Variations
There are several different types of mouse races. Some races use elaborate sets built to resemble a horse racing track, while others are more like obstacle courses, with wheels and other challenges. In 1940s England, mice were sometimes made to propel miniature boats by running on treadmills, which were connected to the boat's paddle-wheels.
In many contemporary races, an individual mouse trainer organizes the event using his own animals and invites spectators to make bets, with the proceeds often going to some specific cause. In the United States, one of the most well-known charity-race organizers was Harvey Coffee. He organized events throughout the American Midwest and was mentioned in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The famous World War II movie, Stalag 17, features a scene with mouse racing in a barracks.
More competitive versions of the activity have existed; for example, a Western Australia Mouse Racing Association was founded in the 1970s to organize competitions among mouse owners, who trained their pets to break speed records. Australia continues to hold a national Mouse Cup in rural Bylong, which attracts about 800 participants. Rats are explicitly banned at the more competitive mouse races.
Read more about this topic: Mouse Racing
Famous quotes containing the word variations:
“I may be able to spot arrowheads on the desert but a refrigerator is a jungle in which I am easily lost. My wife, however, will unerringly point out that the cheese or the leftover roast is hiding right in front of my eyes. Hundreds of such experiences convince me that men and women often inhabit quite different visual worlds. These are differences which cannot be attributed to variations in visual acuity. Man and women simply have learned to use their eyes in very different ways.”
—Edward T. Hall (b. 1914)