Rodents in parliament

Oops! Who’s scurrying through the House?

The little rodent has chosen a time-honored home ...(Bild: zVg, Krone KREATIV)

When the MPs are out of the house, the mice dance: as in most offices, the corridors in the House tend to be deserted over the holidays. And this quiet apparently lured one or two small inhabitants out of the time-honored walls ... 

"Rescued a little parliament visitor today," announced SPÖ parliamentary group chairman Philip Kucher on Instagram - and shared a video of a mouse scurrying swiftly through the parliament corridors. Instead of an alarm of disgust, there was a lot of sympathy for the little rodent on social media. Kucher also took the incident in good humor and with a wink: "It's great to see that the renovated parliament appeals to young and old alike."

One or two users recommended that the MP should equip the parliament with a cat in future to prevent similar incidents. "You need a Larry - like in Downing Street."

Where rodents plagued the MPs
Rodents have indeed become a plague in London, not in the Prime Minister's office, but in Parliament. In 2015, there were already calls for cats to be used against mice and rats. However, this idea was never implemented. Instead, the building underwent a general refurbishment.

The German Bundestag is also said to have been plagued by mice. In 2010, traps were set up - also at the turn of the year. There were no pictures or videos at the time: "A report on the mice hunt - that is not compatible with the dignity of this high house. We are still a constitutional body," was the reason given.