What is your immediate reaction to this picture?

[kenny]

Photo by Paul Turton.

 

[Enerchi]

"look out, little buddy, this won't end well...!!"

 

[HollyS]

He's about to get snapped! I'm glad I won't have to hear him squealing.

Darn little guy is sorta cute though. Too bad he's a pest of the worst sort.

 

[reader]

Ew! Mouse feet!

 

[asscherisme]

Ewwwwwww

 

[kenny]

My reaction is it is so perfect that it had to be set up.
IOW, the photographer bought a mouse, probably starved it for a few days, set the camera up, and either waited or the camera shutter was tripped by some laser or light beam being interrupted by the mouse.

If it was truly random it wouldn't look so photographically perfect. Look: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=16470777&size=lg
Also you can see the light source in the mouse's eye is a professional photographer's umbrella.

It wouldn't bother me if this was a chance pic, but I'm virtually certain it was set up.
That makes is unacceptably cruel IMHO.
We all KNOW what became of the mouse a moment later.

That said, it IS an extraordinarily compelling image and kudos to the photographer for that.

 

[choro72]

If that's cheese, it's most likely fake.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

My reaction is it is so perfect that it had to be set up.
IOW, the photographer bought a mouse, probably starved it for a few days, set the camera up, and either waited or the camera shutter was tripped by some laser or light beam being interrupted by the mouse.

If it was truly random it wouldn't look so photographically perfect. Look: http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=16470777&size=lg
Also you can see the light source in the mouse's eye is a professional photographer's umbrella.

It wouldn't bother me if this was a chance pic, but I'm virtually certain it was set up.
That makes is unacceptably cruel IMHO.
We all KNOW what became of the mouse a moment later.

That said, it IS an extraordinarily compelling image and kudos to the photographer for that.

My first reaction was "No mousey NO!" and then I read your comment and it made me cry. I understand some people go to great lengths for the arts but I feel like animal abuse should not be one of them. Why did I ever click on this post... now I feel sick and I feel like I wanna find this photographer and put them in a mouse trap... to put it nicely.

 

[Karl_K]

The last pic in the series you see the mouse ran off.
A friend of mine actually raises pet mice and we took some photos like that by gluing the trigger on the trap so it could not snap.

 

[kenny]

Oh, thank you Karl.
I didn't even click through his site; I was so bothered by what I incorrectly assumed.

 

[ksinger]

My immediate reaction was "Nasty!" Mice are VERMIN. They are called vermin for a reason. The have been and are still, major disease vectors - one source credits(?) them with carrying 70 different kinds of disease. So, zero sympathy. The only people who can get all weepy about mice are people who've never had to deal with an infestation of them. I have a crawlspace under my house, and if one of the vent covers fall off, we have all sorts of nasty critters thinking it's a hotel. One time we dispatched 21 mice in a 2-week time span. I still get creeped out at the knowledge that we had THAT many under the house. The latest has been an entire family of possums setting up shop under my TUB(sounded like they were going to come right through the pipes!)...one of which we live-trapped (the others finally vacated and we made SURE the covers are on REALLY tight now). He was subsequently picked up by animal control where I seriously doubt he's being kept as a pet. Anyway, while it might seem a bit macabre on the part of the human to do this, the idea of the mouse getting snapped doesn't bother me all that much. I'm not a big fan of rodentia of any kind. And I bet that little girl from Colorado, who tried to bury a dead squirrel and got bubonic plague, isn't a fan anymore either.

That said, the trap is clearly QUITE rigged. There are even 2 different mice being used in the picture series. The cheese - which is quite real, I'm not sure why anyone would think it fake: the mouse sure didn't - is not only tied down, it looks like it has 2 loops - probably to keep the mouse at the trap longer for more pictures. And then there are the pics of the mouse yanking like the devil on the cheese and with the cheese in the air (on a normal trap that'd be end of mousie) and emptied trap - still unsprung. It's pretty clear no rodent was harmed by the photographer.

 

[iLander]

We live in the south, we don't have cute mousies, we have giant rats. Luckily (knock on wood, spit three times) none have made it into my house. Yet. I hear them at night, shuffling around in the palm trees, grossing me out.

We have a large black cat, who is the sweetest thing, but a major evil rat assassin. We've found rats with their hearts ripped out (the rest of the body intact), found just a head in my bedroom (cat got yelled at and he doesn't do that anymore), and various other macabre scenes. Freaky cat, but he knows his job.

 

[isaku5]

My first reaction is HORROR. The horror that I feel is for that damned insensitive photographer

Mice have never scared me, but the same cannot be said for rats.

Karl to the rescue again! The outcome couldn't have been better. Yay for the mouse!!!!

Boo to Kenny for having posted such a picture.

 

[Gypsy]

First reaction is sadness... poor little guy is about to die and all he wanted was a bit of cheese.

I'm glad he got away Kenny.

 

[kenny]

I still don't like that the photographer did this.
Titillating pictures travel, especially in the Internet age, often by morons like me who do not do any homework on them.

I don't recall where I saw it but it was not the series, it was only that one pic with credit to the photographer.
I googled him up to find the link I posted.

The one picture by itself will give most everybody a sick feeling.
Alfred Hitchcock said something like, "A film maker cannot create anything as horrid as what he can make the viewer imagine."

 

[tuffyluvr]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I like mice, rats, possums, raccoons, lizards and spiders. Things other people think of as disgusting vermin. As a child we had a possum that would come around occassionally and we would feed. He was very sweet and gentle. And we also cared for a squirrell that was attacked by the neighbor's dog and partially blinded. He lived outside, but we left food and water for him on our porch. He lived for several years after being attacked, and after a while we could hand-feed him. I also kept pet mice, rats and lizards.

I grew up in an urban interface area--a suburb with nearby wilderness areas. There was a wildfire nearby our home when I was about ten years old and the mice had no where to go, so they got into everyone's homes. They normally never came into the homes--the worst they would do was eat fuit from people's trees. We couldn't bear to set traps or leave out poison--they're so cruel!!! so we just made sure there was no food they could get into--we stored everything in the fridge or airtight plastic containers and all the mice were gone within a couple months. I think it's really sad that humans move further and further into areas inhabited by wildlife, yet are completely insensitive to the fact that they are cohabitating with wildlife. Although the animals were there first, they're seen as vermin, and people make it their mission to sterilize the land of these creatures. In my opinion, they have as much right to life as we do and we should be more sensitive to them.

 

[tuffyluvr]

The last pic in the series you see the mouse ran off.
A friend of mine actually raises pet mice and we took some photos like that by gluing the trigger on the trap so it could not snap.

This makes me feel so much better! I just couldn't understand how someone could be so cruel, but this makes sense...

 

[Karl_K]

I still don't like that the photographer did this.
Titillating pictures travel, especially in the Internet age, often by morons like me who do not do any homework on them.

Why?
I like the pic and took a similar one...
There is great meaning in the photo....
To me it says be careful in life when you find free cheese.

 

[kenny]

I still don't like that the photographer did this.
Titillating pictures travel, especially in the Internet age, often by morons like me who do not do any homework on them.

Why?
I like the pic and took a similar one...
There is great meaning in the photo....
To me it says be careful in life when you find free cheese.

Because many who see the pic will assume the mouse was snapped in half a second later.

I'm not saying a mouse's life is worth the same as a human life, but the pics of people falling after jumping from the burning WTC share that impending-splat tastelessness.

 

[Haven]

My first reaction was, "Mmmm. Cheese."
I blame the pregnancy.

 

[Jennifer W]

My first reaction was, "Mmmm. Cheese."
I blame the pregnancy.

I don't even have the pregnancy excuse.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I have a real phobia about mice - I'm actually terrified of them. They dart and scurry and the thought of having one in my house would send me to the looney bin. Therefore, there is no cute mouse picture for me. I don't relish the thought of it dying - just as long as it's not heading for my house!

 

[Mayk]

That's going to leave a mark!

 

[yssie]

First reaction... our cat Alex would do a much neater job of dispatching him.
Second reaction... cool pic

I guess I spent too much time dissecting rodents in labs to have any sympathy for their live counterparts.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

First reaction... our cat Alex would do a much neater job of dispatching him.
Second reaction... cool pic

I guess I spent too much time dissecting rodents in labs to have any sympathy for their live counterparts.

That's so mean! Mice deserve respect too! I'm sorry and I know this is a controversial issue, but mice shouldn't be dissected. Nor should a pig or cow or any other animal. Yes, they may not have the mental capacity of a human but that doesn't mean we should kill them for the fun of it.

ETA: I am sorry that I strayed off topic.

 

[KaeKae]

Run!!!!

 

[yssie]

First reaction... our cat Alex would do a much neater job of dispatching him.
Second reaction... cool pic

I guess I spent too much time dissecting rodents in labs to have any sympathy for their live counterparts.

That's so mean! Mice deserve respect too! I'm sorry and I know this is a controversial issue, but mice shouldn't be dissected. Nor should a pig or cow or any other animal. Yes, they may not have the mental capacity of a human but that doesn't mean we should kill them for the fun of it.

ETA: I am sorry that I strayed off topic.

Sorry if my comment offended, that wasn't my intent - I can't say I gave it a second thought, honestly. It does sound like we would have different opinions on some issues - yeah, end threadjack.

 

[Deactivated member 42515]

First reaction... our cat Alex would do a much neater job of dispatching him.
Second reaction... cool pic

I guess I spent too much time dissecting rodents in labs to have any sympathy for their live counterparts.

That's so mean! Mice deserve respect too! I'm sorry and I know this is a controversial issue, but mice shouldn't be dissected. Nor should a pig or cow or any other animal. Yes, they may not have the mental capacity of a human but that doesn't mean we should kill them for the fun of it.

ETA: I am sorry that I strayed off topic.

Sorry if my comment offended, that wasn't my intent - I can't say I gave it a second thought, honestly. It does sound like we would have different opinions on some issues - yeah, end threadjack.

Last thread jack- I didn't meant to offend you either nor did I mean to imply that your opinion is not worth it. Everyone has one and I was just conveying mine. I did get a bit heated in the moment and I apologize.

 

[yssie]

First reaction... our cat Alex would do a much neater job of dispatching him.
Second reaction... cool pic

I guess I spent too much time dissecting rodents in labs to have any sympathy for their live counterparts.

That's so mean! Mice deserve respect too! I'm sorry and I know this is a controversial issue, but mice shouldn't be dissected. Nor should a pig or cow or any other animal. Yes, they may not have the mental capacity of a human but that doesn't mean we should kill them for the fun of it.

ETA: I am sorry that I strayed off topic.

Sorry if my comment offended, that wasn't my intent - I can't say I gave it a second thought, honestly. It does sound like we would have different opinions on some issues - yeah, end threadjack.

Last thread jack- I didn't meant to offend you either nor did I mean to imply that your opinion is not worth it. Everyone has one and I was just conveying mine. I did get a bit heated in the moment and I apologize.

I dunno. You do get desensitized. I'd say it's one of the reasons I chose a different career, but it's not - after the first few times with a new procedure I didn't give it a second thought.
This coming from someone with four cats that she adores..

 

[ksinger]

It amazes me how freaked out people get at the mere THOUGHT of a mousetrap.(Remember, no mouse was harmed here, so this whole thing really IS a mental tempest in a teacup) There is that other thread on death right now. How much more squeamish can we prove ourselves to be about it than this thread?

Rodents have done us great harm AND great good. Both instances involved death. Our deaths (and their own) by the millions from and because of, the diseases they bear, and their deaths in labs on our behalf.

Remember, most of the last hundred year's medical advances, have been done using MICE studies - using mice specifically bred for the purpose. One site put it more eloquently than I could, and gets the point across:

"Animal research is the foundation for virtually every medical breakthrough over the past century. From antibiotics to blood transfusions, from dialysis to organ transplantation, from vaccinations to chemotherapy, bypass surgery and joint replacement, practically every present-day protocol for the prevention, treatment, cure and control of disease, pain and suffering is based on knowledge attained through research with laboratory animals."

I seriously doubt ANYONE here has eschewed medical care on moral grounds because mice were used to develop their treatment. Please do pipe up if you have, but I'm not holding my breath.

So, are they cute? Depends on the person, but yeah, I guess. Are they disease vectors? Yes, definitely. Are they animals we have and continue to use to our benefit - that DIE on our behalf? Yes. Do we let them live or not depending on the situation? Yes. All of those. Morally ambiguous perhaps, but there it is. Deal with it.

It's time this thread got a bit of perspective.