After the flood, Yen Thanh people flocked to hunt field mice.
After the flood, many people in Yen Thanh district went to the fields to hunt for the "specialty" field mice, both to improve family meals or to sell for extra income.
According to the reporter, on September 25, in the fields of Bac Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, a group of people were digging the ground to catch rats on a high mound. Mr. Tran Minh Chien in Bac Thanh commune was digging the ground to catch rats and said: After the recent flood, the water in the fields rose, the rats had to find their way to the banks of the fields and high mounds to dig holes to hide, this is also a favorable time to catch rats. We observed that after "detecting" the hiding holes of rats, 3 people used hoes and shovels to dig the nooks and crannies, sometimes only needing to dig 20-30 cm deep to catch them.
But there were also mice that refused to come out. After digging, water was poured into the hole or straw was burned to smoke it out. The mice were so suffocated that they ran out and the group of people were just waiting to "catch" them and put them in sacks. Every time the mice ran out of the hole, the group of people chased them, which was quite funny.
Mr. Tran Minh Chien added: Every day the group "hunts" for mice and gets about 15-20 kg, with a selling price of 70,000-80,000 VND/kg, mainly sold to mouse purchasing facilities in Duc Thanh commune, which means each day they earn about 300,000-500,000 VND/person from catching mice.
In addition to hunting rats by digging holes, at this time, in all the fields in Yen Thanh district, there are many groups "hunting" rats with clamp traps. Every evening, they "spread" clamp traps all over the fields. The clamp traps are semicircular, consisting of 2 iron rings tightly attached together by a spring with great rebound at the bottom edge. When rats get caught in the trap, they are often clamped around the neck.
Mr. Tran Van Luyen - a rat hunter in Duc Thanh commune said: Each time he spreads hundreds of rat traps across the fields, every hour or so he goes to "visit" the traps, and puts any that are caught in a sack. Generally, during the rainy season, catching rats can also bring in income.
A facility specializing in purchasing rats in Duc Thanh commune, Yen Thanh added: Every day, they collect 3-4 quintals of rats from all over Yen Thanh district, purchasing them at an average price of 80,000 VND/kg, after processing they sell them for 100,000 VND/kg. The market mainly sells them to shops in the district and imports them to the markets of the northern provinces.
Many people also hunt rats for fun, to improve their food supply during the rainy season. The caught rats are cooked into many dishes such as salt-fried rats, boiled rats pressed with lemon leaves, and stir-fried rats with lemongrass and chili.
Field mouse hunting also has many benefits, helping workers in Yen Thanh district earn extra income during the off-season, while also helping protect crops. This type of mouse lives in the fields and has different characteristics from house mice. Their shape is quite similar to that of house mice, but they have a strong body, a short, furry tail, a slightly round head, small eyes and ears, and high molars with sharp, less rounded tips.
