I’ve never liked mice. When I was a little boy living in the country east of Claresholm my neighbour had a shed where they kept their dog food. My neighbour friend and I went in there one night to feed the dogs and when we turned on the lights the floor was full of mice. I stepped on a few as I ran out and ever since then mice have really given me the creeps.
At this stage in my life I can deal with a mouse if I have to but I typically avoid them if I can.
Well, when I was 17 I had a summer job as the tourist information worker at the Station Cultural Centre, now known as the Okotoks Art Gallery.
One morning my boss informed me that since I was the only male working there it was my job to deal with the mice in the building and that there was a mouse in the live trap.
You’ve probably seen these live mousetraps before.
It’s a shiny metal box with a hole that the mouse can go into. Once they are in, they can’t get back out again.
So there I am, looking at this metal box. Knowing that there was a mouse in there it was a big step to even pick the thing up off the floor.
I persevered, picked it up, walked outside as fast as I could, ran to the far side of the property, and set the box down.
I unlatched the side door of the trap with my shoe to release the mouse and took several quick steps back. As the furry little critter bounded off towards the railway tracks I was quite proud of myself for facing my fear and extremely relieved that the ordeal was over.
I had never used one of these live traps before and I was curious to see how it worked. I picked it up, held it right in front of my face and looked inside. I was expecting to see the inner mechanics of the trap but instead I saw another mouse looking back at me. At this point instincts took over.
I threw the box as far as I could into the air. Yelled at the top of my lungs. Half ran and half jumped back to the front steps of the Station. I looked around. Phew, no one saw me.
I took a minute to regain my composure and went back inside. As I walked past my bosses office I calmly stated, “I got rid of the mouse for you.”
