I felt remorse the other day.

My aunt called one night saying that she had felt something run across the foot of her bed. She was almost asleep. She thought it was a cat.

I went over there and searched the house. Then I set some mouse traps around the kitchen.

A few days later one of the traps caught a little mouse.

I looked at the creature and felt so sad.

I hated that I had killed that creature.

It made me very sad.

Perhaps I should not feel remorse or sadness for a little mouse's death. I am told they are rodents, they carry disease etc. They will overrun your house and eat your food, and the grain etc.

So how do I explain the sadness I felt.

I still eat meat. Animals die for that purpose. I don't feel sad about that.

Still, I looked at that creature and felt remorse.

Mouse assassin I am.

aw geesh, I felt the same way when my son "lost" 6-8 mice from school in the house. I told him he had to use his paperboy money to buy traps. He brought home "glue traps". Sure enough, the next morning, there was a mouse with his face stuck in the trap---still alive and would live 5-6 more days stuck like that. I had to put him out of his misery. So I took him into the basement, covered him with a cloth and...well, a hammer did it

I know what you mean.

I have a mouse living in my computer desk. It's a wild mouse. In fact, it's a big mouse. It a huge mouse! It's a brown field mouse about the size of a chipmunk.

It's been living here in my computer desk for about a month now. I keep promising to kill it, but I haven't set the trap yet. In fact I even went out to buy one of those box traps but they want $20 for one and I just can't bring myself to pay that much.

Last night this mouse was making so much racket I got up and finally set a trap.

The trap was still set when I got up this morning so he's still one hell of a lucky mouse. He's making too much racket though and has probably chewed up a lot of stuff. In fact, he might be a she and have babies!

I don't see a lot of mouse dirt around though. And I don't see evidence of mouse damage. But I have seen the mouse. In fact, is sometimes comes out in the middle of the day and runs across the computer desk right here in front of the monitor. That's why I know it's huge!

I'm afraid his days are numbered now. He makes too much racket at night. All this pass.

It's nature's way.

And like someone pointed out to me the other day; if a mouse were as big as a man it'd probably eat me without a second thought. So why all the compassion for it?

Humans are just stupid starry-eyed romanticists I guess.

Oh God!

That worse that just using the standard spring trap.

I have a cat, but he's so lazy he just watches the mouse run across the floor and then turns around and licks himself like the mouse was never there.

I had a dog that used to catch mice better than that.

I had to do that once too in a sticky mouse trap. I HATE HATE THOSE TRAPS. The old break their neck traps are more humane. But even with those, I still felt bad.

Who ever thought of those sticky traps was an idiot mouse torturer. What ever happened to a law against cruelty to animals. Is a mouse not an animal?

We should start a "Humane treatment for mice" foundation and get those sticky traps banned. I hate them.

eeeewwww!

JB

I had three cats in my house and so I did not think there could possibly be any mice. I sat the sticky trap down to catch these large roach-like bugs and within an hour, I had caught a mouse!

I had to hit him to end his misery and I hated hand to hand mouse slaughter. eeeewwww! Yucky.

Tip: Female cats are better mousers. Males are lazy. (__!__)

JB

I hate those traps too. I think my son was just too young to realize how cruel they are. I've never used one.

I think it might be possible that there is a definite separation in modern times between man and the process of slaughter. Mice are VERY cute and you saw one close up there. Not only that, you were directly responsible for his demise and you will now have to face this and discard his little corpse. It’s quite painful to fully reconcile one's emotions in that capacity.

I also feel the same way as it applies to meat that we eat. We never see the butchering process take place. We simply go to the grocery and there it is. It appears shiny under the lights and packaged nice and hygienic for us to purchase and consume.

I believe that when we are not in contact with the process of death, we often are forced to constantly force it to the back of our minds. We do not want to bring it to the conscious. So in that case it relegates itself to nightmares and "something that we know happens at some point."

So by you actually taking the life of this mouse, you were forced, though briefly, to make that connection.

I used to raise chickens. Mostly for eggs, but I did butcher them on occassion too. They didn't seem to mind.

Seriously, they were extremely easy to murder and they were quite cooperative about it. My chicken always came right up to me. So I never had to chase them.

They trusted me completely. <--- evil laugh

When it was time to cull them I would just pick them up by their legs and hold them upside down and lay their head on the chopping block. They didn't struggle or squawk or anything. They just calmly laid there with their head on the block. One swift swing of the hand ax and it was over. Even their headless bodies didn't put up much of a fight after the fact.

I must confess that those weren't my proudest moments, but at the same time I accepted it as being the way life is. In fact, I lost some of my chickens to wild predators like oppossum, rackcoons, and even to domestic dogs the neighbors let loose. One got hit by a car.

I can assure you that all of those deaths were quite uncomftable for the birds. Lots of squawking and screaming before they finally died.

Animals in nature die much more horrible deaths than a guillotine provides.

Although, I've never truly been comfortable with this dog-eat-dog aspect of the world. The only consolation is that if it's good enough for our creator then I guess I shouldn't feel so bad about it.

If I ever get to design my own universe I'll make it so there's a vivid distinction between plants and animals. All animals will be herbivores. Even insects. No blood-sucking mosquitoes.

All animals are herbivors and the distinction between plant and animals is profound.

That's going on my drawing board as a prerequisite for any universe I design.

I'll even make it so that any attempt to eat another animal would result in terrible taste and make you terribly sick in the stomach. They'd be no question that plants are the only things to eat.

I think I'd make all plants edible too.

And lots of coco tree forests made with dark chololate trunks, pepperment patty leaves, and sweet cherry fruit.



Oh, and natural Dr. Pepper springs.

I live on a farm Abra and I currently have chickens. Only hens, no roosters. Thank god. Roosters are horrible. I only eat their eggs though, I am not butchering the chickens for meat, only keep them as pets and a few eggs in summer.

However, I also raise rabbits here. I sell the meat, pelts and make items from the paws, tails. Yeah I live in a rural area but a lot of people do this here. I also eat my rabbits. I feel a deep connection with them but they are not pets obviously. I cull them myself. It was hard at first but I just became accustomed to it. Of course when I was first learning, it was very difficult. Now, I simply thank them, pat their heads and they never see it coming. I totally agree with you that this is a far more humane way for them to meet their ends then any number of horrible fates that might befall them.

Rabbit meat is more or less all I ever consume now. Part of the reason for this is because I am responsible for their demise. There is no slaughter house involved. It’s simply me. I raised that animal from the ground up. It has made a difference in how I view mass production slaughter houses for beef, lamb, chicken and all the rest of it, that’s for sure.

Here is a funny story about killing a chicken.

My sister raised chickens for eggs and to eat. A lady from the city came by her farm wanting to buy an "organic" farm raised hen for eating. I guess she was wanting to eat organically.

By law my sister is not allowed to sell slaughter hens.

She asked the lady which hen she wanted and the lady pointed one out. Then my sister got paid for the live hen.

All legal and above board. She was allowed to sell a live hen.

Then, as a favor to the woman, she caught the hen, then rang its neck on the spot. Then she handed the hen, feathers and all, blood dripping from its neck, to the woman.

The woman was a bit speachless. She just took it, said thank you, and left.

I'll bet she never forgot that dinner.

JB

I think the indian way of thinking best on this fact krimsa:

they hold life dear and would wolud only kill of necessity to have food, they revered the animals highly and would pray to them that they understood that they were giving there life to sustain theirs. so we should all do.

Thanking your food.

When I eat a creature, instead of thanking God for the meal, I thank the creature for giving its life for me to eat.

Never is this so easy as when I eat lobster or crab. They are so delicious. I always am very thankful to them.

JB

I too have remorse for all living things. I eat meat also though. I catch bugs in the house and set them free outside because my remorse gets to me.

It just shows the respect for life, all life.

I justify my eating meat with the natural order of life. Some animals become food for others.

yep even were food to others at times, idont think they put any thought into it per se' when the tables are turned - it is just a fact of life.

I do too anymore. It's getting terrible. I even take spiders outside and set them free. I still kill ants. No mercy for ants. Clearly I'm biased.

I'll also have more sympathy for a bee than a fly. Funny how that works. Of course I used to keep bees so maybe that's why I feel for them.



I never kept rabbits. I think I'd have a little more problems killing rabbits than chicken. Not sure why. Probably becasue they are mammals and would be too much like a cat or dog in a way.

I killed a batch of puppies once. My mother told me to do it. I really took that hard after I did it. I had severe remorse and was kicking myself for having done that. I mean, I could have taken them to the human society, at least they might have had a chance to be taken into a home.

Seriously though, if you're going to eat meat it probably is best to raise your own livestock. They have a better life with you while they are alive than they would have if they were raised commercially.

That was one thing about my chickens, they had a really great life while they were alive. They were free ranging and had a really well-kept coop to stay in. So other than the actual day of their demise they lived a life of kings.

I'd still like to have chickens again just for the eggs. They were cool to have around. They sang in the evening really pretty. And they came in useful in the garden too. I used to put a fence around a bed that I wanted plowed up and just put all the chicken in there. In no time at all they'd have it almost like it had been rototilled.

Fascinating!!!


Just imagine what Freud would have had to say about this thread?!?!?!


Some repressed sexual fantasm for sure!

:)

Well, you won't get any argument out of me Voil.

Absolutely Tribo. In fact the gentleman who taught me how to cull the rabbits was an American Indian. Pequawket tribe. He taught me how to do it painlessly for the rabbit and from behind so they never see it happening. I also do one at a time and I carry them a little ways so they don’t smell the fear. I just rub their ears and thank them. I won’t tell you that I never flinched or had a problem with it, especially early on. It is hard. The thanking the animal really helps to reconcile the pain. It’s never easy however. I always dread the day when it nears (12 weeks) but they need to go someplace as I cant spend every waking moment building rabbit hutches and there is definitely a market for them in this area.

I am not up on Freud so if it pleases you would you explain the sexual fantasm here?

I have read a little way back but don't recall.

Yes Abra Spiders also. I have even been that way with ants. I try to deter their path into the house so they will not come in, with pepper in the pathways and stuff like that lol