Ice Ice Micey

Before the Christmas mice can take their places in our museums, they must first spend a couple of weeks in the freezer at -25°C to make sure they haven’t picked up any pests since the previous year.

They are then removed and left to defrost for a couple of days, and then inspected for any pest evidence. If any more pest evidence is found they would be returned to the freezer for another 2 week burst. If none is found, the spraying can commence!

The mice are all made of natural fibres including wool and cotton which are very tasty to museum pests such as carpet beetle and clothes moths. To cut down on the chances of these mice falling victim to the pests, we spray them with an insecticide called Constrain. This is widely used in museums for the control of flying and crawling pests. It is a water based insecticide, with the active ingredient Permethrin, which sticks to the surface of what you are treating and stays behind when the water evaporates without leaving an obvious residue. This is widely used in museums and galleries. The mice are sprayed on all sides – see custom made bucket to contain the spray – and left to dry under extraction for at least 24-48 hours, before they are ready to be showcased.