WOOD MICE make signposts out of leaves and twigs to help them find their way as they scamper around featureless fields.
“No one would expect that mice would be so clever,” says Pavel Stopka, who made the discovery. Primates and birds use sticks and stones as markers in their territory, and the amazing navigational abilities of the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) have been studied extensively. But till now, no one had spotted the rodents’ signposting skills.
The mice appear to move objects to mark sites that interest them, such as places where there is plenty of food or a quick…
