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Nextdoor Wars: The case of the manually migrated mouse
University Heights and the school of nature
Thanks a lot, mister: now there's a mouse by my house!
University Heights has always been something of an odd duck. For one thing, there's no university there. There never was. Instead, there was a wild rush of land speculation, leading to the Bust of 1893, which ensured that the university in question remained purely speculative.
But maybe duck is the wrong sort of bird here. Before the days of avocado toast and craft beer, this little slice of San Diego was home to some truly unusual attractions. In 1905, locals flocked to the Ostrich Race Track, where giant birds strutted, sprinted, and locals were encouraged to ride them like horses. Yes, ostrich jockeying was a thing: San Diego’s earliest extreme sport.
Meanwhile, the Trolley to Nowhere was built to ferry visitors up Park Blvd to see the ostriches and the Mission Cliff Gardens (1898), a cliffside paradise filled with exotic plants, bandstands, and gazebos for picnicking and flirting. but after the ostriches retired, the trolley ended, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, earning the nickname “the streetcar to the cliffs and nothing else.” Fast forward a few decades, and University Heights became a patchwork of Craftsman bungalows, Spanish Revival homes, and mid-century apartments.
So that's the setting for today's drama, wherein one brave resident named Sarah took to Nextdoor after discovering someone had walked past two private property signs, up a steep hill, through cactus, and onto a utility easement, just to release a trapped mouse next to her home.
The original post
Wrote Sarah: “If you are the individual who came up on private property to dump a live mouse out of a trap next to my house, you suck. What you did is illegal and extremely un-neighborly.”
The wee timorous beastie in question.
Comments/Observations
Robyn Harris was bothered that Sarah was bothered. “Give me a break! Like a mouse released onto your property is any different than any mouse wandering around might wind up on your property.”
But Sarah was not placated. Human agency was involved. “They are incredibly different… Trespassing, steep hill, cactus tangle… This is illegal and cruel.” After all, a snake might somehow slither into your home and bite you in your sleep, and that would be unfortunate. But if someone were to lure the snake into your quarters a la The Speckled Band, well, that would be criminal.
David Voth noted that nature is red and tooth and claw, but people are sometimes...not. “Some people are either too cowardly to kill a mouse, or too lazy to walk to a nearby canyon. In my home, the cat makes the rules about mice.” The charge of laziness seems strange, however, given the arduous journey the Mouse Man took to deposit his charge.
Autumn Coley piped in, echoing the idea that the animal kingdom proposes solutions that the City of Man might not consider: “Baby rat! My cat loves to bring them in through our doggie door and play pickleball with them at night.”
Finally, Margaret F said.: “Maybe he thought he was giving the mouse a great place to thrive… but yeah, it’s odd.” I disagree. I am fairly certain that the best place for any vermin to thrive is in someone else's yard.
Curious to hear more? Check out our podcast, San Diego Shade!
Here's something you might be interested in.
Nextdoor Wars: The case of the manually migrated mouse
University Heights and the school of nature
Nextdoor Wars: The case of the manually migrated mouse
University Heights and the school of nature
Thanks a lot, mister: now there's a mouse by my house!
University Heights has always been something of an odd duck. For one thing, there's no university there. There never was. Instead, there was a wild rush of land speculation, leading to the Bust of 1893, which ensured that the university in question remained purely speculative.
But maybe duck is the wrong sort of bird here. Before the days of avocado toast and craft beer, this little slice of San Diego was home to some truly unusual attractions. In 1905, locals flocked to the Ostrich Race Track, where giant birds strutted, sprinted, and locals were encouraged to ride them like horses. Yes, ostrich jockeying was a thing: San Diego’s earliest extreme sport.
Meanwhile, the Trolley to Nowhere was built to ferry visitors up Park Blvd to see the ostriches and the Mission Cliff Gardens (1898), a cliffside paradise filled with exotic plants, bandstands, and gazebos for picnicking and flirting. but after the ostriches retired, the trolley ended, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, earning the nickname “the streetcar to the cliffs and nothing else.” Fast forward a few decades, and University Heights became a patchwork of Craftsman bungalows, Spanish Revival homes, and mid-century apartments.
So that's the setting for today's drama, wherein one brave resident named Sarah took to Nextdoor after discovering someone had walked past two private property signs, up a steep hill, through cactus, and onto a utility easement, just to release a trapped mouse next to her home.
The original post
Wrote Sarah: “If you are the individual who came up on private property to dump a live mouse out of a trap next to my house, you suck. What you did is illegal and extremely un-neighborly.”
The wee timorous beastie in question.
Comments/Observations
Robyn Harris was bothered that Sarah was bothered. “Give me a break! Like a mouse released onto your property is any different than any mouse wandering around might wind up on your property.”
But Sarah was not placated. Human agency was involved. “They are incredibly different… Trespassing, steep hill, cactus tangle… This is illegal and cruel.” After all, a snake might somehow slither into your home and bite you in your sleep, and that would be unfortunate. But if someone were to lure the snake into your quarters a la The Speckled Band, well, that would be criminal.
David Voth noted that nature is red and tooth and claw, but people are sometimes...not. “Some people are either too cowardly to kill a mouse, or too lazy to walk to a nearby canyon. In my home, the cat makes the rules about mice.” The charge of laziness seems strange, however, given the arduous journey the Mouse Man took to deposit his charge.
Autumn Coley piped in, echoing the idea that the animal kingdom proposes solutions that the City of Man might not consider: “Baby rat! My cat loves to bring them in through our doggie door and play pickleball with them at night.”
Finally, Margaret F said.: “Maybe he thought he was giving the mouse a great place to thrive… but yeah, it’s odd.” I disagree. I am fairly certain that the best place for any vermin to thrive is in someone else's yard.
Curious to hear more? Check out our podcast, San Diego Shade!
Comments