The Dead Body Under the Sink

I saw an ad today for a “No-See/No-Touch” mousetrap. It basically looks like a giant roach hotel and is designed so you can catch mice, but not have to look at dead mouse bodies. And this concept bothers me.

In our current house, we have gotten rid of at least two dozen mice (with the high point being three mice in one day, December '03) using plain, old-fashioned “snap” traps. Is it unpleasant to dispose of the dead mice? You bet. In fact, I usually make RWT do it because it gives me nightmares. And I don’t even want to get into what happens when a mouse is caught in the trap, but not killed. However, I have no desire to use one of those new “No-See/No-Touch” mousetraps.

I feel that if you are going to kill an animal (for any reason), you should feel bad about it. For me, it is better to look at that dead mouse, feel remorse that it could not continue with its simple short life, and tell it that I am sorry it had to die to make my existence better. With one of those new traps, I could choose to consciously ignore that my actions have killed a living creature. But I shudder to think what my unconscious mind could do with that knowledge...

It would be wonderful to be able to use humane traps and be able to relocate the mice. But to where? If they are dumped immediately outside of the house, they will quickly come back inside. Taking them for a ride to another location is not a good option either, because they’ll then become someone else’s problem. Humane traps are nice in theory, but their practicality is limited in an urban environment.

Ideally, the mice would just stay quietly in the basement walls and not be so destructive (and reproductive). Then we could all live together in harmony. Unfortunately, that is just not going to happen. So we will continue to put a baited snap-trap under the kitchen sink, continue to kill the mice that come to scrounge for goodies in the kitchen trash can and continue to feel bad about it.

I’m sorry little mousie.