posted
A mouse got its revenge against a homeowner who tried to dispose of it in a pile of burning leaves. The blazing creature ran back to the man's house and set it on fire.
posted
I'd call it just one more reason why it's a bad idea to set fire to living creatures, myself.
Nonny
-------------------- When there isn't anything else worth analyzing, we examine our collective navel. I found thirty-six cents in change in mine the other day. Let no one say that there is no profit in philosophy. -- Silas Sparkhammer Posts: 10141 | From: Toronto, Ontario | Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
*Hands Nonny Mouse a fire resistant suit* The company I work at makes 'em.
-------------------- We are all equal, be it before the eyes of God, or for our own sake. We are all worthy of the same fundamental rights, freedoms, and, protections. Mindless hatred is unjustifiable. -Squoval Posts: 320 | From: Pennsylvania | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
What kind of asshole would put a live mouse into a burning fire?
(or a live anything for that matter)
-------------------- 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. That is when the world will end. Posts: 7158 | From: D.C. | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
How is this worse than glue traps? I've seen people throw glue-trapped mice in the trash, and I don't think that that is any better than burning them.
-------------------- Fools! You've over-estimated me! Posts: 3745 | From: New York City | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
What was the guy doing burning leaves? It's been unusually warm and dry this winter in New Mexico and the bozo can consider himself lucky he didn't burn down the whole neighborhood.
And, while I do not like mice--yes, I will kill them if they get into my house--I would never throw a live animal into a fire. Even people who don't like mice (and most of the people I know don't) are not that cruel.
Posts: 1111 | From: Albuquerque, NM | Registered: Dec 2000
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posted
As someone who has killed wild animals on a semi-frequent basis (not that I enjoy the killing act itself), I find glue traps and fire both rather inhumane and would recommend using only traps that kill right away (such as high-quality snap traps) or traps that do not cause suffering at all (like spacious box traps).
On a different note, I wasn't sure if I bought the guy's story. How long and how hot does a running mouse burn? I can't imagine a 1/4 inch hair burning for longer than a fraction of a second, and I'd be surprised to see even the most flammable material ignited by a singed mouse hair. Perhaps better burning material (a burning leaf or something) fell on its back and was dragged into the house...
posted
The only mice I've ever caught in a house (well not by hand!) were pretty damn small. I find it hard to believe a burning mouse could set fire to a house in the way this guy describes. Somehow I think maybe he's romancing a bit to avoid the inevitable scrutiny he'd be under for burning leaves *at all* under the conditions in New Mexico at the moment.
Better to be considered a cruel man than a stupid one...
-------------------- If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation. - Jean Kerr Posts: 18428 | From: Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 2001
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posted
Troodon, I was talking to one of my friends about this. He hates mice but he hates glue traps even more--they don't kill the animal, leaving the homeowner to do the deed herself or to toss the animal out to die of starvation.
Snap traps don't always work instantly either. I haven't seen any mice for a while (which is odd, given that out here they are roughly as common as air molecules) but I've actually considered getting a rat terrier if the problem crops up again. Hey, when in doubt, get an animal to do the dirty work.
Posts: 1111 | From: Albuquerque, NM | Registered: Dec 2000
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posted
Most animal control methods are quite inhumane - when we had rats living in our garage, my dad put out poison for them, and I read on the box that it acted by inducing internal bleeding. However, nature is cruel too, to the point where I think that vast suffering (for animals and for humans too) will always be inevitable.
The only difference between throwing a mouse into a fire and most other means of getting rid of it is that the former requires the person doing the act to be purposefully cruel while other methods (like glue traps) allow for some cognitive dissonance.
-------------------- Fools! You've over-estimated me! Posts: 3745 | From: New York City | Registered: Jan 2004
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posted
There have been several time where a snap trap has hurt a mouse but not killed it.
It's the most horrible sound, and you usualy have to end up crunching their little heads.
Of course I have seen a mouse head once, with the body completly missing. No animals to drag it off, and it had to have died fairly soon before I found it.
-------------------- "I still say Obi-wan Kenobi was The Force's bitch." Posts: 820 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
I'm sure that with the number of field mice on my property that I would kill few dozen every time I start a large fire in the field. I kill a few with the lawn mower every time I cut the lawn and many more when I cut the field grass.
Posts: 597 | From: Bellingham, WA | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
I'm of the school of thought that if you must kill a pest animal, you should make it as quick and clean as possible, whether doing it yourself or setting out a trap.
That being said, no method is foolproof. I once found a dead mouse in a snap trap in my parents' garage, several feet from where the trap had been set. The skin was partially pulled away from its back and ribs, and it had obviously suffered horribly as it dragged itself across the floor, trying to escape.
I always feel sorry for mice that my family ends up setting traps for, but considering some of the diseases and parasites wild animals can spread, I consider it a small price to keep my own pets safe.
Posts: 213 | From: Point of Rocks, MD | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Yes - quality is definitely important in snap traps. Many of the cheapest ones will not get the job done. If you're not sure about what to get, I would suggest one of the ones designed for rats - it would be almost impossible for a mouse to survive one of those (be careful though - they can do a number on your hand).
What I used most often and would reccomend is Havahart traps - they're live traps that are made to avoid suffering. They work extremely well (my dad used to use them for biological field sampling) and they don't hurt the animal. The only problem is that you have to decide what to do from there. We usually killed them ourselves through one of a number of neck-breaking techniques (as instant as you're going to get), or fed them to our snakes or hawk. In certain cases you could release them somewhere else. Of course, the issue here is that you have to do the dirty work, but I do think that puts the moral responsibility in the forefront.
On a different note, I wasn't sure if I bought the guy's story. How long and how hot does a running mouse burn? I can't imagine a 1/4 inch hair burning for longer than a fraction of a second, and I'd be surprised to see even the most flammable material ignited by a singed mouse hair. Perhaps better burning material (a burning leaf or something) fell on its back and was dragged into the house...
Same here. First thing I thought was that if fires had been such a problem, why wasn't a burn-ban in effect? Second thought was perhpas there was and his story was a cover up for his setting his own house on fire. Whatever the case, the fire crew apparently bought his story.
The only thing that comes to mind is if it took the mouse a few seconds to get to the outside of the pile, some debris may have stuck to the singed hair or burnt skin and came along with him.
And glad no one was hurt because I might have felt guilty about laughing as hard as I did. Hopefully the mouse got out in time- talk about out of the frying pan...
Posts: 687 | From: Grand Rapids, Michigan | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
Just sounds like instant karma to me. I know that sometimes mice have to be killed, but to burn anything to death is horrific.
-------------------- I looked at my sleeping husband and longed to plunge my elbow through his peaceful face. ~ Annissa Posts: 381 | From: Nashville | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I suspect that Jon Daehnke and TuFurg are on the right track. I would not be at all surprised if more facts are soon uncovered.
How was the mouse caught? What was he thrown onto? Was the mouse fully aflame when it ran off? Was there an accelerant used? How far did it run? What on the house was the first material ignited?
These are all questions that need to be answered, some on a basic fire report others by fire investigators. It can get even more complicated once the insurance adjusters get ahold of the investigation.
I suspect a familiar motive of Arson for Profit.
- P
Posts: 1856 | From: Milwaukee, WI | Registered: Jul 2001
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I bet some burning leaves just blew inside the window.
-------------------- No man has a right in America to treat any other man "tolerantly" for tolerance is the assumption of superiority. -Wendell L. Willkie Posts: 3833 | From: Virginia | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
ETA: Bah, forgot to "shift+refresh" before posting and missed a ton of posts that say very similar things to mine.. Still I'll leave it here at this point, enjoy
quote:Originally posted by Troodon: How is this worse than glue traps? I've seen people throw glue-trapped mice in the trash, and I don't think that that is any better than burning them.
No, neither are good (or if you are going to use a glue trap in a short term thing at least finish it off quickly).
Ideally we would use the most humane means to kill mice, and if the traps did nto finish the job we would as quickly as we could.. But burning the creature alive intentionally (when he could just as well have stamped it out of existance with one quick motion) is exeptionally cruel.
Am I the only one who wonders if his burning leaves got out of control and set his house ablaze and this was just the story he fabricated to explain it? "No officer it wasn't my irresponsible burning of leaves but rather a freak accident that nobody could have predicted."
It just seems unlikely, unless he was literally burning leaves a few feet from his home, that a mouse, on fire, would be able to run all the way back to the house before either dying or 'going out'.. But maybe its just me that finds it a bit fishy.
-------------------- "All people are responsible for the good that they didn't do" Posts: 4774 | From: Virginia | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote: A small -town rumor that sparked world -wide interest about a mouse burning down a house has been found to be untrue.
quote:The mouse story, however, has been doused by Mares.
"It's really humorous more than anything that a mouse burned down the house," he told KOAT-TV in Albuquerque. The mouse was dead when it hit the burning leaves.
Mares said he trapped and killed the critter and tossed it on the fire.
The flames, he said, probably reached his house because they were driven by high winds.
Capt. Jim Lyssy of the Fort Sumner Fire Department said the rumor probably got started because there was "a little too much excitement" at the time of the fire.
Mares lost everything -- and has no insurance -- but the mouse story still makes him smile.
"I started laughing, and I'll be laughing from now on," he said. "It's silly."
Am I the only one that has this stuck in his head?
quote:Watch out, you might get what you're after Cool babies, strange but not a stranger I'm an ordinary guy Burning down the mouse
Hold tight, wait till the party's over Hold tight, We're in for nasty weather There has got to be a way Burning down the mouse
-------------------- On the crusade to eliminate Moral Asshattery wherever it exists Member: AAMAH Posts: 2940 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Chalk it up to another example of the news reporting a story before it has all (or in this case even most, such as as statement from the owner) of the facts in an attempt (either intentional or otherwise) to throw glairing headlines across and attract viewers.
My question is this.. From the article Open Mike posted it would appear that Mares had no part in the rumor, but the first article had this quote..
quote:"I had some leaves burning outside, so I threw it in the fire, and the mouse was on fire and ran back at the house," Mares said from a motel room Saturday.
Is that a quote invented by the news outlet (or taken drastically out of context) or is Mares recanting his story now for one reason or another?
-------------------- "All people are responsible for the good that they didn't do" Posts: 4774 | From: Virginia | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Here's your ticket, pack your bags time for jumping overboard the transportation is here!
Posts: 2079 | From: California | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Ok, this story may be false but... There is a case (I will have to try and look up the cite, but it was in the edition of Prosser's Torts text that was current in fall 2000) in which a true genius was cleaning the works of some coin-op washers and dryer with gasoline, in a room heated by a space heater, with the gas in an open bucket. According to the case decision, Mr. Brains managed to pour gas on a rat, which ran around in pain and got too close to the space heater, which set it on fire. At which point it ran into the pile of rags sitting beside the bucket and WHOOSH, Mr. Brains goes up in flames.
-------------------- 'Hello, assorted humanoid strangers. You are standing casually in our forest. This bewilders us.' Blatherskite Posts: 950 | From: Cincinnati, Ohio | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Mickey Blue: Chalk it up to another example of the news reporting a story before it has all (or in this case even most, such as as statement from the owner) of the facts in an attempt (either intentional or otherwise) to throw glairing headlines across and attract viewers.
Perhaps. But the flaming mouse story is attributed to a local firefighter.
Pogue
-------------------- Let's drink to the causes in your life: Your family, your friends, the union, your wife. Posts: 11325 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Was it really a mouse that burned down Luciano Mares' house? Or was it just the wind?
Mares' story of a flaming mouse that scampered from a burning pile of leaves into his rural home Saturday drew international media attention. Then on Monday, the 81-year-old told an Albuquerque television station that strong wind spread burning leaves, leveling his home of more than two decades.
But on Tuesday, Mares and his nephew stood by his original version that a mouse was the culprit.
posted
I'm sure he realized that the "Mouse Tale" was worth something. He'd better watch out, though. Lying about how a fire started could get you in hot water. ETA - Oh, I see. He probably changed the story back to avoid getting in hot water because the story he gave the fire dept was the Mouse Tale.
Posts: 4922 | From: Kyoto, Japan | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
It sounds like Lord of the Rings, The Return of the Kingwhere Denethor caught on fire, and ran what looked like some two or three hundred yards, before jumping, and literally going down in flames.
Posts: 101 | From: Christchurch, New Zealand | Registered: Jan 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Aptenodytes_Forsteriis: Ok, this story may be false but...
If by "false" you mean "contains some improbabilites worthy of investigation", it definately is that.
One major improbability has to to with the way an open container of gasoline will behave in proximity to an ignition source inside a closed room. In such conditions, a rodent wouldn't be necessary to cause a rather violent ignition. The gasoline fumes would likely reach the space heater causing ignition before any rodent entered the picture.
Next, after the violent igniton occured, who was the survivor and visual witness to the rodent's behavior? Since ignition would be instantaneous and could occur with the gas container several yards away, any survivor (if there were any) could just as easily attribute ignition to having recently stroked his/her own brow.
In regard to the story in the OP, I'm going to go out on a limb with a wild theory of my own. The story of the mouse in the glue trap was accurate. The element of the fire in the pile of leaves (in the middle of a NM winter) was made up.
The man set a glue trap somewhere near the window to trap the mouse along its frequent route of travel. Due to his distain for the "critters" he decided to torture the mouse during it's last moments on earth. The man ignited the mouse inside the house. The heated glue may/may not have released the mouse. The problem was that the fire was inside the house and quickly became unmanageable.
The investigation will tell exactly where in the house the fire started. I suspect that the man is being disingenuous as to how and why.
- P
Posts: 1856 | From: Milwaukee, WI | Registered: Jul 2001
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