When I was young, my father was able to capture and kill mice that had gotten into our house with relative ease and he had no remorse. When I was young I also had a hamster as a pet and a mouse was sort of the same thing or so I thought at the time. I felt pity for the poor mouse my father had killed, but he did what he had to do and that was the end of it.
I am not a hunter killer, and I have a huge empathy for animals, that being said, I am also not a vegetarian and enjoy my steaks. I don't take my love for animals to that extreme.
When I met my wife and we started to live together she was and still is just like me, in the way we think about animals. So when we found out we had mice in our house it was an easy decision to use humane traps for catching mice. Humane traps have a catch and release system where the mouse goes in but can't get out until you release them when you want.
So for a few months out of the year when it starts to get cold, I take this trap with a mouse in it down my long driveway and across the road to release it. One year I did that long walk every single day for two months straight. That's right, 60 + mice, or was it? It could be that those mice I would walk out every day made it back to the house and I was walking out the same one every so often. I honestly don't know.
I am at the point where I hate the little rodents now, and I don't have any empathy for the little monsters. I don't care if they suffer as long as they are dead and gone from my premises. I totally understand where my father's mind was when he killed mice when I was a boy. I didn't understand then, but I sure get it now. At least now I don't have to wonder if I have caught the same mouse from the day before.
I am still nauseated when I see blood and guts (Some traps do some real damage) but I feel better knowing that's one less mouse I don't have to deal with ever again. My wife still has empathy but she is slowly coming around to the dark side and it is only a matter of time before she crosses over and joins me.
Scott Goerz
