To defeat mice, you need to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Brush up with our true or false quiz.
1) Mice have collapsible skeletons.
False. C’mon, no vertebrate has a collapsible skeleton. But mice are pretty flexible. And tiny. As you’ve read in the pages of CL many times—you have, right?—they can fit through an opening as small as the width of a pencil.
2) Mice have an aversion to the smell of fruit.
True. At least, it’s true when it comes to bananas. (We get that—it’s a polarizing fruit.) Research from McGill University has shown that male mice react with stress to N-pentyl-acetate, a compound very similar to a chemical found in bananas. So don’t use bananas as mouse bait.
3) A U.S. man once filed a patent for a mouse trap that, when activated, shot the rodent with a handgun.
True. Oh, America. Of course, that was in 1882. Years later, the earliest snap trap was invented, and for most pest control experts, it’s still the basic go-to design. Don’t bring a gun to a mouse fight, people.
4) Cats are effective at mouse control.
False. Well, sometimes it’s true: in the U.K., a tortoiseshell cat named Towser set a Guinness World Record for catching 28,899 mice in her 24-year-lifespan. Hey, if you want a pet, get a pet. Just don’t give it a job and expect five-star results if you don’t also mouse-proof the cottage.
5) The expression “Quiet as a mouse?” One hundred per cent apt!
False. Sure, mice are no bulls in china shops, but they’re also not ninja assassins. If you have a mouse problem, there’s a good chance you’ll hear evidence of it at night—skittering noises inside the walls, for example. Night is when mice are most active.
This article was originally published in the March/April 2025 issue of Cottage Life.
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