(Baltimore, MD) High-pitched shrieks and hysterical, flailing women brought the afternoon symposium at the National Feminist Convention (NFC) in Baltimore to a halt Friday afternoon when a mouse ran across the floor of the packed Baltimore Convention Center.

The more than 12,000 women in attendance stood up in their chairs and began screaming during a keynote speech by Sally Rogers, president of Woman Power, a non-profit organization that fights for women’s
equality in the workplace.

Rogers, who was speaking on the fallacy that women can’t do some jobs men can, said the sudden cries from the crowd startled her.

“I noticed a lady in the third row was pointing down the aisle with a look of complete horror on her face. Then, the pandemonium started,” said Rogers, who broke a nail attempting to climb on top of the podium.

Kathy Dyson, a New York attorney, said she nearly fainted when the tiny mouse crawled past her shoe.

“It all happened so fast. I saw his beady little eyes running toward me. The next thing I knew, he was running past my foot. His tail brushed against my shoe, which made me start gagging,” said Dyson, bursting into tears. “If only my boyfriend had been here.”

While women at the back of the room ran toward the exits, women at the front of the room were unable to move, as the innocuous rodent continued to scurry across the first few rows, blocking their escape. Several women began to shout for help, hoping one of the male convention staffers would come to the rescue.

“I kept looking around, hoping I could find something to throw at the repulsive creature. For the first time in my life, I wished I had a rolling pin,” said Rogers.

Jim Austin, a maintenance worker at the convention center, was outside jumping off an attendee’s dead battery when he heard the loud, shrilly cries coming from the convention hall.

“Once I get inside, I saw the mouse running under a refreshments table. I was able to capture him with a paper cup,” said Austin.

While Austin originally planned on crushing the mouse with his work boot, he decided against it after noticing that several women had already passed out.

“I figured these sensitive ladies would freak out at the sight of blood, so I released him behind the building,” said Austin.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, but paramedics were called to provide oxygen masks and smelling salts for over a dozen unconscious women. Several attendees had to be treated at a nearby hospital for stress-induced migraines and sprained ankles.

While NFC organizers originally planned to continue the afternoon symposium after a short break, they quickly realized the crowd was too shaken to go on.

“We realized a lot of attendees needed to get back to their hotel rooms and lie down,” said Jill Florence, an events coordinator for NFC. “It’s hard to pay attention to a panel about equal pay when all you can think about is calling your girlfriends and recounting the traumatic afternoon in painstaking detail.”

“I just needed to head back to my room and decompress with some Ben and Jerry’s,” said one attendee.

NFC event organizers hope next year’s convention in Seattle will be rodent-free.

“We haven’t had a convention this bad since one of our 2003 speakers was late due to a flat tire,” said Florence. “Fortunately, her husband was able to come change it for her.”