“Wee sleekit, cowrin, timrous beastie, Oh what a panic’s in thy breastie” are the immortal words of the Scottish poet Robert Burns’ ode, “To a Mouse”. The inspiration for this famous Burns poem was an occasion when he overturned a mouse nest while working as a ploughman and realizing how he had disturbed the frightened and scampering little creature, he penned this timeless piece of poetry. His work as farmer is what led him also being referred to as the Ploughman Bard.

The Best Laid Plans

“To a Mouse” actually contains one of the most often quoted lines when Burns wrote:

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain” which when translated into plain English reads “The best laid schemes of mice and men, Go often askew, And leaves us nothing but grief and pain”.

Watching this little creature scurrying for its life stirred Robert Burns to compare the life of a mouse with that of a human as he observed how it had escaped with its life following a close brush with death. How different from my own encounters with mice as we simply looked for ways to catch and kill them if found within the home, considering them as most people do, as vermin.

Perhaps if I had read this Burns poem a bit more carefully and understood its meaning, I would have been inclined to be more lenient on these harmless rodents who pose no danger to humans whatsoever. The only time I have attempted to rescue a mouse was when I witnessed one being tormented by a neighborhood cat for quite some time. It seemed as thought the cat had no intention of killing the mouse for food, but was content to play with it, allowing the frightened little creature to escape a few yards before pouncing on it again.

Cat Torture

Now that the mouse was not a pest in my eyes but an underdog in this battle for survival, I felt moved to become an ally and take action. I came to the rescue of the defenseless mouse by tossing a few pebbles in the direction of the playful cat who soon forgot all about the game it playing as stones began to descend on it. On reflection, the cat’s cruelty toward the mouse had been replaced by my cruelty toward the cat. However, I felt fully justified as I watched the cat torture this little mouse mercilessly and decided it was time to bring it to an end.

Ultimately, the cat lived and so did the mouse, so no lasting harm was done and no-one called the RSPCA to charge me with abusing the neighborhood cat.