Ganesha's mouse

Ganesha's mouse, perhaps a symbol of his keen, quick intelligence

Each of the figures is accompanied by an animal, and are sometimes even seen riding around on them! In our images being created in Oriel 1, Kartikeya is sitting on a peacock, and Durga has one foot on a lion, the other figures have small animals next to them: Sarasvati has her swan, Lakshmi an owl, and Ganesha a little mouse.

There are many different stories behind the symbolism of the mouse, some say that the mouse represents wisdom or the intellect as, owing to its size, it is able to enter places that no one else can and it also teaches us to remain alert. I have also read that the fire god Agni was once terrified of Shiva's rage and turned into a mouse so he could hide underground! Do you know of any other stories behind the mouse or any of the other animals? Please let me know!