Build a Better Mousetrap, or Catch Me if You Can

[sobota]

I teach French and on the final day of classes before spring holidays, I showed my students a Belgian film called Ernest et Célestine, which in simple terms is about a bear (Ernest) and a mouse (Célestine) who become friends. It's a well-drawn animated film. My students had never heard of it but they mostly enjoyed it. Some of them had trouble suspending disbelief.

My favourite scene is when Célestine moves into Ernest's house. Ernest is none too pleased with the idea but Célestine has run out of options. She asks 'Well, how will you get rid of me? Can't kill me with a broom, I'm too fast. You could try with a regular old mouse trap, but that's difficult because it's been around for decades and we already know how to work around that..."

I like mice. I don't like killing them. I like mice winning against all odds. At my farm in England we had four mousing cats that would bring me mice every morning, and sometimes shrews. They were mostly disembowelled and unrecognisable.

And then I realised, that the best mouse trap, even after all these centuries...is a cat.

Sorry mice. Looks like you won't win all of them.

Comments

[az-starshine.livejournal.com]

This is cute. And yes, the best mousetrap is a cat. I remember after getting married the first time, my now ex-husband and I were honeymooning at our family's lake cabin when a mouse came out of nowhere. Most people probably would have started shrieking and carrying on about there being a mouse, but "Cinderella" is one of my favorite Disney movies. You can take it from there. I didn't want him to create havoc and invite his friends, so we did have to do away with him. :( I, like you though, like the idea of mice winning at all odds.