Dear Mr. Heslip,
I have heard that rats are unable to belch - by feeding them carbonated
beverages they will sicken and even die from the rodent equivalent of the
bends. Assuming a comparable physiology, perhaps you can use this
information to solve your mouse problem. Try American "lite" beer. Or, as
you are in Northern Ireland, invite the little critters down to the local
for a few pints of Guinness. Use food - a steady diet of a full "Ulster
Fry" may cause their tiny hearts to stop cold.
If you can't keep the mice from appearing in the first place, try
subterfuge - a few clockwork mice spinning around at the entrance will help
visitors deal with the real thing spinning around the exhibits.
In a more serious (and helpful) vein, there must be a fixitive available
that will seal the grain and adhere it to the display - you don't want
visitors leaving the site with "pockets full of rye", nor do you want them
dribbling grain all around the site. Surely someone has invented a product
that repels varmints and bugs, isn't highly combustible, and doesn't
require use of a respirator.
As always, "consider the source",
Jodi
At 05:34 PM 12/5/97 GMT, you wrote:
> 4th December 1997
>
>I am helping with a display in which we want to show some sheaves of barley,
>wheat and rye, plus loose grain. The museum concerned is an old distillery,
>parts restored and used for tours, the rest still quite dilapidated. Our
>worry is that, though the gallery used is of an appropriate standard, mice
>will eat the corn and be attracted in, to the alarm of visitors, especially
>those who have just visited the adjacent coffee shop. It is not possible to
>seal the area completely from the rest of the building. Poison does not
>seem to be the answer - a dead mouse is just as upsetting as a live one -
>and ideally we want the display to be quite open, rather than an enclosed
>vitrine.
>
>Any help, on or off list, would be much appreciated, especially if based on
>direct experience.
>
>I write in my personal capacity.
>
> Robert Heslip
>
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