Keeping Mice Out with St. Gertrude

Shakespeare’s Hamlet famously contains a play-within-the-play, “The Mousetrap,” which (for some) calls to mind St. Augustine who said the cross of Christ was a mousetrap for the devil.[1]

Ophelia refers to a folktale of a baker’s daughter changed into an owl, punishment for being ungenerous with a beggar (Jesus in disguise). Owls, as I have noted before [2], are living mousetraps.

Shakespeare named Hamlet’s mother perhaps after St. Gertrude of Nivelles (c.628-659), famous for dealing with an infestation of mice in the convent’s larder [3].

I think of Gertrude at this time of year: Each autumn, we have had troubles with mice. We plugged holes, changed our cheap dryer vent years ago to an expensive one ($29-$39 - !) - which we assumed would keep mice out. We put heavy galvanized screen over a fireplace air intake, and checked the attached garage for openings where mice might get from the garage into the house.

No luck.

This fall, our expensive dryer vent cover had long since turned yellow and started to crack (left image). I assumed that if mice ever got in that vent, they would have to open the dryer door in the basement to get into the house, or that they might get toasted by the hot air.

I was wrong. I only discovered this by experiment.

We had a cheap, new dryer vent ($7), and I made a screen cover for it to see if that would stop the mice, cutting and folding some leftover quarter inch galvanized hard screening to form a box to enclose the vent cover, large enough so the flaps could still open.

It worked.

Every night for a few weeks, we had been getting one to three mice in our basement traps, mostly in the laundry room.

After installing the new cover and wire screen cage: None. Zero. 

If I upgrade, it will be to an easily removable cover, to make cleaning the lint easier.[4]

Saints Gertrude and Francis would be glad. No more dead mice in our traps.


NOTES: All references to Hamlet (and other Shakespeare plays) are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/

[1] https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2023/01/13-handles-on-hamlets-mousetrap.html
See FN 5:
[5] For “The Mousetrap,” see 3.2.261 (Folger) or 3.2.232 (Arden).
— Editor Harold Jenkins, in the Arden note for line 232, writes,
“J. Doebler (SQ XXXIII, 161 ff.) discusses the theological symbolism of the mousetrap, as in Augustine’s allusion to the cross of Christ as the mousetrap of the devil, who is trapped by his own corruption. The analogy with Claudius is pertinent;” [...]
— Augustine of Hippo: “The Devil exulted when Christ died, and by that very death of Christ the Devil was overcome: he took food, as it were, from a trap. He gloated over the death as if he were appointed a deputy of death; that in which he rejoiced became a prison for him. The cross of the Lord became a trap for the Devil; the death of the Lord was the food by which he was ensnared. And behold, our Lord Jesus Christ rose again.”
— See Thomas L. McDonald (accessed 1/22/2023): https://weirdcatholic.com/2019/03/25/the-devils-mousetrap-an-image-of-the-annunciation/

[2] See
[2.a.]  Owl & Beggar Lazarus at Baker's Door in Hamlet 4.5 (part 11) - April 27, 2021
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-begggar-lazarus-at-bakers-door-in.html
Also
[2.b.] Part 42: A Living Mousetrap: Ophelia's Owl - April 22, 2024
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/04/part-42-living-mousetrap-ophelias-owl.html
Also
[2.c.]  Part 43: Ophelia's Owl and Hamlet's Mousetrap (cont.) - April 30, 2024
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/04/part-43-ophelias-owl-and-hamlets.html

[3] See Part 37: Sts. Gertrude, pilgrim's lovers, & mousetraps (Interlude D.4) - March 26, 2024
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/03/part-37-sts-gertrude-pilgrims-lovers.html

[4] See
https://www.lowes.com/pd/IMPERIAL-4-in-Dia-Plastic-Louvered-with-Guard-Dryer-Vent-Hood/1002623662
And also lower right image in collage, found at
https://www.hy-c.com/blog/dryer-vent-cover-guide
(the above includes steel or plastic)
And one (less expensive) plastic option:
https://www.menards.com/main/heating-cooling/venting/dryer-bath-venting-vent-kits/dundas-jafine-white-wall-vent-hood-pest-barricade/pbh50wzw/p-1510558371534-c-9502.htm

IMAGES:
Left: Author photo. Also see:
https://store.heartlandnatural.com/Dryer_Vent_p/dry21000-789.htm
and
http://www.cetsolar.com/dryervent.htm

Middle: Author photo. Screen cover, DIY (“do it yourself”).
Louvered dryer exhaust exterior vent: See
https://www.amazon.com/Deflecto-Supurr-Vent-Louvered-HS4W-18/dp/B00R1X7S5Y?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A267G8T74MEHPF

Right, Top:
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/building-supplies/walls-floors-and-ceiling/wall-vents/4111431?store=11393
Right, Bottom:
https://www.hy-c.com/blog/dryer-vent-cover-guide
Also see
https://www.hy-c.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Steel-Dryer-Vent-Exhaust-VentGuard.jpg


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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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