come on..its youtube! its the internet!
of course its faked..
those videos "support" absolutely nothing..
and there is zero reason the mouse couldnt quickly and easily claw through before it drowned..there are other videos of swimming mice on youtube..swimming around swimming pools, across small streams..etc..they can swim MUCH longer than it would take to rip some flimsy thin leaves with sharp rodent claws..
time a mouse can swim = dont know for sure..but at least a minute..probably much longer.
time it would take to rip through a nepenthes leaf with sharp mouse claws = 2 seconds.
think about it..mouse claws..rodent claws..rodent teeth...all very sharp.
compared to strength of a leaf..
do you honestly believe a mouse cant rip a leaf to shreds in seconds?
come on..the logic is undeniable..
Scot
---------- Post added at 10:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
not every mouse that falls into a pitcher drowns and dies but im sure some do......aint all that hard to drown.....big pitcher, mouse can see light above its gonna panic and keep struggling for light, its not gonna stop and think bout chewing through the side though it is physically capable of doing so, its gonna keep trying for the light at the end of the tunnel till it either escapes via it or gets wore out, and drowns and dies.....put it in a pitcher with no fluid or a fluid low enough it can touch it wont panic and will chew itself an exit.....
nope..sorry..I still cant buy it.
it would be clawing at the sides of the pitcher with its front and rear feet..
even if its trying to get "up to the light"..
like in the swimming mouse video..it would naturally GO to the edges to try to get a grip on the walls! its the only it *can* try to get a grip on, so of course its feet are going to be brusing up against the side..
and it would be using its claws to try to "climb out"..its claws will quickly and easily rip right through the leaf.
if its bottom claws rip a hole, the pitcher will quickly drain..its front claws will also quickly rip holes as it tries to climb up the walls to escape..it would definitely use its claws to try to climb out..the claws cant grip into a plexiglass lab container, but it can easily poke right through a flimsy leaf..
no pitcher is big enough that the mouse would be swimming way out in the middle of a vast expanse of water, far from the edges..its little claws would be flailing all over the sides of the pitcher..they will very quickly rip holes all though it..
I dont see any possible way a mouse could drown in a nepenthes pitcher..
its not big enough, there isnt enough water, and the sides of the pitcher offer zero resistance to rodent claws..
Scot