Golden mice
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(1 Sam. 6:4, 5). When the Philistines were punished by the Lord with mice and diseases for keeping the Ark of the Covenant captive among them, their priests and diviners advised them, among other things, to make five golden mice and offer them as a guilt offering before the God of Israel (1 Sam. 6:4, 5). When this was done, the diseases and the devastation of the fields by mice ceased among the Philistines. Some see in this an indication of the pagans’ deification of this animal.
According to the testimony of Fürst, the field mouse was consecrated and offered in sacrifice to some obscure pagan deity, and its flesh was used as food offered to idols. Among sorcerers the mouse was considered a demonic animal.