A few days ago I posted about my successful capture of two mice in my apartment. This is an update on my mouse situation as well as some extra information about the Vietnamese attitude towards mice.
Firstly I found out what happened to the two mice that I caught the other day (How To Catch A Mouse). After I put the cage outside my neighbors’ kids got quite excited, my wife told they were screaming, laughing and throwing things at the mice. Instead of being annoyed the nuoc ngoai (foreigner) had left a mouse in the hall they were happy for a bit of entertainment.
One of my neighbors then disposed of the still live mice (yes, they survived torture by three year olds) by putting them in a plastic bag, tying it tightly then throwing the bag in the garbage. She did this knowing full well that the mice would bite or scratch their way out of the bag and be free.
Vietnamese don’t seem to think that killing the mouse is necessary, relocation is the preferred option, I don’t agree and am worried that the mice will find their way back to my place. The trap has been reset but no mice have been caught, there have been sightings on my kitchen bench but the sneaky mouse has avoided the temptation of fish covered in peanut butter.
I have discovered that when talking about mice you are not allowed to actually say the words “mouse” or “mice”. Punishment or mentioning these words at home is that the mice will target you and your possessions.
My wife tells me of a few examples where people have cursed the mouse and a few days later found mouse poo in their shoes or had there clothes eaten or even worse been bitten by a mouse while others in the same house who were smart enough not to say anything bad about the mouse had no problems.
So if you can’t say the word mouse what should you say? God, of course. The Vietnamese often refer to mice in their home by the terms Anh Hai (Mr. Two) or Anh Thien (Mr. God). I have been assured that this is not a silly superstition, there are too many examples where people calling a mouse a mouse were punished and those referring to a mouse as Mr. God went unpunished.
So if you want to keep up to date with my attempts at catching Mr. Hai please refer to any future posts under the title “Catching Mr. God”. I have to go now and set my Mr. God trap with raw fish covered in peanut butter.
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