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年俗裡，初三是老鼠娶親的日子。
為什麼老鼠嫁女兒這麼重要？ 能成了流傳長久的民俗。其實裡面暗藏玄機，驚險萬分。
你以為是習俗中今天早睡是要人們好心要把房子讓出來給老鼠辦喜事嗎？ 錯！錯！錯！
自古老鼠是人類的敵人，成群結隊偷糧米，到處咬齧家具、衣物，甚至傳播鼠疫，危害極大。
古代科技和醫藥不發達，人們對老鼠束手無策。懼怕老鼠的人們，設法捕殺老鼠，在心理上，採取“媚鼠法”，也因此產生了祀鼠民俗——老鼠嫁女。
老鼠娶親、老鼠嫁女的故事有許多版本，但都表達了民眾根絕鼠患的願望；之所以採用「遣嫁」方式，是因為鼠患充滿畏懼，於是以提供食物、熄燈禁光等迎合鼠類習性喜好的獻媚行為來掩飾真實目的，這是一種在矛盾心態中的趨利避害的選擇。而且，民間俗信中為鼠類繁殖的高峰季節，送鼠出嫁，意味著送鼠「自家而出」，從人們的心理來看，可達到杜絕鼠患的目的。
另有一版本，是設法將老鼠女兒嫁給大黃貓，（唉！真是不安好心啊！）人們早早去睡、燈關掉、再撒些食物，引誘出浩浩蕩蕩的老鼠送親隊伍，只是殊不知。。。等在那頭的是大黃貓。
身為現代鼠患防治專業者，發現這古老傳說的道理。的確，春天是老鼠繁殖的季節， 如果不在一開始就採取主動措施， 你絕對無法想像，一年後老鼠的數量。
老鼠的生物特性、活動範圍大、繁殖速度快，又有學習能力，使得鼠患防治的確是專業的挑戰。降低老鼠的警戒是防治的重要思維，看來老祖宗們早就知道了。
今晚，你可以早點睡、早關燈、撒些食物，別叨擾了老鼠女兒的大喜日子！ 期待她嫁出去後， 離你遠去。
今晚，你也可以早點睡、早關燈、撒些食物，送隻大黃貓來接手這些老鼠！
The story behind the Chinese New Year Tale: Mouse Wedding
In the old days, the third day of Chinese New Year was the day when the father mice would marry off his daughter . On this day, people should go to bed earlier, turn off all the lights and put out some food for the mice in the family. It's a strange custom, isn’t it?
Why did such a tale become a folk custom that has been circulating for a long time in Chinese culture? The truth behind the story is nothing like what you might think.
In the old days, rats were the enemies of human beings, Squadrons of rats would smash grain and rice, chew on furniture and clothes, and spread plague, which was extremely deadly to mankind. Since science, technology and medicine were underdeveloped in these days, people were terrified about the rodents, and wanted them to be killed.
They came up with a way to get rid of the mice by charming these mice and then getting rid of them. This has resulted in the folk custom of the Mole the mouse married.
Another version of the story had the daughter mouse being married off to a big yellow cat. People lured the mouse out of its nest with food, ate light, and had the big yellow cat waiting in the dark.
There are many versions of the story of rats and mice, but they all show the desire of the people to drive away rodents from their living and working environment.
As rodent control professionals in modern times, we found some good thoughts in this old tale. Spring is a season for rodents to breed. If no drastic measures are taken in this time of the year, rodents will soon take over the building. Also, since the rodent is smarter than we would like, baiting and luring have been common strategies used until now.
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