here, mousie mousie...

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I was walking past Big Fish, Little Fish today, during the Snow Emergency That Was Not, and I looked in the window and saw...well. A free range mouse. Just running up the slatwall, and probably the happiest mouse in existence, with warmth and a nice wall with a big hole in it, and all those bags of feed and stuff just lying about.

I wonder if he goes in at night and taunts the feeder mice with his freedom.

Comments

then i leave my poops in your kix

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

oh gross.

[farwing.livejournal.com]

You only saw one mouse? I walked by there several months ago with a friend and we saw...many, many mice. Climbing all over the bird cages, everywhere. We placed a call about it, but....

Ugh!

[violet-helix.livejournal.com]

One mouse is cute, but that's pretty horrifying!

[upsidown.livejournal.com]

that place is not the bastion of sanitation.

[jadelennox]

all of that is completely true and I agree with every point, but that being said, a mouse in a pet store is not all that surprising. It's a city; there are mice. And even a clean pet store has birds throwing seeds around and the like.

You are completely right that that particular store is dreadful, but the mouse really isn't a sign of that.

[jadelennox]

I realize you never said it was, I'm sorry -- I was more responding in that sense to the upstream posters who were implying that a mouse is a sign of the general grossness, but (confusingly, I realize) technically responding to you because I wanted to agree with your general assessment of the store. But mice aren't always a sign of lack of cleanliness. I have a very clean home and 4 cats, and I still have mice, periodically, because mice are very good at finding comfortable environmental niches and making a home there.

I guess what I'm saying is:

1. You (splatterhouse) are entirely right about the store; people shouldn't shop there, but
2. Contrary to some of the implications made upstream, a mouse in urban store is not inherently a sign of lack of sanitation.

Re: Ugh!

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

One mouse is cute...

But FORTY mice is AWESOME.

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

Mmm...sorry about #2, but it is. Would you say the same if it were a restaurant? They have food all over the place, and the vast majority somehow manage to fight off the rodent hordes.

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Yes, an important point, because someday someone is going to see a mouse in an establishment that is respectable, but happens to have a mouse for whatever reason, and a little bit of internet message boarding could be dangerous for that business owner's livelihood. But making this point not meant to be a counterpoint to comments about this store being poorly run or necessarily relating to the posts in this thread too much.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

he recently redid the floor and put in foot tall metal sheeting all around the floor, which cuts off the mouse access (he showed me it when I went in to let him know what I'd seen). The mouse I saw went behind the slatwall up near the top. So he's done some cutting back on the access, though obviously not enough.

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

I don't shop there, but I will say that the owner (bearded guy who smokes) knows his shit about reptiles and helped me out of a couple of issues that I was having with my picky ground boa. He also helped hook me up with a really good breeder when I had to move and couldn't take him with me.

What astounds me is that he knows the right way to care for exotics, then turns around and does exactly the opposite. (Right down to live-feeding with rats, who even does that anymore??)

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

I want him to use the brain in his head. >:( It makes it even more egregious in my eyes to know that what you're doing is wrong and hurtful but doing it anyway. He's got personal ties with NERD, obviously there are plenty of resources for him to call on.

Basically, I'm thankful for the conundrums he's solved for me in the past, but yeah, he's not getting any of my money.

[ron_newman]

what's 'NERD' in this context?

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

New England Reptile Distributors! (http://www.newenglandreptile.com/)

[ron_newman]

Thanks! I figured it wasn't this but didn't know what it was.

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

It's also an accurate descriptor for most people interested in reptile husbandry. :B

[marylu.livejournal.com]

That guy is too cracked out 90% of the time to take care of himself, never mind a store full of animals.

[lovefourpaws.livejournal.com]

I went in there once about 2 years ago to buy a water bowl for one of my rabbits (both bunnies are now lovingly cared for by their new adoptive families), and was horrified to see so many neglected animals. I'm glad people have alerted the MSPCA, but I cannot believe the level of care is actually considered "acceptable." I wonder how acceptable the creator of these care guidelines would find the store after spending several weeks (or just an hour) in one of the dirty, cramped cages lining the walls.

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

Paging Dr. Gall...