The continuing story of the house Joe and Mary Ann Scott lived in for over 50 years and the families that have lived here since.*
Now there comes a time when most of us have to make that call to the Corporation having seen a mouse in the house.
In 40 or so years of living here we have had to do it three times.
There were the other two calls to do with wasps but these don't count.
Nope its mice or worse rats that leads to a request for help.
There is no underestimating that feeling of distaste and shame at seeing the droppings........ or equally worse catching sight of Millie the Mouse.
Given the exceptionally cold weather I had hoped it was just coming in for a warm, but after the third sighting in less than a week and the confirmation that our neighbours had also seen the said animal it was time to act.
Curiously the Corporation charges less for a rat visit than a mouse call out which was good seeing as the animal I had seen was larger and black in colour.
But according to the chap who came it was indeed a mouse.
And the rest I trust will mean soon Millie will be gone.
All of which got me thinking of how we used to deal with mice and rats and of course in particular what Joe and Mary Ann would have done.
Now given that they had cats I suspect I have an answer but they may have also fallen back on that old fashioned mechanism the mouse trap.
I remember the contraption from when I was growing up, have laughed at their depiction in shed loads of Tom and Gerry cartoons and was surprised that they are still marketed today.
But then the mouse trap is a remarkably simple device which by and large does what it is intended to do.
Various designs were patented in the late 19th century in both the USA and Britain and have seen off most of their competitors from the glue trap to the bucket device and even an electrical one.
They remain on sale in small hardware shops, the big stores and online.
In our case I am hoping the chap from the Council has done the business.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; the house in 1974, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and A Victor brand mousetrap, Evan-Amos 2010, Mousetrap, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousetrap
*The story of house,
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house
 |
| The house in 1974 |
In 40 or so years of living here we have had to do it three times.
There were the other two calls to do with wasps but these don't count.
Nope its mice or worse rats that leads to a request for help.
There is no underestimating that feeling of distaste and shame at seeing the droppings........ or equally worse catching sight of Millie the Mouse.
Given the exceptionally cold weather I had hoped it was just coming in for a warm, but after the third sighting in less than a week and the confirmation that our neighbours had also seen the said animal it was time to act.
Curiously the Corporation charges less for a rat visit than a mouse call out which was good seeing as the animal I had seen was larger and black in colour.
But according to the chap who came it was indeed a mouse.
 |
| The Victor mouse trap, 2010 |
All of which got me thinking of how we used to deal with mice and rats and of course in particular what Joe and Mary Ann would have done.
Now given that they had cats I suspect I have an answer but they may have also fallen back on that old fashioned mechanism the mouse trap.
I remember the contraption from when I was growing up, have laughed at their depiction in shed loads of Tom and Gerry cartoons and was surprised that they are still marketed today.
 |
| The house in 1975 |
Various designs were patented in the late 19th century in both the USA and Britain and have seen off most of their competitors from the glue trap to the bucket device and even an electrical one.
They remain on sale in small hardware shops, the big stores and online.
In our case I am hoping the chap from the Council has done the business.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; the house in 1974, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and A Victor brand mousetrap, Evan-Amos 2010, Mousetrap, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mousetrap
*The story of house,
http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20story%20of%20a%20house
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