The difficult task is attacked before the extremely simple.
Difficult, yes, but not impossible, provided that the Mouse be young.

I begin again with a ligature of iron wire, on which the shears of the insect can obtain no purchase, and a tender Mouselet, half the size of an adult.

This time a tibia is gnawed through, cut in two by the Beetle's mandibles near the spring of the heel.

The detached member leaves plenty of space for the other, which readily slips from the metallic band; and the little body falls to the ground.
But, if the bone be too hard, if the body suspended be that of a Mole, an adult Mouse, or a Sparrow, the wire ligament opposes an insurmountable obstacle to the attempts of the Necrophori, who, for nearly a week, work at the hanging body, partly stripping it of fur or feather and dishevelling it until it forms a lamentable object, and at last abandon it, when desiccation sets in.

A last resource, however, remains, one as rational as infallible.