Humane Mousetrap Society

Extract from the book – 40 Strange Groups

To be accepted into this elite group, prospective entrants must demonstrate they’ve invented a mousetrap that no one else has thought of. The trap must not kill the mouse, so bringing your hungry pet cat to the entrance exam won’t work. Would-be members have one hour to show their trap will work in an area 16-feet square, inhabited by three mice who have not been starved. Variations on rustling paper and plastic bags in a larger bin bag will no longer be accepted.

Members-only competitions are held every three months, where a prize of 500 pounds will be awarded to the person whose trap catches the most mice in a period of three hours. Mice captured more than four times in any calendar year are deemed to have become institutionalised and will be released back into the wild in a British National Park, normally Snowdonia or the North Yorkshire Moors.

Published by Julian Worker

Julian was born in Leicester, attended school in Yorkshire, and university in Liverpool. He has been to 94 countries and territories and intends to make the 100 when travel is easier. He writes travel books, murder / mysteries and absurd fiction. His sense of humour is distilled from The Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and Midsomer Murders. His latest book is about a Buddhist cat who tries to help his squirrel friend fly further from a children's slide.

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