Musophobia (aka Murophobia)

While I wouldn't want anyone to question my manliness, it has recently come to my attention that I may have a fear of mice. I don't know that my fear can be classified as a real phobia but, I do know that it takes quite a bit of courage for me to confront mice (mind you, ones of the Bluetooth and optical laser variety I am quite comfortable with). Although in a pet store I may be able to handle one, the wild mus musculus is another story.

I've spent the last week and a half at my parents' new house in Roseville, CA helping my dad paint various rooms and making sure the landscapers are doing their job. Late one night earlier in the week, my brother and I heard scratching noises coming from the walls and assumed a mouse was there. We didn't see it but knew there had to be something in the walls. Rather than get normal mousetraps you see in cartoons, my parents decided to buy glue traps. Basically, they're pads that a mouse will run onto but won't be able to leave. We laid the traps late last week.

Everyone left on Sunday while I stayed behind. Before my dad left, he made sure to tell me, "If a mouse is caught, don't leave it for us to clean up." I was good until I was about to leave on Tuesday. As luck would have it, while I was getting ready to leave, there a mouse was stuck to the glue trap. It screamed. It violently jerked trying to free itself of its sticky confines. I shuttered.

For a good fifteen to thirty minutes I argued with myself about whether or not I should take the mouse out or leave it and say, "I never saw a mouse." I finally gathered up the courage to approach it and everytime I got closer, it shook more. I knew that as much as I couldn't stand it, it was scared even more. Finally, I decided to get a paper cup and cover it so I wouldn't see it shaking and put it into a plastic bag. As much as I didn't like the mouse, I didn't like the cruel and slow death it was going to face. But I guess I had to do it, so I left it in our garbage can and wiped the sweat off my brow.

I can't believe such a small thing required me to gather up the courage to face it. I swear I walked past it a couple of times keeping my eyes in an opposite direction so I wouldn't see it. Hearing it and watching it struggle to get out was horrible. I hope I don't have to do that again.