Another Quiet Week, With Rat Basketball

Nothing happening at all, not at all. So we dumped the cotton, freshened the kibble (does dry pet food go stale?), and moved the Zapper closer to some likely mouse highways.

We may need a whole lot more variety. Regular reader JES writes:

"I recently chatted with an elderly gentleman who, in his younger years, did extensive trapping in the mountains of southern WVA. He offered this advice.

If you're trapping the same type of animal, (in your case, rats & mice) you should change your technique frequently as critters learn to avoid the same methodology.

He suggests you remove the zapper for a while and try the old-fashioned trap. Then the sticky pads. Then whatever else is out there. Try and vary your approach as much as possible. Placing them in different areas might help, too. A wide variety of bait changed frequently may help.

In other words, keep the little SOB's off-balance and guessing."

Thanks, JES. Feels good to tap into the Southern oral tradition. We had our own tribal wisdom back in Brooklyn, of course, but it ran more to optimized subway routes and bagel critiques. Not so much on critter trapping tips.

JES also recommends a trip to Richmond's Science Museum, where "you can watch a fairly interesting game of - you guessed it - rat basketball. The real thing with live rats. You should check it out."

True that. But why is something so compelling and educational, featuring "operant conditioning and basic theories of learning," the last thing on the page? Crowd control? Must be.