Bamps (11-26-2015)
Last year at about this time, a rat found its way onto our porch and took up residence there. I freaked out. Completely.
My husband bravely tore up its nest and banged a shovel against the ground to scare it off. The rat looked vaguely annoyed but fairly comfortable as it sauntered off.
The thing about the rat is that it's readily identifiable because of its tail. Or lack of most of it. I'd say that life's circumstances have left it with about three inches.
All summer I've been collecting various forms of rat control but haven't actually seen the rat. A few weeks ago though, I opened the basement windows and when I went to close them, found a large hole in one of the screens. I put out the various forms of rat control I had collected in the basement but never saw any evidence that it was being consumed. So I relaxed. Just like it wanted me to.
Last night I went down to get some meat out of the freezer for the dogs heard a sound and saw this nightmare with a shortened tail crawling slowly down the wall by the utility sink.
My husband has now made it his mission in life to kill this rat, mostly because he doesn't like me waking him up at 2 am. He went down this morning and set five traps, spiked with peanut butter. The rat saw him doing this and poked its head out just to say hi to an old friend. I spread about five pounds of various kinds of rat poison. The rat touched none of it.
Then I realized that the plumbing work we did this year could cause a huge problem. There is a hole behind our first floor bathtub that leads to the hallway off the living room because we didn't have an access panel. We don't see this hole because the hall door is always open. But it's clear that the rat could come up from the basement into my living room through this hole and eat me while I'm watching TV. So we came up with the brilliant idea of creating a hinged door for easy access to the plumbing because more will be done in the future which would have been solved by a quick trip to Home Depot. Unfortunately, Massachusetts has blue laws which basically state that the only two businesses that can legally be open on Thanksgiving are CVS and Uno's so basically you can get shampoo and deep dish pizza. We ended up stapling a piece of cardboard from the recycling pile over the hole and went out to eat. But before we left, I poured, and I mean poured peppermint oil all over that hole because rodents are supposed to hate the smell. And the top step of the basement stairs just in case.
We had a very nice pizza dinner. Came back, opened the door and were just about bowled over by the lovely smell of peppermint.
My house smells like Christmas!
Bamps (11-26-2015)
I would be sleeping at a hotel, lol!
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Holy smokes, Chrismas already. Tell your pet rat me and Opie said merry Christmas!!!
I would've been out last year!
I hate rats.
So sorry but I'm laughing so hard. At least the house smells like peppermint instead of what a rat usually leaves behind.
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You won't have any sinus problems either. Peppermint seems to clear them right out. I put a drop of P oil on a cotton ball and rub it up my screens to thwart cat climbing. And I leave a small bowl with cotton ball by each window, one on each end of my dining room table, and one each on the buffet and sewing machine I got from my Mum. A Sunday task now is to refresh each bowl with another drop. Orange peel worked for a while but when they saw Oban eating oranges and peel they tried it too.
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I know having a wild rat inside ins't a good thing, but they can be cute! i have a mouse problem, and what i have to do to get them out is sad...
Try watching Ratatouille, or check out these links
19 Pieces Of Life Advice From Cute Rats
Therapy Dog And Pet Rat Have Magical Friendship Most Can Only Dream Of - BarkPost
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You do realize, of course, that since your house is a converted barn (I'm not misremembering that, am I?), rats were there first. His family (hah...probably a female) handed down stories about living there long before humans set up shop. He's just continuing tradition.
And if I'm misremembering this, just ignore my attempt at humor.
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