Wednesday, June 5, 2013

The Mexican mass-murderer of mice


It has never seen before here in Baja California, Mexico. But in the southern part there is a plague of mice. Somehow these animals have multiplied in numbers never witnessed before. It is so bad that on warm nights when people are used to sleep outside, this is made impossible because mice crawl all over the innocent sleeper.

Alfredo Gonzales from Rancho Punta Boca del Salado has been thinking about it. And came up with an idea to get rid of the many mice invading his place. He has filled a square bucket with water. He took a thick wire and slid a piece of banana to the centre of it. This wire he mounted in two holes on either side of the bucket. The bucket he placed next to a wall where he knows many mice make nightly walks.




His theory is that the mice smell the banana. They probably see it even with their night vision eyes. They will decide to reach the banana walking like a performer on a tightrope. But, according to Alfredo, they will lose their balance, fall into the water and drown.
In this way he believes he will eliminate the number of mice in his area seriously.
In a next blog we will report how successful Alfredo has been.

In the Bible we find the story of the seven plagues. And we read how the people of Israel suffered. But from what we witness here at the rancho of Alfredo and him experiencing a plague is inventiveness. Creativity, clear thinking, cleverness.
One of the plagues in Egypt were locusts. If we believe the Bible it was terrible. But does this mean there has not been one man like Alfredo in those days? Someone who discovered that a locust is actually an animal full of proteins. That it can be caught with nets, grilled, roasted and served as healthy, rich and delicious food?

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