Rats love cheese. Mice love cheese, too. It’s one of those stereotypes, isn’t it? Food is a fundamental need of all physical beings. We need it for survival. And yet, if we look at the food and beverage industry, it is not courting our survival needs, but trying to arouse our desires. It goes well and beyond what we actually need to survive.
I remembered how when I was a child, we would trap rats by luring them into a cage or a clunk of glue with a piece of cheese. Some mornings or evenings, we would return to these traps and see the mouse there–caged, trapped and unable to go anywhere for we had used its survival instinct against itself.
The rat’s survival instinct, instead of helping it to survive, had instead lured it into the arms of the biggest predator in the world–the human.
But are rats that different to us? Scientists will probably say no due to the genetic similarities. Rats, much like pigeons, are two animals that flourish, instead of flounder, in urban environments. They must be a great deal like us to be able to live with us and propagate, much like we do.
Sometimes, in our life, chasing after our survival needs ends up being something that traps us. We end up getting and feeling ‘stuck’ in glue or locked in the cage; and the man who lured us there won’t let us out.
At the same time, if I were looking at it from another angle, I would say that a mouse really knows how to appreciate and accept the little things in life; even if it is just a piece of cheese.
The mouse is a humble and modest creature. It isn’t seeking luxurious conditions in which to flourish as a species. It is able and willing to use anything it can to survive. Our survival needs are not as complex as societal norms have conditioned them to be. We don’t need much to survive.
At the same time, I did come to realise that this trick–clunk of glue and cage–did not work indefinitely. Rats are fast learners. After a while, they stopped falling for these traps. They had adapted to the prevailing difficulty and had learned to survive despite the fact that there were people out to get them and that the odds were stacked against them.
We may never trust the rat, but at the same time, it is a resourceful animal and I just can’t help but admire its lack of pretence.
The Mercantile 
It happens when we change the survival mode to thriving mode. One is based on the scarcity and the other in the abundance, but to tune it, its needed a modest behaviour.
The main substance is the content of purpose. Albert Einstein told a tale, that there is ” presence of Energy (God) and the lack of thy”
Also the tale about the Chinese Zodiac and the arrival of the mouse in first place.
The rats are pointed with the pest, the mices are used in the labs.
“Ratatouille” film shows also the cooperative mode of both species.
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I was actually thinking of the film Ratatoille as I crafted this post. It’s been years since I saw it though! What was the cooperative mode of both species?
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Yes, i watch it, simbiosis (reciprocity among species ) its common in the fauna, nature. Rat & mices, building together. also with anemona and clown fishes and more examples.
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I remember when I was a child, we would trap rats by luring them into a cage or a clunk of glue with a piece of cheese. Some mornings or evenings, we would return to these traps and see the mouse there–caged, trapped and unable to go anywhere for we had used its survival instinct against itself.
But are rats that different to us? Scientists will probably say no due to the similarities between rats and humans. For example, rats are social animals and humans are, too. Rats are also intelligent, and they can learn new things quickly. In fact, rats have been trained to solve problems and complete tasks. All of these are similar to what humans do. So, do humans treat rats differently because of their similarities to us?
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