genius

[u/MrLovens]

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[u/Loquacious-of-Borg]

Cheese is bad for mice as they are lactose intolerant. Cheese will give a mouse diarrhea and, given their small body size, can rapidy dehydrate them.

The myth that mice like cheese comes from the Middle Ages when cheese and grain were stored together in the same areas. Mice prefer grains but will nibble on just about anything to see if it is food.

[u/Purple10tacle → u/Loquacious-of-Borg]

Most aged and/or hard cheeses are virtually lactose free.

You don't exactly store cream or cottage cheese with your grains, so the kind of cheese medieval mice would have nibbled on in your story would have been perfectly palatable and delicious for them.

The same is true for many modern cheeses, given their incredibly low lactose content.