The vermin poll.

[rivka]

[Poll #1243857]

What prompted this poll: we saw a mouse in our kitchen this weekend. Mice in our last house got a bit out of control, so we're being alert and taking immediate measures to try to get rid of this one. But although I know that mice can carry disease, I don't really freak out about them. They seem like a normal fact of household life to me. They're a pain, but they don't revolt me.

Then I remembered a post I saw once on mothering.com, which at the time I labeled one of the most unintentionally revealing posts I'd ever seen. It was someone posing a hypothetical situation in which Child Protective Services might make unfair negative judgments about a family: By the time the caseworker shows up Mom decides to be friendly because, of course, she has nothing to hide -- so she invites the worker in for a cup of tea. She pours the tea and they sit chatting ... a moment later the worker picks up her cup to see a roach floating in it.

Mom says, "I'm so sorry -- we've just treated for roaches, but you know how hard it is to get completely rid of them ..." The worker doesn't understand, she's always lived in newer homes: from her perspective, a roach is a sign of a filthy house ...

My first reaction to that post: My house is 168 years old, so I hardly think I'm biased. Serving someone tea in a cup that has a roach in it? Is, in fact, a sign of a filthy house. And if you think that's normal or understandable, there's something wrong with your housekeeping standards. My second reaction, though: Huh, probably there are people out there who would feel the same way about mouse droppings in the back of a kitchen cupboard, which to me is a sign of whoops-but-no-big-deal.

Your thoughts?

Comments

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

We have mice. Period. We live next to fields and lots of open space and I don't think we'll ever completely get rid of them. Mostly, we haven't done much about it yet (except change some of our food storage methods). But we are talking about getting a cat, and it will be a good incentive to do so.

My mother certainly thinks I'm more lackadaisical than I need to be, I think. But whatever. I'm not jazzed about lots of traps and stuff, so .... whatever. :)

We also have ants. When they start increasing in numbers, I just buy under package of ant traps and stick them under the furniture in the room in question. No big deal. Apparently ants were a problem for the last owners of our house too.

I've never lived in the south, so I've never had roaches. I have a strong reaction to the idea, but I think that's partly my unfamiliarity.

I think I was thinking that Miller moths were something else - the description above is icky.

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When Elena gets older, we will definitely have to be strict about no food in your bedroom and that kind of thing. Because that would develop into disaster, I suspect.