How to Mouse-Proof Your Cheese, 1649
Edward Topsell, The History of Four-Footed Beasts (1658)
How to make a Receit, that neither Rat nor Mouse shall eat or gnaw of your Cheese. The Weasel, the Rat, and Mouse, are at such deadly hatred one with the other, as that, if you put the brain of a Weasel into the Rennets or Curds whereof you intend to make your Cheese, neither Rats nor Mice will ever come to taste or eat thereof.
Thomas Hill, Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions
With this clever recipe, your cheese will finally be safe from the gnawing of vermin. Wait until after the cheese course, though, to tell your dinner guests the secret of your wondrous weasel cheese.
To be fair, since rennet of the time period referenced was sourced from the lining of a cow's stomach, weasel brains aren't too disgusting of a stretch!
What makes this extra awesome is that the woodblock used to print the mouse above shows signs of wormholes (those little white discs where the block didn't ink properly). The mouse itself has already been gnawed on!
I see that the book is entitled "Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions." If this is a sample of natural, I would hate to see his artificial ones...
Vermin vs. vermin!