What is it about that small, furry creature with the perfect whiskers that twitch so curiously? Is it the beady, little eyes that seem to see everything at once? Or the long, straight, whip like tail that is its trade mark?
An insignificant little creature, cute and innocent; a creature whose name alone invokes images of terror. What is this monster that cause strong, sound minded individuals to leap about in fear, shrieking and climbing the furniture?
Would you believe a common mouse has this power?
From the dawn of time man has kept close to him animals whose soul purpose is to hunt mice. Huge amounts of money are spent by people trying to invent a better mouse trap. Mice cause some men to revert back to their early Neanderthal beginnings bringing out in them the desire to hunt and protect.
Many mighty hunters have even been driven to the point of obsession by the tiny, elusive mouse. That same mouse has also been known to initiate mass bouts of uncontrollable cleaning in the home. There is so much power in such a little package.
Yet despite our terror (or perhaps because of it) we are fascinated by the mouse. Plush toys are made in its likeness, cartoons and story books for children feature the cute, little mouse. We even go so far as to buy our cats toys that look like mice!
When producers or writers want to create a scene of true horror to scare their audience what do they use? Mice! Swarms of mice, or a single mouse; mice crawling on the furniture or scurrying across the room, there purpose is always the same - to scare.
Do mice deserve there reputation? Probably. It's true that they are dirty, destructive, disease carrying animals but maybe part of their reputation is through association with their much larger cousin - the rat.
Deserved or not that cute, furry little mouse will always cause a stir. I'm sure it has a place in the ecosystem and so long as it stays outside in that ecosystem it will be - for the most part- ignored. Should that mouse choose instead to enter the domain of people it should be prepared because people will forever be trying to exterminate it.
