By J. Savage, Contributor
we share 99% of our DNA with mice. colds, salmonella, the flu. they don’t do well in extreme heat or cold but – they do forgotten corners. i find it hard to understand what’s to be afraid of but i guess they can signal bad things. bad things like—abandonment, neglect, a loss of control. there’s an entire industry for getting rid of them; our lungs work the same. handling them is like: tiny little humans who need all the protection from sickness they can get. their hearts beat a gallon for every tick of mine. it makes sense to test on them, i guess, since we’re practically cousins. it also makes sense why they’re so dangerous. makes sense why we’re so dangerous, sharing so much of ourselves with a pest. in good conditions, they can live a year, maybe two, taking up every unused corner of every building in the city. even pet stores get the feral ones, less valuable, more threatening. i spent 21$ on three female mice and feed them medicine with an eye dropper but quarantine the walk-in the minute i find droppings. it’s easy to know if i’m holding them right: you can tell by their heartbeats.