The Poison-Proof Mice

Once upon a time—not so very long ago—a certain building became infested with mice. The people in charge decided to eliminate them.

One night, they laid out poisoned bait. But by morning, the poison had vanished—eaten entirely.

"We'll try a different poison," they declared. A second lethal dose was prepared. Yet again, the mice devoured it eagerly, leaving behind clear signs that they were not just surviving, but thriving on their toxic new diet.

Undeterred, the building's caretakers switched tactics. They set old-fashioned, spring-loaded mousetraps, baiting them with succulent cheese to lure the poison-resistant rodents. But the mice ignored the cheese entirely.

Then, one inventive exterminator had a revelation. "Perhaps these mice have developed a taste for poison," he mused. "It might even be nourishing them!" Acting on this theory, he thickly coated the trap's cheese with poison.

That evening, they deployed the new traps. By dawn, every spring-loaded device held not dead mice—but robust, healthy specimens, seemingly stronger than before.