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Eek! A mouse - and silverfish - at Boston University

By adamg on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 11:45am

The Daily Free Press reports on the gnawing problem of mice in Boston University's main library, quotes one student as saying her friends were so freaked out they "had to stand on their chairs" when a mouse ran by, but quotes another as saying, eh, she's been desensitized because "she lives in Warren Towers, which she said has silverfish."

Neighborhoods: 
Fenway
Free tagging: 
mice
students
Boston University


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Comments

By SwirlyGrrl on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 11:54am.

Now they will be ready when they get their first Allston apartment and encounter the local ROUS.

By jmeltzer on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 12:26pm.

or the mice?

By Kaz on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 1:33pm.

I don't think they exist.

By SwirlyGrrl on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 3:02pm.

I saw a recent conference presentation from an NYC based group

They were trapping and testing rats for leptospirosis. Their table of rat weights had several weight classes, and 3 rats in the row labeled "ROUS" because the rats were heavier than the scale range could measure.

QED!

By Ron Newman on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 11:58am.

though not in libraries.

By jmeltzer on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 12:27pm.

The infinite mouse.

By mg on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 1:16pm.

Decades ago, I had a part-time programming gig at Tufts. The guy I was working under told me that if I saw brown rodents they were "town mice", but white ones were escaped lab "gown mice".

By Kaz on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 1:42pm.

Yes, albino/white mice *probably* came from a lab/escapee. They're used because they are grown from a lineage that has basically zero immune system so it can't interfere with whatever experimentation is being done.

But one of the most common strains of lab mouse is dark brown. So, unfortunately you can't necessarily assume a brown mouse is a town mouse.

By mg on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 4:40pm.

The person who made the comment worked in that building and knew which strains of mice were being used for psych lab experiments. He wasn't making a generalization about all mice everywhere or even all mice at Tufts, just those in that one building, which I'm sure he knew better than you do.

By Kaz on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 7:40pm.

I used to own all the mice at Tufts. I just lent them to the researchers when they needed them but they were still mine so I know all of the mice that were there at the time. By name.

They were all named Miki.

By BostonDog on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 2:06pm.

I'll never forget the time when I was 10 and mistakenly walk into my parents bedroom only to find a silverfish on the wall.

I still can't get that image out of my head.

/s

By FakeBostonCharlie on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 3:33pm.

A critter guaranteed to freak out most people unfamiliar with them. I leave them strictly alone because they are harmless to people and effective predators on other creepy-crawlies.

By coffeeweasel on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 5:46pm.

House centipedes are welcome to do their thing outdoors, or in the basement. The huge one that came out of the tub overflow while I was in the shower was completely uncalled for.