A little over a year ago we heard some squeaking and determined that there was a mouse in the apartment. Maintenance set out glue traps, which eventually yielde

A little over a year ago we heard some squeaking and determined that there was a mouse in the apartment. Maintenance set out glue traps, which eventually yielded a terrified wriggling little grey intruder stuck to a piece of plastic. The recommendation was to just throw the mouse in the garbage, but I know starvation is a terrible way to die, so I took it out back and killed it with a knife. It was not a fun process. I drank a lot of whisky to get up the nerve. It took a few stabs before it stopped moving. But honestly I didn't feel that bad about it afterwards. It's a mouse. When we clear a forest, drain a lake, pollute a river, or build a road, animals die worse deaths, but we don't see it happening. When we reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone a bunch of herbivores were hunted down and eaten by beasts they had never known to exist. I did the best I could to give it the least painless death I could, which is how all livestock are harvested. Other problems weigh much heavier on my mind.