I think Doug may be on to something concerning the smell of exhaled air from a living rodent. CO2 is a good possibility, but perhaps the actual smell of their breath is a triggering stimuli. I would even venture to say that the smell of the rodents breath is a scent used to track prey. It may even be the most detectable scent left behind by a wild rodent. Domestic rodents have long been removed from an environment where it is necessary to keep their scent to a minimum. The instinct for a snake to shun f/t domestic mice unless they are thoroughly cleaned is clue that this could be true. I have scented f/t by placing them in a small container with some mice of various sizes with pretty good results. Perhaps saliva from a live mouse would be an effective scenting agent? Just some thoughts.

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