[Amps] WD-40, snaked, vermin and puddytats

[Gary Smith]

Male cat (s): the original ball bearing mouse trap.
Gary...wa6fgi
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: DAVE WHITE 
  To: amps at hidden-valley.com 
  Cc: amps at contesting.com 
  Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2010 2:10 AM
  Subject: Re: [Amps] WD-40, snaked, vermin and puddytats



  Jeff, in some ways Monty Python is a good way to learn about this country - but even Monty Python's Flying Circus couldn't have made up the joke that is our current government. 

  Yes, there were indeed council ratcatchers many years ago. There still are, though they are mainly now private firms - some large, some small. These days councils just employ people to operate speed traps on the road, run Diversity courses and generally burn as much taxpayers' money as they can. I've yet to find one where anything more than a small minority does something really useful - look at The Guardian Newspaper "Society" section to see all the overpaid non-jobs on offer.

  I believe that in some parts of India there is still a price on the head of each rat that the vermin catchers hand in. I think Calcutta still operates this policy - but I could be wrong.

  Even more wierdly when I lived in India many years ago there was a place in Rajasthan (about midway between New Delhi and Karachi) where the locals beleive that their ancestors are re-incarnated as rats, so there's a temple full of them and people take food and milk along as offerings. 

  It's worth a look if you're even in that part of the world - in fact India as a whole is the kind of place well worth spending some time around. It's an educational experience to see the different values that people hold and the different way of life. For us Brits it's probably easier to get to know, since (a) we were really one country till 1947 and (b) we have one overwhelming common interest that serves as an ice-breaker in any situation (as it does with Australians): cricket. 

  If I get re-incarneted as a rat, I'll choose the temple at Bikaner - and will sneak into the local cricket ground occasionally to watch....

  cheers
  D


  --- On Sat, 6/3/10, Jeff Carter <amps at hidden-valley.com> wrote:

  From: Jeff Carter <amps at hidden-valley.com>
  Subject: Re: [Amps] WD-40, snaked, vermin and puddytats
  To: "DAVE WHITE" <mausoptik at btinternet.com>
  Date: Saturday, 6 March, 2010, 5:26

  Everything I know about the UK, I learned from Monty Python.

  I thought there was a guy called the "Council Ratcatcher" who would come and take care of this sort of thing.

  Jeff/KD4RBG


  On Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 12:20 AM, DAVE WHITE <mausoptik at btinternet.com> wrote:


  we get invaded by mice every autumn. I catch them in the live traps and release them in the next village about 5 miles away, but I swear the bloody things are homing mice.



  Mybe I need to appoint a Vermin Control Officer. 

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