I think this might be the first time I talk about why my fursona is a mouse. The reason is actually more elaborate than people realize and I've given my characters a lot of thought over time. I know that my username says "squirrel" but as you have read in my description, I chose that name when I came in and at the time my fursona was a squirrel and I later changed to mouse. There are several reasons for me identifying as a mouse.

Let's start with the first and perhaps most obvious of these: I grew up watching a lot of mouse movies! The Rescuers, An American Tail, The Great Mouse Detective, The Secret of NIMH; there was so much representation of mice in animated movies growing up. To be honest, I'm very surprised more furries aren't mice with the abundance of these movies. The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail Fievel Goes West are still two of my favorite movie, probably more so the former especially with the design of the mice which I now use for most of my characters; and the latter of which taking place in my home state of Arizona. So in a nutshell, the first reason I identify with mice is because of my love for cartoon mice.

The second reason is a cultural reason. The mouse is an important animal to many of the first peoples of Arizona, the land of my ancestors. To the Pueblo people in particular, the mouse is two different things (among many others as well): a warrior, and a healer. As a warrior, the mouse is perceived as small and physically weak, but in folklore the mouse proves everyone wrong, to the point of winning a war for one of the villages of the Mesas. Mice are also healers, and doing all of their work in good will, and were so good at what they did that they could easily tell who was faking an illness. I like to think of myself as a warrior, and I am a healer in my community; not in the typical "doctor" sense but in that I alleviate the physical, mental, and spiritual burdens people around me have, in my own ways. The functions I serve in my day-to-day are those of the mouse in Arizona Indian folklore. The mouse is perceived as weak and small as I have in my life. At many points as I was growing up I was told that I was reaching too high, that classical music (where I work now) isn't a career that would work for me, or that being sober would be my only accomplishment if that, or that I was best cut out for community college (if I could graduate high school) and not any big name university. Like the mouse, even though they perceived me as weak and unable like the rest, I have done so much more than anyone expected and I have more to accomplish.

The third reason is for how mice behave in nature. Mice, for whatever reason, have a great amount of empathy for each other. Experiments that people have done have shown that when you have two mice that are captured in some situation and one of the mice escapes, that mouse will actually try and rescue his companion before running to their safety. Even more recently there was a story about two mice that were fed to a snake in a pet store. As one of the mice was being eaten, the other mouse was desperately trying to stop the snake from eating the other mouse, to not much success, but still, the mouse gave it its all and I found this story so touching even though it had a sad ending. Many people who know me in person know that I try to give and help people as much as I can to the point of going way out of my way to do so. In my culture and upbringing we are instructed to give relentlessly, and I live by that value. I give my time, I give gifts, I give all my efforts, because like the mouse in nature, I don't feel well satisfied or happy until I know that all the others around me are doing well and they have all their needs taken care of, even if I have to do all of it for them. When you my friends are in pain, I am in pain with you. When you are happy, I am happy with you; and for those who did not already know, I am here for you in your times of need. I know often times you are afraid to ask for help, I am too as some of you have seen, but I have also seen how much loving and hearing each other goes, and like those who helped me, I am also here to help you, just as the mouse would do.

I hope I brought some good thoughts and energy to you all, and made you rethink the mouse, not just as a fursona but also as the animal it is. I love being a mouse, I am grateful to Creator for such an animal and such a blessing.