I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 32: The War Between Man and Mice (Part )

Luke returned to the cabin angrily. Ryan, hearing the noise, raised his head nervously:

"Master, has something happened?"

There are many unknown dangers in the mountains and forests. Ryan thought of many bad things and sat up unconsciously.

"There's a rat plague!"

Luc was still angry, so he picked up the grease lamp and prepared to take a look around the house.

Since rats have attracted the cellar, there might be rat holes in the wooden house as well.

"Rat plague?"

Ryan was stunned for a moment, then his face turned ugly. No one would like such a dirty and disgusting creature as a rat.

They destroy crops, gnaw on stored grains, and squeak in your ears at night. Especially since Ryan is a carpenter, the teeth-gritting mice will also gnaw on the furniture that you have worked so hard to make. He has lost a lot of money because of this.

While Luc was telling Ryan what he saw in the cellar, he looked around the cabin carefully, especially the corners, and felt a little relieved.

The residence was not damaged for the time being.
"It must be our food that attracted these disgusting guys!"

Ryan was indignant. The mice didn't come earlier or later, but just came during the winter to take away the food that had been collected with great difficulty. No wonder they were called despicable thieves!
"I think that's the reason."

Luc's face was solemn. At first, he was really scared by the huge rat, but when he thought about it carefully, the weather was getting colder, and his place in the forest where it was warm and had food was indeed likely to attract rats.

"We must find a way to get rid of them!"

The number of rats in that nest may not seem large, but if they are not controlled, once they become a large group, it will become a disaster.

By then, not only the stored grain could not be preserved, but also the wheat in the fields, and even the wooden houses could not be lived in, and people would be forced to migrate.

Luc looked back at the snow in the forest, but unfortunately he couldn't leave the mountain to find help.
Foreign aid is nothing but cats.

At this time, cats were far from being condemned and regarded as demons by everyone in the future. They were still in an inconspicuous domestic position and were only used to hunt mice.

Even many monks in monasteries still keep white cats to guard the monastery's food.

"By the way, Ryan, do you know how much it costs to buy a cat?"

"cat?"

"let me see"

Ryan stroked his chin, lost in reminiscence. "To be honest, sir, I haven't seen many cats, but when I was in Provence, a traveler who claimed to be from the Kingdom of De Hubas, England, passed by my village. He seemed to have said that in his kingdom, a newborn kitten costs one pfennig, a kitten that can catch mice costs two pfennigs, and a kitten that is an expert at catching mice costs four pfennigs."

"It's not very expensive. I might consider buying a few next year."

“It’s not expensive, but cats are rare.”

"During my time in Cooper Castle, I only heard that someone in a monastery to the west kept cats. But as you know, sir, it's difficult to buy anything from the monastery. In other words, it costs a lot of money."

"As long as the price is not too high, I'd buy one if I can."

Because there is really no better way to fight mice than using cats
What is the real difficulty in controlling rat infestation?

Are rats cunning and hard to catch? Or are they just too numerous?
Actually neither.

The real difficulty in controlling rat infestation is that you can never completely control rats. No matter what method you use, whether setting traps or using drugs or poisons, rats will never be killed, especially in mountain villages. If you focus on fighting rats, then congratulations, you will probably still be fighting wits and courage with rats until the day you die.
So this task must be handed over to creatures like cats, allowing them to free themselves.

He looked down at little Charlie and said, "Well, dogs can actually catch mice. It's just that little Charlie is too big now and can't move around in the cellar."

However, since there was no cat at the moment, Luc could only find a way to get rid of the rats by himself. First, Luc decided to move all the food out of the cellar and count it.

We can't let the rats continue to gnaw on it!
The meat was smoked for half a day to dry it out to prevent the contamination of rats and bacteria. While the soup was being stewed, Luc took little Charlie to open the cellar and transported the food to the open space bit by bit.

Little Charlie's sensitive nose would bark in a certain direction from time to time. Without thinking, Luc threw stones in that direction. Sure enough, every time a mouse would come out and run around, making Luc more annoyed.

Vegetables and meat were piled up in the cellar. When all the food on top was cleared out and only the last layer close to the soil remained, a foul smell came over us:

Rat droppings were scattered all over the ground. Two pieces of dried venison lay incomplete on the ground, covered with jagged teeth marks. Some parts had already rotted, obviously stinking after being soaked in urine, with a few rat hairs stuck on them.

Luke felt both nauseous and annoyed. During the transportation process, he had discovered that some of the surrounding food had been damaged, but it was not serious. After all, neither air-dried meat nor salted meat was good food for mice. The former was too difficult to chew, and the latter had too much salt.

It's just theory, but Luc still felt a little sad about the missing three pieces of air-dried venison. He used a shovel to scoop out the three inedible pieces of venison and threw them away. Even if he couldn't eat them, Luc couldn't leave them for the mice!

Holding a torch, they searched the cellar carefully and found a rat hole in the west corner. The hole entrance was as wide as a fist.

"Little Charlie, look at the hole and kill any mouse that comes out!"

He ordered little Charlie to squat in front of the mouse hole. The hunting dog, which had been trained for several months, understood Luc's order and stared at the hole with bared teeth. As long as the mouse showed its head, it would pounce on it and bite it.

Obviously, little Charlie's ferocious look scared the mouse, and it stayed in the hole obediently and dared not move.

Luc braved the cold wind and found some stones and sticks. The cold wind at night hit his face, making him shiver.

After gathering all the supplies, we went to the river to fetch cold water and mud. These things would not be worth mentioning two months ago, but in this winter when the temperature at night is much lower than during the day, it feels so long.

While the mud was being mixed, little Charlie's cries in the cellar gradually became quieter, and it seemed that he was also frozen.

"Come back, little Charlie!"

After a while, Luc, who had finally finished, returned to the cellar with these things, moved little Charlie's head away, and then stuffed all the sticks and stones into the rat hole.

A large number of stones and sticks were stuffed into the cave. Luc could clearly hear the panicked squeaking of mice in the cave. He casually patted little Charlie on the back, and little Charlie immediately started barking again, and the cave instantly became quiet.

Luc took the opportunity to fill the hole with soil, leaving no gaps. Finally, he moved a huge stone to block the hole. He stood up and clapped his hands, and Luc breathed a sigh of relief.

"It has been contained for the time being."

Yes, after all this effort, it was only temporarily suppressed.
The entrance to the hole was sealed, but the mouse could just dig a new hole to get out. What Luc did was only delaying the mouse's progress.

But that's enough.

It’s not that Luc hasn’t figured out how to deal with the rats, but it’s cold at night, so protecting the food first is the most important thing.

Looking at the food piled up in the yard, it was freezing cold and it would be fine if they left it out in the open air overnight.

Leading little Charlie back to the cabin, Ryan had already climbed out of bed and was cooking the broth that Luc had long forgotten about.

Seeing Luke coming back, Ryan stood up and said, "Master, there's no strange smell in the soup, so this piece of meat shouldn't attract rats. Also, I'm almost recovered from my illness. Let me go rat hunting with you tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)