i just knew it was a demandable lie when i first heard about it, next thing you know they'll be tellin us raccoon are humping Dogs!
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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| MSM Lies, Mouse Dies (not) |
| 2006-01-11 |
| FORT SUMNER, N.M. -- A small -town rumor that sparked world -wide interest about a mouse burning down a house has been found to be untrue. After 81-year-old Chano Mares's house burned down Saturday in Fort Sumner, news services picked up the quirky story. "Flaming Mouse Burns Down House" read the headline over an Associated Press story that appeared on WSBTV.com, for example. According to the initial report, Mares threw the critter in a pile of burning leaves near his home, but it ran back to the house on fire. A local firefighter said the mouse ran to just beneath a window and the flames spread up the window and throughout the house. All contents of the home were destroyed, but no one was injured. Interest in fires has been high lately. Unseasonably dry and windy conditions have charred more than 53,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes in southeastern New Mexico in recent weeks. The mouse story, however, has been doused by Mares. "It's really humorous more than anything that a mouse burned down the house," he told KOAT-TV in Albuquerque. The mouse was dead when it hit the burning leaves. Mares said he trapped and killed the critter and tossed it on the fire. The flames, he said, probably reached his house because they were driven by high winds. Capt. Jim Lyssy of the Fort Sumner Fire Department said the rumor probably got started because there was "a little too much excitement" at the time of the fire. Mares lost everything -- and has no insurance -- but the mouse story still makes him smile. "I started laughing, and I'll be laughing from now on," he said. "It's silly." |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #8 42. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-01-11 19:08 |
| #7 I too, welcome our mousee overlords! Are they white? And is the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything an integer .... ??? (Hitchhiker's reference) |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-01-11 16:17 |
| #6 It is an urban legend; one of the oldest. Used to involve hilbillys tying a stick of dynamite to a small animal in the desert, who promptly takes cover under one of the hilbilly's brand new dualie pickup truck. As soon as I heard this story, the BS detector went off. |
| Posted by: Mark E. 2006-01-11 16:07 |
| #5 I too, welcome our mousee overlords! |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-01-11 15:29 |
| #4 There is something glarinly missing from this story. According to the initial report, Mares threw the critter in a pile of burning leaves near his home, but it ran back to the house on fire. A local firefighter said the mouse ran to just beneath a window and the flames spread up the window and throughout the house. All contents of the home were destroyed, but no one was injured. Sooo... did a local firefighter tell the reporter this and he was mistaken, or did the reporter just make it up? Enquiring minds... |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-01-11 15:03 |
| #3 Didn't you know, that's where coon dogs come from. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-01-11 15:00 |
| #2 RD That picture is WRONG WRONG WRONG and I have coffee all over my keyboard! |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2006-01-11 13:06 |
| #1 MSM Lies, Mouse Dies (not) i just knew it was a demandable lie when i first heard about it, next thing you know they'll be tellin us raccoon are humping Dogs! |
| Posted by: RD 2006-01-11 11:58 |