Matthias Wandel (previously http://www.neatorama.com/tag/Matthias-Wandel/ at Neatorama) built a mouse maze last year, which got him wondering how small of a hole a mouse can get his whole body through. To find out, he built a mousetrap with different-sized holes and set up a camera to catch any mouse trying it out. Mice did come by, but they learned that the peanut butter bait was easier to retrieve through the larger holes, and there was no need to try the smallest hole. You can follow the timeline of his experiments here. But the unexpected part was when a shrew showed up for some peanut butter, and that fellow was much hungrier.
My camera set-up didn't record sound. But as a silent film, it wasn't that interesting. I searched the Internet for some sound effects to add but couldn't find what I was looking for. So the sound effects (but not the music) were all made by me. Most I made with my mouth or by scratching or tapping my fingers on my desk. The squeezing through the hole sounds took the longest to figure out, but rubbing my fingers on a balloon made a very satisfying "squeezing through" sound effect. Once the mouse made it through a hole, I wanted a popping sound like a champagne bottle, but less sharp. Slamming my palm against the opening of a small glass jar made just the right sound.
With so many clips, and all the sounds to add, it took several days of editing to put this together. But every time I watched some of the clips, I couldn't stop laughing. So I'm hoping this video will have a similar effect on viewers and that the extra effort becomes justified.
Yeah, it was worth it. Thanks for the laughs! (via Metafilter)
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