Mice

It’s that time of year. Mice within a quarter-mile flock to our house seeking to share our abode for the winter. I don’t know where they find a way in. I’ve looked, more than once. Considering that mice can reportedly enter through an opening just larger than a quarter inch, it’s little surprise I’ve not discovered their point(s) of entry. And so the battle of wits begins.

The problem of mouse infestations, of course, is not new. While the Greeks and Romans generally respected the mouse (e.g. Aesop’s “The Lion and the Mouse”), the Egyptians were terrified of the creature of doom, controlling mouse populations with cats or ferrets. (We were little better off when we had a cat. She liked the stalking game, but lacked the will to finally dispatch her prey.)

Human ingenuity has been at its best in creating unique (though not necessarily effective) methods for trapping a mouse. Here are a few.

Bucket Mousetrap

The mouse (theoretically) jumps off the ramp to get to the peanut butter on the can, which rotates, sending the helpless rodent plummeting into the liquid at the bottom.









Choker Mousetrap

The mouse chews through a string to get to the bait. The gnawed string releases the trap, choking the mouse.














U.S. Patent #269,766
 

Yes, this one was actually patented in 1882. According to the inventor, it had additional uses: “This invention may also be used in connection with a door or window, so as to kill any person or thing opening the door or window to which it is attached.”


Acme mousetrap

 This technomarvel is described on the website dvice.com as “housed in a beautifully designed, shiny, aluminum case. It works using a combination of complex series of solenoids, electronic control circuitry and a heavy-duty pneumatic actuator. The 40 to 60 PSI of compressed air can deliver a death blow of 102 pounds to the pesky rodent.”







American Toywheel Mouse Trap

The trapped intruder may as well have one last bit of fun while awaiting his destiny.


















LEGO Mousetrap

The designer claims to have actually caught two mice with this one.














Ralph Waldo Emerson is famously (but falsely) quoted as saying, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” The world is still waiting.