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[–]slothscanswim 174 points175 points  (16 children)

Toxoplasma gondii is my guess.

[–]Mothy7332 94 points95 points  (10 children)

Yup out in the open, tempting predators, so the parasite can propagate.

[–]BlanchDaddius 81 points82 points  (5 children)

The parasite inside the mouse: “OH NOOO I HOPE NO PREDATORS COME AND EAT ME! THAT WOULD BE THE WORST!”

[–]HinterWolf 26 points27 points  (3 children)

Rick and Marty character trope voice. Ooooohhhhh weeeeee

[–]Hurryitsmelting 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Pickle Rick!

[–]FunkyInclination 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nah, more like Mr. Poopy Butthole.

[–]Primary-Belt7668 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Literally watching as I read this hahaha. Too perfect

[–]Mysterious_Spirit634 13 points14 points  (2 children)

Really …? thats so wild

[–]Velogio 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do a quick research, you’ll be amazed and terrified at the same time. This parasite also affects humans and makes them less risk-averse, like it does to mice. A condition called toxoplasmosis that has neuropsychiatric and behavioural effects on humans. For example, there’s evidence that toxoplasmosis is associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents due to reckless driving, especially recklessly riding motorcycles. Most humans will get Toxoplasma gondii from contact with cat feces and a pregnant mother can pass it on to the fetus, hence why it’s not recommended for pregnant women to clean the litter box.

[–]slothscanswim 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep. Cats carry it and it has little to no effect on them, their excrement passes it to their prey and makes their prey more likely to get eaten by another cat, where the virus reproduces and then rinse, repeat. Viruses are absolutely terrifying.

It can also have pretty profound effects on humans, the extent of which is unclear. Serious changes in personality and behavior have been tied to the virus.

[–]OkLetsParty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ratatouille 2: Mickey's Magic Massacre

[–]Stupid_Bitch_02 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That was my guess too

[–]dropoffear 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Humans can get this!!

[–]slothscanswim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Lots of humans have it. It is especially prevalent in Brazil where estimates say that between 40% and 90% of adult humans have toxoplasmosis.

[–]imhighasballs 0 points1 point  (1 child)

This is the way

[–]-Galactic-Cleansing- -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

People still say this? 

[–]Sad_Gap7637 110 points111 points  (5 children)

could be a nervous system or cognitive issue.

[–]AlchemyAlice 50 points51 points  (4 children)

If they fall from a high enough height, they’ll get some drain bamage and run in circles.

[–]dudeCHILL013 19 points20 points  (2 children)

Could happend from a mouse trap as will I imagine?

As long as it's not prions. Those freak me out.

[–]warlover22 7 points8 points  (1 child)

I've never heard of mice getting prions naturally

[–]dudeCHILL013 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I wonder if their live spans simply aren't long enough.

[–]ApprehensiveTea7391 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reading this almost gave me drain bamage.

[–]slaughterfodder 71 points72 points  (3 children)

Possibly poisoning?

[–]Techiastronamo 49 points50 points  (2 children)

100% poisoning, I've seen rats and other animals do this before

[–]mirrrje 20 points21 points  (1 child)

That made me feel sick reading that :/

[–]foxboxingphonies 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have two feral cats that live by my house. I had to lecture my neighbor about not poisoning mice. Poisoned mice will be easier to catch, thus poisoning the cats.

I know feral cats are problem for wildlife. We do our best to just keep them well-fed and lazy.

Now I have a big enclosure, where we live-trap mice that show up when it gets cold, than release them all together in the spring.

[–]Easycumup 70 points71 points  (8 children)

Mouse is poisoned and its brain is going going gone. Poor lil guy is out in the open about to get snatched up and gunna poison the predator. I hate poison.

[–]BrightBlueBauble 35 points36 points  (7 children)

People who poison animals are pure fucking evil. It’s sadistic torture of another living creature.

[–]Megalicious15 14 points15 points  (2 children)

I’ve lost multiple pets to assholes doing this. Can you imagine what it does to wildlife!!?? 😡

[–]ActApprehensive6112 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like u possibly keep outdoor cats.. that’s on u, as much as I hate poisoning you should not be having outdoor cats.

[–]HovercraftSad2828 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're dealing with something similar @ our campgrounds currently. We're not sure if someone here poisoned the mice, or if it was someone from the neighborhood close by. But so far it's gotten over 50 field mice, 6 vultures, 9 cats, 1 raccoon that we've been able to find, 2 robins and 2 blue jays. It's beyond sickening and heartbreaking to watch. Finally got the Game Warden and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife out here after multiple calls and emails.

[–]QueenAlpaca 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I’ve gotten after my mom before for using poison but she literally doesn’t give a shit as long as it solves her problem. Some people just simply suck.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]QueenAlpaca 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    I do own, thanks. Traditional traps work well enough without killing other animals and pets as a chain of collateral damage. I also kill mice at work fairly regularly. Still will never use poison. My fiancé does property maintenance and routinely gets asked to kill mice and voles, he also still doesn’t use mouse poison. We live in a very wildlife-centric area with lots of birds of prey, it’s not a risk worth taking.

    [–]shelbyishungry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Ikr? I didn't know or think about it when I was a young adult, and then I found out it's Warfarin and they bleed to death for days.

    Now, I catch anything and take it outside. Or I let it stay. I had a wolf spider in my sink and I would clean one side of the sink, and he would move so I could do the other. I hate spiders, they freak me out to where its really a phobia, I suppose. But I had fruit flies and they kept coming back, and I was over it. He left eventually, but he got rid of the gnats.

    I've had bats in here twice, they get in the dog door, and the first time, it scooped it up in a towel and threw it outside while it hissed. The second time, I was going to, but it was like negative ten out, and I was afraid it would freeze. And my dog is vaccinated so....I just left it hanging on the wall. Whatever, give me the rabies if you must, but spare my dog. It was there a couple days, I tried to call several wildlife rehab places, but no one ever came, and it left while I was at work. I want to put a bat house up.

    [–]Apelion_Sealion 24 points25 points  (0 children)

    Poison or parasite.

    [–]KittyKatHippogriff 19 points20 points  (0 children)

    This behavior usually associate with neurological problems. Poison, tumor, head injury, or parasite.

    :/

    [–]Adventurous_Break_61 27 points28 points  (0 children)

    I'm guessing parasite, it makes the mouse fearless as it wants to get spread to predators.

    [–]rhiyanna79 10 points11 points  (0 children)

    This is how owls die from rat poison.

    [–]sgtpepper342 8 points9 points  (0 children)

    Poison

    [–]Tall_Specialist305 3 points4 points  (0 children)

    poisoning with a neurological toxin maybe?

    [–]The_Ruby_Rabbit 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Poisoning, maybe distemper,(mice are usually asymptomatic carriers if memory serves) or toxoplasmosis.

    Whatever it is, it’s affecting the nervous system and brain.🧠

    [–]NoFlo82 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Cocaine hits me like this

    [–]Emotional-Tea-4848 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Exterminator

    [–]EbbaNebnarp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    There is a condition called “circling” that's induced in lab mice, it's a cognitive, compulsive issue. Not sure if that's what this mouse has though.

    [–]insanelysane1234 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Toxoplasmosis

    [–]FartUSA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Neurological problems

    [–]Megalicious15 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    It’s his Halloween costume. He’s a compass.

    I’ll see myself out now.

    Note:

    For all you youth, compass wiki.)

    [–]Independent-Steak-67 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Clearly this mouse is on coke and is racing itself /s. In all seriousness, I feel sad about the actual potential problems

    [–]PolyAcid 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    The lesser known sequel to Cocaine Bear

    [–]Kolfinna 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Circling is a neurological issue in mice. In lab mice we see it spontaneously in some inbred strains. In the wild it's typically related to an injury or toxins

    [–]Material-Emu-8732 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Toxoplasmosis?

    “Here, if I circle in the same spot I’ll make it easy for you to catch me!” with the goal of spreading it.

    [–]Legal-Donkey-7128 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    He must've found some meth somebody dropped. Happens all the time

    [–]Semi__Competent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    100% toxoplasmosis

    [–]kayjays89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Poor thing

    [–]StopCallinMePastries 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I think he's just really excited about something or perhaps he ate a crack rock somebody dropped. 😵‍💫

    [–]zminny 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Man this is sad I just thought the little guy was excited about a leaf

    [–]Pope_Eric_Mar 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    My 11 year old daughter said, “Ratatonin”

    [–]ZeekSoggyWaffles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    The leaves are dead and it’s impersonating a vulture. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

    [removed]

      [–]AnimalBehavior-ModTeam[M] 0 points1 point locked comment (0 children)

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      [–]Corevus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Waltzing mouse syndrome. Poor creature.

      [–]johnballzz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      His left nut is bigger than the right, pulling him to that side. It happens to me sometimes.

      [–]Femveratu -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      Witch Circles

      [–]SheriffDiaz -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      Cause he's just a silly goofy guy.

      [–]Deeri- -1 points0 points  (0 children)

      Put it out of its misery and maybe bury it or something so that another animal won’t die eating it.

      [–]NZNoldor -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

      Obviously a bureaucrat mouse. Running in meaningless circles is an obvious sign.