The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-16
AMATEUR HOUSING.
Wariness of the Tiny Rodents,
Which May BE Observed.

hlch way he observed.
From the New York Tribune.
A fair degree Of amusement may be had
from the pursuit of amateur housing. The
distinction between amateur and profess
sional is here made advisedly, because, as
every one knows. there are persons who
make a business Of rat catching, and who
Incidentally catch mice The difference in
practice between Athe work of the venal
eXterminator of mice and the recreation
OF the amateur mouser is that the former
aims only a Kidding his patrons of their
vermin, regarding these vermin with an
eye single to their Objectionable qualities,
while the latter seeks pleasure and mental
Improvement in a study of the ways and
what may almost be called the intellect
ual traits of his game. IL has often been
remarked that your complete angler has
the highest respect for the courage and
subtlety of the fish he most loves to kill;
In the same way the true amateur of
housing sees in the common domestic.
mouse something far more worthy of con-
sideration and study than does the house
wife, who regards IL merely as a pesky
thing, to DE destroyed.
No true mouser would ever resort to the
use of poison. There can be no fun in
finding a swollen corpse lying by a saucer
of lethal drugs in one corner of your room,
stll less in perceiving through your nose
that mouse has passed away behind your
wanscoting. Besides, it is unsportsman-
like treachery to give TO a mouse that
which destroys life under the guise of
that which sustains It, A bait has moth
ing tTeacherous about it; it is honest
enough food If the mouse cannot see that
a spring Is connected with IL, or that an i'll
considered and gluttonus rush for It viii
place him in position from which he
cannot retreat, or if, seeing this, he has
neither skill to take the bait and leave the
trap nor the strength of mind TO let the
whole thing alone, so much the worse for
him. But he has no cause to complain
Of treachery in a trap. Some people may
say that mouse can be no more expected
to understand the working of a spring
than TO detect the presence of poison in
a piece of cheese, but This Is a mistake at
which any amateur mouser will laugh.
Watching the Trap.
A large part of the fun of mouslng-ln-
deed, the greatest parts in watching
your trap. 1t is in this way that one
learns mousekind and their ways. This
sport requires much patience, the ability
to sit motionless for at least half an hour
at a time and to breathe without noise,
and, lastly, a chair that does not creak.
With this equipment and a trap of the
kind that works with strong wire grip
hbhAAA9l INC ChSG VI a l6NtdilS uldI DodIu,
the mouser will learn that all mice are
not. like all men, created equal, but that
one mouse from infancy eXcels another
in the natural gift OF taking the bait and
leaving the trap.
One mouse, for an Illustration will come
out with that succession of short rapid
runs which is the characteristic move
ment of his kind, sniff about the trap and
retreat He knows all about the trap, and
Will not trust himself even TO look upon
il when il Is set. Another comes forth as
soon the first has disappeared, or at
least as soon as he has so placed himself
that only the tip of his snout is to be seen
sticking out from the shadow of a stoves
foot No. goes through strange maneu-
vers which none but the oldest and clev-
crest mousers really understand, and even
they cannot explain intelligibly. These
maneuvers are comparable to the tacks of
fore and aft rugged boat beating up
against shifting winds. Perhaps he is
combining an approach to the trap with
a reconnaissance, for it is a remarka BILE
fact that one mouse will not eat while
he thinks another mouse Is watching him
If a movement of the whiskers of No. l
betrays his presence, No. will retreat
with rush. II not, No. q supposing him
both skilful and sure of his SKILL will zig
zeg, double and dart, until he is close
alongside his bait
The crucial moment has now arrived. OF
course the heart of the adventurous mous Sc
is beating so violently that IL shakes his
body. Mice are nervously high strung.
ana tie mouse now about TO rush" that
bait must exert great will power to secure
the steadiness OF muscular action abso-
lutely necessary for the completion of his
daring enterprise. The human mouser
watching from his uncreakng chair, can
| hear his own heart beat II is then that
he is sure to see one little maneuver,
which, according to a careful observer no
| fun grown mouse ever omits-the advanc-
ing mouse will throw himself back on his
| launches sitting not quite upright, but
| half way, with his forepaWs struck IN
| close to his nose. You can see him tremb-
| ling under the strokes of his superexcited
! little heart. or, if you do not, you are quite
/ sure you do. You certainly see him turn
his head, and the light flashes for just one
| moment on one Of mis- eyes. Then-if you
are a lucky mouser-you win see that he
| has said TO himself, Steady Down &c
| The forepaws, and the whole mouse moves
over about half an inch to the bait There
are more ways than one Of getting that
bait without being caught There are
two at least. but both plans take a mouse
| Of stupendous nerve.
Delicate Feat.
Il is barely possible for a mouse. TAX.
| ing infinite pains not to touch bait OF
lever, to get on the board to which the
| releasing lever, which carries the bait /.
| attached, and then, before attacking The
bait, 20 arrange himself carefully tai
| and all, so that no part of him shall pro.
ject over the edge of the board IL the
trap has been delicately set the mouse
| must get into this rtical position with.
out tremor, or he will jar the spring and
be snapped in transitu, without eve,
touching the bait. The maneuver seems IL
| imply more than mousely powers of OBJ
servation and deduction, as wen as a clos,
examination of trap with a dead-and
done-for mouse in its grip, a thing which
| Il seems not the most hardened old brieanf
of a mouse will ever face But the fael
| that mice are found caught close IN I,
the spring with their noses nowhere neal
| the bait seems to show tina this audaciou,
| tactic Is sometimes attempted, and The
fact that traps are sometimes sprung, auc
| the bait taken clear away without any