A New Mouse Trap

[David Skolnik]

Tim-
While I'm writing this, I'm trying to browse the list archives for hanta 
virus, about which there was some extensive posting a few years 
ago.  Unless it was a hoax,  the prudent course might be to read up and do 
a thorough cleaning, wearing the appropriate protective wear.

No luck with the browser.  Maybe someone else can advise you on that.

Poor mousey.

David Skolnik
Columbia University, NY




At 10:10 PM 11/30/2001 -0600, you wrote:
>I had a first experience today.  I found a LIVE mouse in a Kawai KG2C at
>one of my universities.  The piano had been donated and previously
>resided in a condo.  The piano had been at the school for about three
>weeks and I was letting it get used to the shock of school life.
>
>As I approached the piano I noticed some gray matter down by the bass
>end tuning pins.  But this gray matter was moving.  It was apparent it
>was a mouse.  I immediately opened the piano and tried to capture the
>mouse.  This little guy was clever and dove for the action.  So, I had
>to open the piano further and pull the action.  As I pulled the action
>he was quite literally dancing on the hammers.  I tried to capture him
>again and he dove for the wippens.  I was able to get him to move from
>wippens to hammers and back, but I couldn't get a hold of him.  Finally,
>he decided to stay in the wippens, which gave me a better plan of
>attack.  I set the action up on its bass end, prodded the little critter
>down the wippens towards the floor.  It was as if he was being prompted
>to climb down a ladder.  Once he got down to  the floor, I lifted the
>action and there he was just sitting on the floor.
>
>A student scooped him up with a plastic cup and out he went to the foot
>of snow we got this week.  He was rather fat, which makes me think two
>possibilities:  he is a city mouse or he is a SHE and could have given
>birth to a family in that Kawai if not found in time.
>
>
>Tim Coates
>University of South Dakota
>University of Sioux Falls