Mouse Rounds

As we settle into the winter season at Scott Base, we’ve started to share some of the housekeeping tasks with the Scott Base staff. One of these is the Mouse Rounds, undertaken each evening by a different person, on a two-weekly rotation. The rounds are done to check all around the base, inside and out, that doors are closed, lights switched off, fuel is safely stored, outside vehicles are plugged in, doors are cleared of snow and machinery is running as it should. The rounds take about an hour to complete, depending on the weather and daily situation. The mouse is also in charge of all daily radio contact between Scott Base and personnel who have left the base for any reason, and on checking that people who have signed out are back when they said they should be. At 11pm, after completing the rounds and doing some final clearing up, the mouse hands over all comms to the McMurdo Fire House until 7am the next morning.