Can you identify this animal ?
When
watching the greatest of animated cartoons – Tom and Jerry – people relish the
never ending rivalry of Cat and Mouse often involving comic violence. Often people support and enjoy Tom
(the aggressor) getting into trouble whilst chasing Jerry. But in real life, for most cats
are good companions, most sought after pets. They also are effective rodent and
pest control solutions. Even
in city (not to speak o the suburbs) there is the problem of rodents – mice,
rats, squirrels, birds and even monkeys, sometimes. Then there are lizards, cockroaches,
ants and other insects –
all living inside the house and spoiling many things.
This
post is not about the menace at home ! - all about the menace in transportation
(marine insurance related !!)
Indian
Railways is an amazing cluster of network expanding throughout the length and
breadth of the country – the Bharatiya Rail has 113617 kilometers of track and
7083 stations. 30 million
passengers reportedly are
carried everyday. There is
so much into it – tracks, railway wagons, rail engines, technicians, ticket
checkers and more…… Quite
uncharitably, people deride the system for the late running and for the not so
comfortable one might get often due to various factors.
One of
the causes of train delay is point failure - Point is nothing but switches –
mechanical installations enabling trains to be guided from on track to another. One of the causes of point failure is
rodents on tracks. A point failure takes place when some object gets stuck
in between the track of meeting of the stock rail (the main track) and tongue
rail. The tongue rail determines the direction of a train, and can be seen at
cross-over points where trains switch tracks. Stones
could come in between the tracks, plastic bottles and sometimes rodents also
get struck.
When
one travels – there could lot of discomfort as some compartments are infested
with cockroaches and rats. In
the air conditioned coaches, this is a big menace. Rats and cockroaches are a common
sight on suburban as well as long-distance trains. Some say that the main source of
rats is suspected to be the pantry car. Pest control happens at yards and
trains are also cleaned after each trip; still rodents are there – perhaps
entraining enroute ! some
make tiger out of rats, scream and complain – some endure when there is no cure. Trains are maintained at two points, primary being the
originating station where rake goes for a thorough cleaning and secondary being
the destination where again the train is put to normal cleaning.
Now there is news (BBC) that this is not peculiar to
Railways alone, but a Nepal
Airlines Boeing 757 was grounded at Hong Kong 's
airport after a mouse was seen in the cockpit. The passengers had to stay back in hotels as
efforts continued to trap the stowaway rodent. Sources quoting the Nepal Airlines
General Manager stated that the plane would have to
remain in Hong
Kong until
the mouse was caught, as the mouse was perceived as a potential safety risk. They said that it was capable of chewing the
aircraft's cables and could unsettle some passengers. The incident is the second
embarrassment for the Nepalese airline this week, after the same plane was
reportedly grounded for more than 11 hours at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport - also
because of a mouse.
This is not entirely unique as a similar incident
reportedly occurred at Stockholm ,
when a mouse on board an SAS Airbus meant that 250 passengers were left
stranded. Much earlier, two Delta Airlines flights from New
York to London were cancelled in
November 2009 after mouse sightings. At Stockholm ,
the creature evaded capture despite extensive search and numerous mouse traps
were reportedly placed. The
aircraft being a large one, getting a replacement was difficult.
On yet another occasion, more than 100 passengers on a
Saudi plane were left panic-stricken by the unexpected appearance of furry
fellow flyers - dozens of mice. The
small rodents - about 80 in total, according to a local newspaper - escaped
from the bag of a man travelling on the domestic flight. An airline official
said the aircraft was at 28,000 feet (8,500m) when mice began scurrying around
the cabin. The incident occurred on a Saudi
Arabian Airlines flight from the capital, Riyadh ,
to north-eastern town of Tabuk . The flight landed safely and the bag's
owner was detained by police investigating how he managed to get the mice onto
the plane. No explanation
was available for the man'
live cargo.
The one at the start is the domesticated mammal – Ferret. In UK and some other Countries they
are used for ridding barns of rodents and for flushing rabbits from their
dens. In US, they are lovable house
pets. Ferrets are extremely smart and
can be taught to do many tricks similar to dogs.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar .
PS : Made on 13th Sept 2011 and posted on blog now.......
PS : Made on 13th Sept 2011 and posted on blog now.......
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