Thats interesting I've never herd that but makes sense. After hours of play the mice will come right up to Pouncey and curl up agent is fur. They didn't turn off Pounceys gene, the look on his face is like ?WTF?!
when this happens he either snuggles up too or runs away.
Pouncey was going nuts in my kitchen a couple of months back I then found mouse droppings in a drawer. I set a live trap and caught 2 wild mice. I put them in the bath tub to show Pouncey what was in the kitchen. They were terrified I didn't let Pouncey touch them it would have been cruel IMO. I didn't want to let them go either just to get back in the house. I not going to just kill and flush them, same goes for spiders, bees or anything else that ventures in, well maybe not flies or mosquitoes I guess. So I gave them to a cobra and he doesn't play with his food. I chose the cobra because his venom is different than most. It has calming and sedative properties. I didn't want to cause them any more stress.
You mentioned primal fear its very real I'm scared to death of spiders. So I keep a big one in my bedroom to overcome it. Its been there for years and I still wake up in terror thinking I feel it crawling on me.