Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Man or Mouse? Squeak up!

Ok, I have heard of Incendiary Pigs before but not Incendiary Mice!

For those who didn't know, on a couple of occassions the Romans used pigs to scare elephants in battle. They noticed that elephants were afraid of the noise squealing pigs make. The first time they used them, against Pyrrus around 275 BC they just sent them running at the enemy. The second time they used them, they covered them in tar and set them on fire before they sent them running at the enemy to ensure that there would be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The squeal was in fact the secret weapon, not the fire. Fire ensured that the pigs would squeal. After this, the Macedonians boarded their elephants with pigs so they would be used to the noise.

A couple of nights ago THIS story was on the news. In my warped and twisted mind I found it amusing. I know I won't be burning any sacrificial Easter squirrels any time soon. In this instance, the fire was more effective than the squeak. After this, people will no longer set fire to live mice near their homes. They will use the tried and true method of their fathers and their fathers before them and flush them down the toilet!

4 comments:

Ms. P in Jackson said...

I read a story similar to this a few years back. Gardeners at a posh country club in Fort Worth were burning a pile of leaves when a rabbit, who happened to be in them caught fire and came running out. It ran into the gardening shed and burned it to the ground. I felt really sorry for the rabbit.

John said...

I heard about this yesterday, and I too found it amusing (my wife claims it's my German ancestory, they have a wicked sense of black humor). Talk about bad Karma biting you in the butt.

Interesting about the use of war-pigs, never stumbled across that before. If they taught more stuff like that, high school history would be a very popular class.

Unknown said...

Do you have any alternative suggestions to the windowrenu system? We have used the channels in before. Now, we need them for the next room we are renovating. Cannot find them direct from Quaker City or from online site WindowRenu.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!!
Thanks

Gary said...

Can't help with the windows. Can you replace the sash cords?