Fresh mouse found in 155-year-old trap in museum

Our Assistant Curator found a dead mouse today

The only problem was, it was in a 155-year old mouse trap that was in our Store at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading, England.
We were alerted to the fact when he emailed around the Museum:
'‘There appears to be a dead mouse in this mousetrap…’
It began.
‘…which is not described as being there on the database.’

'Perpetual Mouse Trap'

It certainly lives up to its name. The trap was manufactured by Colin Pullinger & Sons of Silsey, West Sussex and although we don’t know the exact date this one was made, the trap itself was patented in 1861. His great-great-granddaughter actually got in touch with us after seeing the trap on Twitter, and still has his old business cards!

It's still cute

So, this retired rodent had managed to sneak past University of Reading security, exterior doors and Museum staff, and clambered its way up into our Store. Upon finding itself there it would have found the promised land; a mouse paradise laid before it full of straw, wood and textiles. Then, out of thousands of objects, it chose for its home the very thing designed to kill it some 150 years ago: a mouse trap.

Top view

The trap has a see-saw mechanism so when a mouse goes through the hole in the top, the door closes after it.

The 'other side'

This is the other side of the trap, empty. The trap wasn't baited, but we think the mouse was following string which had fallen into the trap itself.

No banana for scale, but the mouse is about 7cm in across here

Man makes a good trap.

Curators and conservators are always alert for the tell-tale signs of moths, beetles and rodents which feast on the organic materials we hold in store. Hygiene and regular cleaning are a first line of defence, as are glazed cases. Objects are also treated before storage or display to ensure anything lurking within is killed.

We haven't named her yet

It's still too real.

Our store

This is the Store of objects not on display at the Museum.

The bay

It somehow got up here - it's on the first floor - and found its way into one of these cases. Considering how fresh the mouse is, it must have somehow found a gap in one.

And the shelf

It chose the wrong case. This shelf is full of mouse traps, and the space in the rear right of this image is where the trap that killed it used to be.

Fumigation

For now we have the mouse in a fumigation cupboard, as it stinks. But we're planning on preparing it so that we can put it on display with the mouse itself in the future.

Thanks for reading

Our museum is currently closed for redevelopment, but we're in Reading UK, and hope to reopen in a few months with brand new galleries. If you want to find out more on this mouse, see our blog: http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/merl/2016/02/03/155-year-old-mouse-trap-claims-its-latest-victim/