Walking back to the village of Sobphouan after finishing the rattan inventory training (see Thin Red Line), I met up with this gentleman who was heading out to his field carrying a bundle of long sticks topped with bamboo tubes. I asked Bansa Thammavong, who I was walking with, what these were and he replied, somewhat incredulous that I had never seen such things, that they were mouse traps. [NOTE: Beautiful, handcrafted tools for pest control, but I don't really understand how they work. Anybody?]