Post by LSDeep on Aug 17, 2005 11:40:17 GMT -5
Surfing mice hit the Gold Coast
08:53 AEST Thu Aug 11 2005
Move over Kelly Slater - surfing mice Harry, Chopsticks and Bunsen are hitting the waves.
Gold Coast owner and trainer Shane Wilmott said the secret to training a surfing mouse was to start young, beginning in the bath tub, before working up to low-level beach action.
"You give him the knowledge that the board's going to keep him afloat," he told the Ten Network.
Mr Wilmott said once the mice became comfortable with the water and the board, it was off to the beach - albeit only with mouse-sized waves.
He said his interest in mice and an active imagination had inspired the creation of his stable of surfing mice.
Mr Wilmott said he built the mice surfboards and was working on a mouse-sized wave runner.
"(Making our own fun was) something we did as a kid," he said.
"We had no Xbox, we had no Playstation when we were young, so if we wanted to have fun we used our imagination."
Mr Wilmott said not a single mouse had been lost to the surf.
But the RSPCA's Michael Beatty said he could not imagine the mice enjoying their surfing jaunts.
"As far as I know, mice don't swim for enjoyment," he said.
"I suppose, to be honest, you have to think like a mouse, and I can't imagine they would find surfing much fun."
Mr Beatty said the RSPCA would not take any action against Mr Wilmott, but he asked the Gold Coast man to rethink his behaviour.
"The RSPCA is against the use of any animal for entertainment which involves that animal doing an act that is unnatural and I would suggest surfing is not a natural activity for mice," he said.
©AAP 2005
08:53 AEST Thu Aug 11 2005
Move over Kelly Slater - surfing mice Harry, Chopsticks and Bunsen are hitting the waves.
Gold Coast owner and trainer Shane Wilmott said the secret to training a surfing mouse was to start young, beginning in the bath tub, before working up to low-level beach action.
"You give him the knowledge that the board's going to keep him afloat," he told the Ten Network.
Mr Wilmott said once the mice became comfortable with the water and the board, it was off to the beach - albeit only with mouse-sized waves.
He said his interest in mice and an active imagination had inspired the creation of his stable of surfing mice.
Mr Wilmott said he built the mice surfboards and was working on a mouse-sized wave runner.
"(Making our own fun was) something we did as a kid," he said.
"We had no Xbox, we had no Playstation when we were young, so if we wanted to have fun we used our imagination."
Mr Wilmott said not a single mouse had been lost to the surf.
But the RSPCA's Michael Beatty said he could not imagine the mice enjoying their surfing jaunts.
"As far as I know, mice don't swim for enjoyment," he said.
"I suppose, to be honest, you have to think like a mouse, and I can't imagine they would find surfing much fun."
Mr Beatty said the RSPCA would not take any action against Mr Wilmott, but he asked the Gold Coast man to rethink his behaviour.
"The RSPCA is against the use of any animal for entertainment which involves that animal doing an act that is unnatural and I would suggest surfing is not a natural activity for mice," he said.
©AAP 2005
