Bar busted for running mouse races
By Mary Wisniewski/REUTERS
DES MOINES, Iowa - The owner of a tavern in a small town in the state of Iowa who said he ran mouse races on Sundays for fun, was cited by local police for allowing patrons to bet on the rodent running.
“It’s a blast,” said Scott Beach, 49, who ran the mouse races at the Bucktail Lodge in Danville. “The state’s taking the fun out of it.”
Bar patrons pick a mouse for a dollar, and whoever picks the winning mouse gets the payout, Scott Beach explained. He said the tavern made no money out of the betting.
The mice run on an eight-foot-long (2.4 meter) flat track, with each mouse racing in its own lane. Asked if he needed to put cheese at the end of the run to tempt the mice forward, Beach said, “No, they’re in their cages all day. They’re ready to run.”
He said he plays racing music for the mice, like “Wipe Out,” “Rawhide,” or George Jones’ “The Race is On.”
The Beaches held the mouse races for about two years, and then suspended them after most of the mice died. The deaths were not racing-related. The mice were accidentally left in the sun too long. The races were restarted with new mice about two and a half months ago, Beach said.
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I’m not going to go all PETA on this because I couldn’t give a mouse’s ass if mice are being mistreated but who would want to watch a bunch of mice run around a bar anyway.
How am I supposed to eat chicken wings and drink tap beer at a place that has vermin running loose around the joint? I’m by no means a germaphobe and the idea of it makes me want to gag.
I do have to give it to Beach for playing “The Race is On” though, that’s a great song choice. I would have also gone with “The Distance” by Cake or the Speed Racer theme.
P.S, - Maybe I’m wrong about this. I did think it was really funny when Peter Griffin played Gladiator Mice.
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