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

[dglenn.livejournal.com]

I get quite a range of spider sizes here, from ones that require a very close look and/or a magnifying glass to see that they have legs, to ones a few centimeters across. More of the wee ones than the middling ones (I can't say 'large' because, hey, I've seen a tarantula up close and photos of the clock spider on the web). Also a mix of web-hunting spiders and jumping spiders.

Similarly, there's a lot of variety in the sizes of centipedes (and less so but still enough to remark on where silverfish (UGH!) are concerned, but only one size of earwig). I don't know whether the different sizes there are different species or just different stages of growth. The centipedes that look like giant human eyebrows that scampered off somebody's face freak me out a bit.

I consider fruit flies unacceptable in my own house simply because I know what a pain they can turn into unchecked. A single roach doesn't freak me out; more than two would be A Problem. But a single roach still requires immediate action lest it turn out to be a scout that could lead a colony in if I let it live to report. I see one roach, I start spraying the corners and doorframes and the crack between counter and range to make sure I won't see two.

In an 1867 rowhouse, the centipedes (and spiders) are a lost battle; they bother me, but I know I can't do much better than removing the individuals that get too close to me (sometimes they get a reprieve while I fetch a macro lens and a flash, because photos of them are cool even if the in-person-and-moving view bothers me).

The mice were a bigger problem before Perrine adopted me. And I see signs of their activity (I found a half-chewed foam earplug in my bedroom) after Pennsic, when Perrine spends a couple weeks or so elsewhere. I don't leave any food in areas I know the mice can get to (have seen signs of their having gotten to in the past) except in mouse-proof packaging. This does make arranging my pantry a bit complicated.