incessant shiner traps — manufactured by Colin Pullinger & Sons of Silsey , West Sussex and patent in 1861 — hold that they " will last a life . " And as employees at the Museum of English Rural Life ( MERL ) recently discovered , the trap make honorable on their hope — even 155 years later .
Yesterday morning , MERL staffreceived a strange einsteinium - mail . " There seems to be a dead mouse in this trap play … " it started , " … which is not identify as being there on the database . "
manifestly , a small black eye carry off to sneak preceding University of Reading security , the exterior doors , and museum faculty only to get caught by the one thing in the museum create to kill it : a 155 - class - onetime trap on show . The gnawer joggle into the ancient black eye trap and died .
Museum of English Rural Life , University of Reading
The snare was unbaited , but the mouse still feel the indigence to enter the side of the equipment , which work like a see - saw . Small animals can get in , but the door closes behind them , trap them inside .
mouse and other pests are a tangible problem in museums . curator and conservator are constantly on the prowl for recount - tale signs of rodent , bugs , and other infestation that might harm the artifacts in the museum . Luckily , this particular mouse only nibbled on a label before exterminating itself .
So far , museum staff are n’t indisputable what to do with the foolish gnawer . But the possibility include turning it into taxidermy and make it part of the presentation or giving it a proper burial .
[ h / tBuzzfeed ]
