Gangs Of Mice Attack Tube Travelers In London

by Jessica Festa on

When riding the subway, it’s not uncommon to see signs warning travelers of route changes and to be wary of pickpockets; however, According to the UK’s Daily Mail, London’s Farringdon Station has an uncommon warning for tube users:

“The mice at this station have been attacking customers. Please place the bottom of your trousers into your socks to avoid being a victim of the Farringdon mice.”

Apparently, mice have been “attacking” the feet of commuters as they wait for their train. It’s a bit of a mystery, however, as tube staff deny being the ones to put the sign up. While it’s now been taken down, thousands of people have already seen it and have taken to Twitter to spread the word.

For example, @alfredcamp wrote, “The #EssexLion turned out to be a harmless pussycat. The #FarringdonMice turned out to be far more sinister!”

@AlexKammAndSons also tweeted, saying, “I am not passing through Farringdon without a packet of mini cheddars as mouse bait #Farringdonmice.”

And @secret_escapes is now having nightmares. “Last night I dreamt that I was savaged by a (very large & scary) mouse. Now this warning appears. OMEN. #FarringdonMice”

[Image via Rama]

Barbara Walters’ apartment had an intruder while she was on vacation

by Jamie Rhein on

One of the worst things that can happen when one is away on vacation is a break in. It happened to me once. There I was in Kentucky with miles between my apartment with its missing TV, vacuum cleaner and leather jacket and worries that someone had been rummaging through my stuff–a person I didn’t know.

When Barbara Walters came home from being gone for several days, she noticed her apartment looked awry. Something was amiss. Sleuthing turned up tracks which led to a dead pigeon in a bathroom. Mysteriously, all the apartment’s windows were closed and locked, as were the doors leading to outside.

According to what she said on The View today, there’s a hawk in her neighborhood which perhaps went after the pigeon knocking it down her chimney and into her apartment. The pigeon wandered into the bathroom which is filled with mirrors and killed itself trying to get out. [see video]

This story reminds me of when my husband and I came home to our apartment in Singapore to find some sort of poop on our photo album. Then there’s the time I came home after being away from my village in The Gambia to discover a wooden trunk partly eaten away by termites. Another time a mouse took up house in the inside of my oven, built a nest and had babies there. This was also when I was in The Gambia. Leaving my village for any length of time was an invitation for critters to come on in.

I never thought I had something in common with Barbara Walters. Who knew? If it’s between critters and a robber, I’d go with the critters every time.

Eight mice found – dead and alive – on United Airlines flight

by Catherine Bodry on

If something runs over your foot on your next flight, beware: it might not be the beverage cart.

In a reversal of roles, the United States nearly imported its own tainted goods to China on a United Airlines flight recently. While en route to China, United employees discovered a total of eight mice — some dead, some alive — hidden in pillows throughout the cabin. On arrival, Chinese officials greeted the plane with rat poison and mouse traps.

The story was printed in newspapers yesterday, along with lists of viruses mice can carry. The articles also probably incited panic when they wrote of the potentially fatal damage mice could do by chewing through wires on aircraft.

Could these tiny creatures be more dangerous than the terrorists?

Think that’s bad? Check out some other unpleasant flight experiences. How rotten would it be flying…

[Thanks to Joshua Davis (articnomad) for the great shot of a plane.]

Run Rabbit, Run!

by Iva Skoch on

I was just about to write a posting about those 80 rodents who escaped from a bag on board of Saudi Arabian Airlines, but Neil beat me to it. Not only that, he completely ruined it for me!

I first read the story in the Czech media and they reported it was actually 80 rabbits, not mice. (I guess translators from Arabic to Czech are hard to find these days. Either that or this is a good example of journalists creating news.)

Here I was, trying to figure out how a passenger could fit 80 rabbits into a carry-on bag, ready to vote for Saudi Airlines as having the most liberal policy for cabin baggage…and “fact-obsessed” American media report it is mice. Mice? Any schmuck could fit 80 mice into a convenient Samsonite roll-on. With all those handy compartments, they could even be quite comfortable. Now, pulling 80 rabbits from a bag, that’s a magic trick.

Makes me wonder, whether we can expect rodent detectors to be introduced at airport security in the near future.