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

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

The moment you get food moths ('miller' is a new term for me) everything not sealed away is endangered - and I'm allergic to the little beasts, so unless I examine *everything* I can end up feeling not so brilliant.

Unfortunately, the little blighters come in from outside, and my house is not just old, it has vents, so while I can *mostly* keep them at bay, I can't eliminate them from my life completely.

And there is obviously a way for a mouse to get into the place, which I haven't identified (had one last year, evicted it twice, it got the message (or the neighbour's cat got it). Haven't had ants, but they're not that prevalent and they've got plenty of other places to feed.

I'm not - thankfully - familiar with cockroaches, but I react much more strongly to them than I do to other critters.

My least favorite vermin was the scorpion I once found in a motel bath...