Lessons from a Field Mouse

[TimM]

I found this on a blog and it really made me think about how weak our children and society as a whole are becoming.

http://thebredafallacy.blogspot.com/2008/02/of-mice-and-men.html

of mice and men

One day last winter, I pulled on my boots, buttoned up my coat and went out into the snow to fill the bird feeder. We kept the seed in a large bucket in the garage and when I went to scoop some out to carry to the feeder, I noticed that the supply was running low. It was dark in the garage and even darker in the bottom of the bucket. I tipped the bucket a little and was startled to hear a faint skittering noise inside. I looked in...a brown field mouse was trapped down at the bottom of the bucket! My first surprised thought was "eek!", quickly followed by "awwww, cute! mousie!" And as I squatted down next to the bucket to get a better look at my new furry friend...

...the mouse growled at me.

It was a small sound, barely audible, and if the world hadn't been so hushed and muffled under its thick blanket of snow, I might not have heard it. I went very still, holding my breath - I heard it again.

Trapped in the bucket and cornered by a large seemingly menacing creature, the tiny mouse, somehow realizing that flight was impossible, decided to fight for its life.

I was so impressed by the mouse's bravery that when I helped it get free, I left it a big pile of seeds on the garage floor and wished it luck.

The struggle for survival is natural. That fight or flight response is what allows all creatures to live to see another day, to pass on their genes to another generation. Humans have the ability to fear death, not out of pure instinct, but because we consciously know that we are valuable; that our lives, despite all sadness and hardship, can still be sweet. Something good could come as soon as tomorrow. That hope of happiness, that mere possibility of joy, is worth fighting for.

But have we gotten so far from nature that we have lost the ability to fight for our lives? Last week, Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina ran an emergency response drill. A campus police officer posing as a gunman burst into a classroom, where he proceeded to hold the students hostage and terrorize them with a fake gun for 10 minutes. Not one of the students fought back. Not one thought to pick up a chair or a desk, or even a book, to defend themselves. They all lined up against a wall and passively waited for death.

One of the students said, "I was prepared to die at that moment." Several students say they considered leaping from a window.

My mouse had more courage than this. Against insurmountable odds, it growled at me and prepared to fight, even to its death. The college students who meekly bared their throats to those who wanted to rip them out are dead already - they just don't know it.
The will to live is life.

 

[Chilean]

a great lesson from a little animal...

 

[Fish828]

i liked that story a lot. it is unfortunate though that the majority of society really will lay down and give up before they fight, especially over something as important as your life. if you are faced with almost certain death, what do you have to loose by fighting for your life? nothing. what do you have to gain? everything.

 

[h0ss]

Great story. Short, to the point. Very strong message. I liked that, thanks.

 

[Grizfire]

I have a new respect for mice.

thanks

 

[BFallacy]

Hello!

Thank you so much for linking to my blog!

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ!

 

[Rachen]

I have always liked mice. They are really cute and yes, we did learn a great lesson from them.
However, the libperverts would still want us to be still and wait for a deranged gunman to execute us. If that "drill" was real, it would have been a sheer catastrophe. A firestorm burning out of control and fueled by a defenseless population.

 

[conw]

Wait, I hope the students were warned that it was a drill. If not, that's really bad news.

 

[conw]

Okay, got the link to work ( http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333069,00.html ) and they weren't warned. Oh, a text message was sent to their phones...wow, great thinking...I'd have been madder than hell! IMO this is assault.

Don't wanna hijack the thread, but this is outrageous.

 

[meef]

Muad'Dib!

 

[OMGWTFBBQ]

If the officer conducting the "drill" would have presented an opening to me he would have had a pencil sticking out of his neck. I know it sounds like empty bravado, but between news reports of beheadings, hijackings, school shootings, home invasions, and robberies where the victim complied and ended up dead anyway, I don't see how anyone could just stand against the wall and wait for the firing pin to hit the primer.

EDIT: I see he had a non realistic looking gun, that being the case, I probably just would have just called him a *$^#ing moron and gone back to doing my work once I put 2 and 2 together and figured out it was "just" a drill.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

It is a cute story and cute interpretation, but I think y'all are reading way too much into the mouse's behavior. First of all, mice and other rodents make a variety of ultrasonic sounds that we don't hear including warning noises, scared noises, etc. They also make sonic noises. In other words, there is a much greater range of mouse vocalization than most folks realize.

The notion that this particular mouse ascertained it was in a life or death situation and decided to put on a mean game face by growling is awfully subjective.

You can see the video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OWcK0iOT6Q&feature=related

Notice the noise is accompanied by a popping or clicking. Notice the behavior isn't aggressive. The mouse isn't trying to act in a defensive manner. Having handled rodents in the wild and in the lab, I assure you that they can and do have defensive behavior that can involve lunging at the perceived threat. The mouse is the bucket is obviously stressed, appears to have been trapped for some time, and while is making noise, the noise does not correspond with any sort of aggressive behavior.

As apparently many of y'all won't know, mice can be extremely aggressive, even carnivorous hunters. Grasshopper mice actually hunt in packs and are known to howl at night like coyotes, although the comparison is superficial.

 

[chris in va]

See, this is what I love about the forums. Misinformation can be thrown out to the masses, but someone with *real* experience can show up and correct the mistake.

Nice story though, I understand the idea.

I've come to the conclusion most of these 'internet stories' are pretty much Snopes material.

 

[El Tejon]

There is an ancient Chinese myth that a praying mantis held up an army after it refused to leave the road. Taking it as an omen from the Heavens, the general ordered his army to march around the mantis and salute the insect as they marched by.

Not looking like food=an excellent way not to get eaten.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

Flannery O'Connor drives the point home with her short story "A Good Man is Hard To Find."
And, it was published back in the "good old days."

This was one of the best blog posts I've read in a long time as opposed to the bulk of self effacing brain vomit being posted daily on blogs.

 

[conw]

I didn't see the part about the dummy gun, but obviously it wasn't too unrealistic or no one would have thought they were going to die.

I think the drill was irresponsible as hell. First off, it likely achieved nothing if it was obviously a drill. If it wasn't, it put the officer as well as the students at risk.

Even if the gun was obviously a fake, there are plenty of assaults that have involved fake weapons. Use the fake weapon to gain compliance then do what you want is the mindset of some criminals.

 

[one45auto]

The "lone gunman" experiement at the college reminds me of a story I've saved...somewhere....involving a similar experiment by scientists who were studying people's basic reactions to dangerous or life threatening situations. Not surprisingly, they found that the old "fight or flight" mythology wasn't true - most people did nothing when faced with a situation they hadn't anticipated or prepared for. Overloaded, they simply shut down.

Anecdotal evidence was provided by several firsthand accounts of disasters, including the airliner which caught fire on the runway many years ago. A couple was on that flight and immediately the husband jumped up and said they had to go - NOW, dragging his wife along with him. Her friend (who was also on the flight) and most of the other passengers simply sat there "looking dumbfounded and dazed." Within minutes the entire plane was engulfed in flames and dozens of people died - not because they didn't have the opportunity to get out, but rather that they waited too long to do so.

A similar account was given by a woman who worked in the World Trade Center. Just as in the case of the plane passengers, the majority of her co-workers remained at their desks - waiting for someone to tell them what to do, whether to leave or not. Most of them died as well.

Bottom line? Most people don't run or fight when danger threatens, they freeze like deer in the headlights.

 

[ants]

The drill was planned and announced.

Go read the full story about the drill before you draw conclusions.

Campus staff and students were notified of the drill 5 days prior to the event.

The purpose of the drill WAS NOT to evoke responses from the students, but to allow the campus police and local law enforcement to coordinate their emergency response techniques. Perhaps the Law Enforcement trainers on this forum will verify whether Chair Throwing by the students would have helped or hindered the drill.

The professor in that particular classroom didn't read campus announcements for five days, so he didn't know that it was a drill. That gave the Fox News reporters an idiot to interview. No news story is complete without a bonafide attempt to inflate, inflame, sensationalize and exaggerate the outcome of a planned and announced training event.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The purpose of the drill WAS NOT to evoke responses from the students, but to allow the campus police and local law enforcement to coordinate their emergency response techniques.

Really, then why were threats made against the students by the faux attacker? Why even involve students? Sorry, that horse don't fly.

 

[ants]

Think about it, Doublenaught:

If they actually meant to evoke extemporaneous responses from surprised students, then why did they issue announcements 5 days in advance?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

You tell me, ants. Why is threatening students necessary in a drill that isn't about students that is supposed to be testing the emergency personnel?

If they aren't trying to evoke responses from students, then they would not threaten them.

Think about it, ants.

While the claim is there that notice was given to students, faculty, and staff, did they get waviers from the people they were going to threaten to show that those involved were fully informed about the goings on and had an opportunity to not participate? Nope.

 

[ants]

Even if we don't necessarily agree, we're gentlemen enough to recognize and respect each other's point of view.

I do like the mouse story, whether it's true or not. It's a good teaching story.

Best regards, Doublenaught.
ants

 

[btucker1947]

Good analogy about the mouse. The ones that lined up against the wall, LOLO I have to wonder, pathetic , yes. I also wonder how many bullies were standing there against it. It,s sad but a fact that most people will let someone just shoot them, before they'll fight for their life.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

The purpose of the drill WAS NOT to evoke responses from the students, but to allow the campus police and local law enforcement to coordinate their emergency response techniques. Perhaps the Law Enforcement trainers on this forum will verify whether Chair Throwing by the students would have helped or hindered the drill.

Then why didn't the guy playing the part of the criminal just walk into the classroom and say "hey, sorry for the interruption, but I'm from _____ Police, we're conducting a test of the local response times. In a few moments more police officers may arrive to simulate arresting me, in the meantime continue with your lesson. Thanks for your cooperation" ?

 

[ants]

I'm certainly not defending the guy

Then why didn't the guy playing the part of the criminal just walk into the classroom and say "hey, sorry for the interruption...

Probably he was an idiot and a jerk, and got all caught up in his role playing without keeping the students' welfare paramount in his mind. If so, that was a mistake.

There is no question that the exercise was planned and announced, you can see that in the report. The Fox News story only quotes the professor as being frightened. If the students saw the announcement and knew that the actor with the red rubber gun was part of the drill, then they were probably annoyed and lined up on the wall while hoping the drill would end quickly. Maybe we're all reading too much in the Fox News story.