# I pit people using rat poison unnecessarily. (Mercy killing of mouse) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615 "2012-07-08T18:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/161 "2012-07-12T00:55:38Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > So, as an aside, how come they don’t need to drink, while we humans drink a lot? Is it because they eat more compared to their size, and therefore consume more water in that way (compared to size)? I only kept mice, but Stuart, Stanley, Pixie, and Dixie all used the water bottle as often as you or I might go to the fridge for a soda. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/162 "2012-07-12T00:59:43Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > So, as an aside, how come they don’t need to drink, while we humans drink a lot? Is it because they eat more compared to their size, and therefore consume more water in that way (compared to size)? Don’t listen to **Blake** - that guy’s an idiot. Of course mice need to drink water. Here’s some [veterinary guidelines](http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=660&S=5) on mouse and rat care that gives daily consumption of food and water. > [@veterinary guidelines](#): > > On average, an adult mouse will consume about 15 gm of feed and 15 ml of water per 100 gm body weight daily. Comparatively, an adult rat will consume approximately 5 gm of feed and 10 ml of water per 100 gm body weight daily. Rats and mice typically eat at night. > > Water should be provided in water bottles equipped with sipper tubes. The sipper tube keeps the water free from contamination. The tubes must be positioned low enough to allow the pet easy access.Inadequate water consumption leads to dehydration, lower body weight, infertility and death. ---
**Author:** ![kyogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/51bf81/32.png) [@kyogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kyogi)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/163 "2012-07-12T02:48:58Z")
Tis may be a bit astray of topic but… As a kid one summer when mice seemed about to entirely overrun us, I had an absolutely all-time favorite game. There were some old style wooden crate cases of empty Coke bottles on the porch. They were made of criss-crossing slates that left gaps in the corners of the squares. When a mouse I chased to them would dodge into one of the cases the game was on. They would move from square to square, squeezing between the slats and the bottle. I would lift the bottle, the mouse would look up like “Oh shit!” and run into an adjacent square. I’d drop that bottle and lift the one in the square he ran to. Victory was to get one square ahead and have a bottle already lifted as he ran into the empty square and looked up with his last “Oh shit!” look. SPLAT! ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/164 "2012-07-12T03:51:42Z")
> [@kyogi](#): > > Tis may be a bit astray of topic but… A **n00b** after my own heart \<3… Don’t forget to poke **Jules** with a sharp stick -----\> : poke : And smash a mouse for me, OK? ETA: No, that was _exactly_ on topic… Welcome, **n00b**! ---
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/165 "2012-07-12T05:03:16Z")
> [@Jules27](#): > > You don’t need to leave a mouse on a glue trap to slowly and painfully die to achieve this aim though. That’s the point. Put it out of its misery and not be a callous jerk about it. Why do we need a fellow human’s consent for us to put him or her out of his or her misery, while according to you, we don’t need _any_ consent from a mouse? ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/166 "2012-07-12T07:27:30Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So far you’ve accused _every single person here_ of being inhumane regardless of method used to kill mice. No I haven’t (ie. I haven’t accused you or the OP of being inhumane, and the several other people who posted on this thread). I’ve only been pointing the finger at a select few (two of them with the ‘fuck it if they feel pain’ attitude). Yet again, you are making stuff up out of thin air. > [@](#): > > How else to interpret this? You’ve got your panties in a bunch because no one is kissing the feet of a bleeding-heart, “enlightened” entity such as yourself. You waltzed in here to save the masses (of mice if not people) and are just _shocked_ that you weren’t hailed as the messiah. You shouldn’t be interpreting things that you make up out of thin air. > [@](#): > > Here’s the real kicker: the question wasn’t “is drowning an OK way to kill mice”, it was “Is drowning more or less bad than letting a mouse linger for days while dying of poison?” Uhh, yes, in fact it was. Your question specifically avoided the issue. Of course drowning is fucking better, that’s a no-brainer. But the question was, was it the right thing to do considering a hit to the head is so much better? > [@](#): > > More evidence of your kneejerk approach to the whole matter. You aren’t interested in having a discussion or even an argument, you only want to bludgeon people into compliance with your narrow viewpoint. You’re right - I’m not interested in a discussion with people (like you) who conjure up things I have never even said or implied. > [@](#): > > Fine. You come up with a foolproof way to catch the mice and administer a blow to the head without hazard to humans and I’ll go with that. Fact is, the mice aren’t going to cooperate. There’s no hazard, assuming the mouse is injured and is in a fixed position. Of course the mouse isn’t going to cooperate, when it’s injured and dying and can’t move much. > [@](#): > > If you don’t take 'em out the first time they’re going to try to escape, wounded or not, and since they can get into places like walls it’s not always possible to pursue them to finish the job. Of course, but the person I replied to wasn’t in such a position, so your point is completely redundant. They could have just as well finished the job, but the “fuck 'em, who cares if they suffer” attitude really says it all, and vindicates my position. > [@](#): > > Likewise your demand someone dismantle a woodpile - do you _seriously_ think the animal is just going to stand there waiting for the humans? No, wounded or not it will continue to try to escape. The animal would be severely slowed and wounded. There’s zero excuse letting it suffer in that instance - perhaps the person should have not taken the shot if he was such a shit shot. But moving a few pieces of wood is hardly anything, certainly not comparable to cutting holes through a wall, dismantling sections of a wall (because the animal would be dead by the time you get to it). Though a few pieces of wood… hmm… yeah. And even if it wasn’t even practical to “finish it off” in due time, then the attitude this person uses is certainly questionable. Like he has no ethics when it comes to killing another animal. > [@](#): > > Is it OK with you if we flush them down the toilet _after_ they’re dead? Or is a formal funeral required followed by burial and a small, mouse-sized gravemarker? I’d say it would be a bad idea because the mouse might block the pipe. But if it’s dead, then it’s not suffering any more, not drowning to death. Certainly better than flushing it alive. ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/167 "2012-07-12T07:29:52Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Why do we need a fellow human’s consent for us to put him or her out of his or her misery, while according to you, we don’t need _any_ consent from a mouse? Because humans can rationally communicate with us, a mouse cannot. A mouse doesn’t know any better. A mouse would be in a constant state of pain and fear with no hope of survival. Really, what kind of question is this? I’ll ask you one though: ever put a terminally ill pet down? ---
**Author:** ![Jules27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@Jules27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules27)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/168 "2012-07-12T07:49:10Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Are you actually a mouse? That might explain some things… Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had to be a mouse to feel sorry for one. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/169 "2012-07-12T08:15:19Z")
------------\> :: poke :: ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/170 "2012-07-12T08:41:04Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > So, as an aside, how come they don’t need to drink, while we humans drink a lot? Is it because they eat more compared to their size, and therefore consume more water in that way (compared to size)? No, it’s down to more efficient kidneys, a lack of sweating and the relative surface area of the lungs and the nasal cavities. We lose a lot of water from sweating and peeing, but we also lose a lot simply from breathing, as anyone who has stood outside on a cold day can tell you. All mammals have the ability to recapture some of that moisture in the nasal cavities before it is lost form the body. However to reclaim a significant amount the nasal cavities have to be comparable in size to the lungs. For a small mammal that’s not too difficult to achieve. For large mammals it would require a head as large in proportion to the body as that of a mouse. IOW our head would need to be ~half the size of our entire body. So we can’t get away with it. House mice can actually survive on a diet that contains absolutely no water at all, as in eating food that has been completely dessicated and has 0% water content. The metabolic water liberated from simply digesting food is enough for them to survive on, but it’s a knife edge existence and any additional stress including disease, needing to travel to food or exposure to high temperatures will kill them. Desert mice OTOH can live quite happily an a completely water free diet and maintain normal activity. > [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Don’t listen to **Blake** - that guy’s an idiot. Of course mice need to drink water. The ignorance. It keeps fighting back. “[House mice need to drink only if they exclusively consume dry food, such as grain or dry animal feed. Mice can live and breed without drinking water as long as their diet has a water content of at least 15%](http://www.baytool.info/html/mae_biologie.htm)” "Rats require water daily for their survival, unless feeding on very moist foods.While house mice can survive without water (obtaining it from their food), they will drink when water is available. "[Roof rats usually require water daily, although its diet may provide an adequate amount if high in water content.](http://www.lakelandweb.net/gotchapestcontrol/floridabugs_rats.html) " “[Usually, mice do not need to drink as they can obtain sufficient moisture from their food](http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/mice2.htm).” "[House mice eat about 3 grams of food per day and do not need to drink water if there is a enough moisture in the food.](http://nhguide.dbs.umt.edu/index.php?c=mammals&m=desc&id=34) " “[Mice don’t need to drink water, so keeping food secure is more important than limiting water sources](http://stoppests-stg.hosting.cornell.edu/frequently-asked-questions/how-do-you-treat-a-home-where-residents-have-respiratory-problems/).” “[A mouse requires about three grams of food each day and can live without access to fresh water.](http://cfhs.ca/wild/mice_and_rats/)” Yes, I sure am an idiot. Me and the CDC and Cornell university and the Department of Agriculture and Bayer Research Labs and … We are all idiots. :rolleyes: **Monkey With a Gun** , if you didn’t have such a long and widely noted history of posting ignorant crap around here, I would think you would be embarrassed about this. Calling me an idiot only to be proven wrong with a deluge of impeccable references. But you _won’t_ be embarrassed and you \*will \*go on to post the same type of ignorant crap again, and again and again, as you have so often on the past. The only positive is that every time you post such ridiculous assertions and get smacked down, you destroy a little more of your credibility, which reduced the chance that there is anyone at all left on these boards who would listen to a damn thing you say. It would be better if you just ceased posting erroneous garbage on subjects of which you are clearly utterly ignorant. But since you won’t do that, destroying your credibility in such an undeniable way is the next best thing. People will still have to read the crap your write, but there is little chance anyone will believe it. > [@](#): > > Here’s some [veterinary guidelines](http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=660&S=5) on mouse and rat care that gives daily consumption of food and water. :rolleyes: You don’t understand the difference between optimal nutrition and what an animal can survive on. Yet you feel able to call those who have actual tertiary qualifications in this field, idiots. What a maroon. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/171 "2012-07-12T08:57:36Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Don’t listen to **Blake** - that guy’s an idiot Actually Blake is one of my favorite posters here. I have followed his posts for quite a while. So I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/172 "2012-07-12T09:00:02Z")
------------\> :: pokes **Blake** AND **mr. jp** , just to see them wriggle :: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/173 "2012-07-12T09:53:02Z")
> [@Jules27](#): > > You’re right - I’m not interested in a discussion with people (like you) who conjure up things I have never even said or implied. Yet you respond with a long post… > [@](#): > > There’s no hazard, assuming the mouse is injured and is in a fixed position. Of course the mouse isn’t going to cooperate, when it’s injured and dying and can’t move much. Um… I think “in a fixed position” and “can’t move much” are pretty big assumptions here. It’s entirely possible for a mortally injured mouse to be loose (that is, NOT in a “fixed” position) and moving quite a bit. I can only assume you don’t have much actual experience in rodent control. > [@](#): > > The animal would be severely slowed and wounded. Again - the _assumption_ that being wounded also results in being severely slowed is not correct in all situations. It’s rather startling how fast a suddenly three-legged mouse can move. > [@](#): > > There’s zero excuse letting it suffer in that instance - perhaps the person should have not taken the shot if he was such a shit shot. Even the best shot misses from time to time. > [@](#): > > But moving a few pieces of wood is hardly anything, certainly not comparable to cutting holes through a wall, dismantling sections of a wall (because the animal would be dead by the time you get to it). Though a few pieces of wood… hmm… yeah. Oh. I see. You think a “woodpile” is just a few sticks. Sorry, didn’t realize you were such a city boy. Out where I live a “woodpile” is quite often _several tons_ of wood in the case of people who have wood stoves for heating purposes. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/174 "2012-07-12T13:42:15Z")
> [@kyogi](#): > > Tis may be a bit astray of topic but… > > As a kid one summer when mice seemed about to entirely overrun us, I had an absolutely all-time favorite game. There were some old style wooden crate cases of empty Coke bottles on the porch. They were made of criss-crossing slates that left gaps in the corners of the squares. When a mouse I chased to them would dodge into one of the cases the game was on. They would move from square to square, squeezing between the slats and the bottle. I would lift the bottle, the mouse would look up like “Oh shit!” and run into an adjacent square. I’d drop that bottle and lift the one in the square he ran to. Victory was to get one square ahead and have a bottle already lifted as he ran into the empty square and looked up with his last “Oh shit!” look. SPLAT! This is crying for a game show on television. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/175 "2012-07-12T13:45:56Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This is crying for a game show on television. A cheesy Japanese game show where contestants have to dress in a mouse costume and run like hell through a maze before a giant foam rubber bottle smacks them in the head 😃 The ones who make it out alive get to advance to the Karaoke round. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/176 "2012-07-12T13:53:37Z")
There are very few things I enjoy more than watching **Blake** bitch-slap the shit out of someone who is in way over his or her head. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/177 "2012-07-12T14:05:47Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > There are very few things I enjoy more than watching **Blake** bitch-slap the shit out of someone who is in way over his or her head. That was pretty sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/178 "2012-07-12T15:00:34Z")
Two short points: I hadn’t thought of rabies, I must admit. Rabies is very rare in the Netherlands, though, and affects only bats, dogs and foxes, not mice and rats. One point of interest: before using rodent poison, make sure you know what rodent you are dealing with. Pest control may not be necessary. [Shrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soricidae), for instance, look a lot like mice, but are completely different animals. For one thing, they live in the wild, and if they happen to wander into a home, they don’t know how fast to get out again. Secondly, they don’t eat human food, only insects. (Another reason why they only wander into human houses by accident). And lastly, shrews are _fierce._ The only time I saw a mouse actually challenging my cat, (yes, it got from under the fridge where it had been safe and went straight at my cat, who actually inched away) it was a shrew. It is often said that if shrews were only a bit bigger, humans should be afraid of them. [Shrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorex) squiek loudly, just like mice. In fact, in my garden I have never seen a mouse, just shrews. ETA an adorable fact I just learned in making this post: Shrews have poor eyesight. When a mother shrew relocates her young, they will often do so in [“caravans”, each holding the tail of the shrew in front of them.](http://img.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-42-33103217.jpg?size=67&uid=8b1ead82-5c95-4476-8167-453a7d8129d2) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/179 "2012-07-12T15:25:45Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > Two short points: > > I hadn’t thought of rabies, I must admit. Rabies is very rare in the Netherlands, though, and affects only bats, dogs and foxes, not mice and rats. > > One point of interest: before using rodent poison, make sure you know what rodent you are dealing with. Pest control may not be necessary. > > [Shrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soricidae), for instance, look a lot like mice, but are completely different animals. For one thing, they live in the wild, and if they happen to wander into a home, they don’t know how fast to get out again. Secondly, they don’t eat human food, only insects. (Another reason why they only wander into human houses by accident). And lastly, shrews are _fierce._ The only time I saw a mouse actually challenging my cat, (yes, it got from under the fridge where it had been safe and went straight at my cat, who actually inched away) it was a shrew. It is often said that if shrews were only a bit bigger, humans should be afraid of them. [Shrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorex) squiek loudly, just like mice. In fact, in my garden I have never seen a mouse, just shrews. > > ETA an adorable fact I just learned in making this post: Shrews have poor eyesight. When a mother shrew relocates her young, they will often do so in [“caravans”, each holding the tail of the shrew in front of them.](http://img.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-42-33103217.jpg?size=67&uid=8b1ead82-5c95-4476-8167-453a7d8129d2) Hantavirus is a bigger concern with mice. A quick look showed that it does occur in Europe. Not sure if its around your area. I would not handle wild mice and be careful around their droppings. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615/180 "2012-07-12T17:07:24Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > [Shrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soricidae), for instance, look a lot like mice, but are completely different animals. For one thing, they live in the wild, and if they happen to wander into a home, they don’t know how fast to get out again. Secondly, they don’t eat human food, only insects. (Another reason why they only wander into human houses by accident). And lastly, shrews are _fierce._ The only time I saw a mouse actually challenging my cat, (yes, it got from under the fridge where it had been safe and went straight at my cat, who actually inched away) it was a shrew. It is often said that if shrews were only a bit bigger, humans should be afraid of them. [Shrews](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorex) squiek loudly, just like mice. In fact, in my garden I have never seen a mouse, just shrews. > > ETA an adorable fact I just learned in making this post: Shrews have poor eyesight. When a mother shrew relocates her young, they will often do so in [“caravans”, each holding the tail of the shrew in front of them.](http://img.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-42-33103217.jpg?size=67&uid=8b1ead82-5c95-4476-8167-453a7d8129d2) As a factoid for you, our shrews in the US here (blarina brevicauda, IIRC) are mildly poisonous. They only get in houses on accident, and really do want to get out as fast as possible. And they do squeak just like a mouse. Unfortunately, they also are some of the most goddamn fragile little creatures, and of the 6 I’ve tried to save, only 3 have lived long enough to make it to the outside. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-using-rat-poison-unnecessarily-mercy-killing-of-mouse/627615.md?page=10)