Ever wonder how people did pest control way back in the day? Specifically how they got rid of rats and mice? Well mozy on up the road to Norris to check out a pretty robust collection of turn of the century and centuries old mousetraps.
You may think of Norris Dam State park as a beautiful place to enjoy the outdoors. It also features an indoor attraction: the Lenoir Museum.
All the things at the Lenoir Museum in Norris were collected over about 60 years by Will G. and Helen Lenoir.
“That was there hobby. That’s what they did,” Michael Mlejodaj explained.
He said they donated it to the state to build the museum, which now includes more than 5,000 interesting artifacts. Some of them are mousetraps.
“There’s quite a variety of different ways to get rid of rodents,” he said.
Some are more gentle than others.
“This is a humane trap. This doesn’t kill them. You can let them out the next day,” he said.
Then there’s the Orchard Mouse Destroyer.
He demonstrate, “You would put some water and some kind of poison in there and then the rat or the mouse would just go in there and take a little drink and fall into the water.”
And meet its demise.
You can see the mousetrap collection and much more at the Lenoir Museum in Norris.