The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.
(James A. Garfield)
The question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer? Why should the law refuse its protection to any sensitive being?
(Jeremy Bentham 1789, in An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation)
Recently, after hearing munching noises at night and finding chewed soap bars, we realised there were probably mice in the house.
A few years ago, I would have just bought regular mouse traps, and did exactly that several years ago. I still didn’t feel great about it even the last time, having appreciated mice most of my life. At least we never used anything truly horrible, like glue traps.
We talked about it and agreed that we’d try catch-and-release traps this time.
There were a few false alarms where the door of the trap had closed. They’re on a hair trigger, so quite sensitive to vibration. A couple of traps were “licked clean” of peanut butter bait, failing to catch whatever took the bait.
After almost a week, this morning I found a mouse in a trap that was reset last night.
Given that the door was closed, I donned gloves, picked up the trap, couldn’t tell any difference in weight, but could see something other than the red bait platform through the air holes on the trap door.
Opening the door a small crack confirmed something small and brown, but not moving. I thought it may be dead.
In any case, I left the house, took a short walk down to the park above the river, and opened the trap door close to the ground next to a tree.
Almost immediately, the small beastie ran out of the trap in a bouncing sort of way, pausing briefly to look in my direction. Then it hopped away over my shoe, as if it couldn’t believe its luck. Perhaps it was a species of hopping mouse, since it really was hopping, not running.
Prior to jumping out, it was huddled at the back of the trap. After leaving, only a few faecal pellets remained as evidence that someone had been there.
Watching the mouse escape, covering ground quickly, I felt that I had at least tried to do something good.
I was about to walk away when with an odd mixture of horror and fascination, I watched a large magpie rapidly swoop down and grab the mouse in its beak.
My first thought was that I had not done the good thing I had intended to do. My second thought was: “that’s nature in action”, followed by “hoping” that the magpie suffocated the mouse or broke its neck quickly. But there’s no guarantee of that…
No matter how I look at it, I contributed to the death of that mouse, even though I did not intend to. I built up false hope, if only briefly, before the predator had its way.
I was reminded again that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
A criticism that is often levelled at vegans is that even they cause the deaths of animals, such as rodents, for example during harvest. My response is usually to say that, of course that’s true (sometimes with more sarcasm than other times), but it’s different from intentionally farming animals for the sole purpose of consuming them.
So, which is better here? A quick death in a traditional mouse trap or a fighting chance to live in a catch-and-release trap?
Immediately after the event, I felt confused, but upon reflection, I would still choose the catch-and-release trap with the corresponding fighting chance to live, just with a better choice of release location. Indeed, I have opted for the catch-and-release approach, since more traps await. We will see what the next few days bring.
In the rose garden across the road from my workplace where I like to spend some lunch breaks doing recreational mathematics when the weather is nice, mice are often seen tentatively peeking from a bush or scurrying between bushes. Perhaps something like that nearby, but not too nearby, can be found for the next time a release is necessary.
Animals don’t understand our world, nor do they care about our notions of property. We may not want them in our house, but we should at least try to treat them with care if possible. After all, they’re mammals like us, and they feel, and just want to live, like us.
The “right” approach is not always clear. I’m trying to do my best, even if it isn’t always good enough.
EDIT: More than a month and various trap configurations later, another mouse entered a trap today. This time, the release location was near long, dense grass along the bank of the river a few minutes walk from our house. After placing the trap (“The Big Cheese”) on the ground and opening the door, it took awhile for the timid and probably very frightened mouse to exit. I had to tip it up and give it a gentle shake. The mouse scurried away quickly into the cover of the long grass. No matter how long it lives, at least it’s living on its own terms now.
