Lunar New Year is around the corner... but since summer of last year... our household has been stuck in a do-loop of commemorating the year of the friggin rat.
It all started in late August... when one day... I discovered my Cup of Noodles were chewed into. Half the box was gone. Started cleaning up the garage and discovered more and more rodent droppings and other food items devoured into... including an entire box of Costco Microwaved popcorn. We called pest control in early September and they set some traps and rat poison out. On 9/14... we discovered the body and thought that was it.....
Don't have the exact timeline anymore... but it must've been sometime in October. One night when NN went to volleyball practice... we discovered Liquid IV came out from a hole in her bag. She thought it was a tear... I saw it and right away knew... the rat is back.
Soon after... I started Merci chocolate wrappers in the kitchen room floor. How?! What?!
And then one fateful night... I heard it under our bed. Scratches. Noises. It woke me up in the middle of the night. I had a feeling it was rodents... so I made a bunch of noise and turned on my flash light to scare the guy away. I was too sleepy to do anything.
And then I occurred to me... several weeks ago while asleep... I felt something scratch the bottom of my feet. I let out a scream... thinking it was a nightmare. Oh my goodness... the rat was chewing on my foot!!!!
Late November... I continued to see Merci chocolate wrapping on the kitchen floor. Occassionally... the living room garbage would be found dug into and spilled on the floor. So I went and bought a couple of "humane" traps and a bottle of mouse repellant. The trap is suppose to lure them in... one way in, no way out. I put it in the kitchen and garage. Each day... I wake up hoping to find a prize in my boxes. Nothing. They haven't even touched the bait of Cheerios.
In early December... I contacted the pest control again and said the rodents are back. They came out and explained that rats are outdoors and mice are indoors. We have an infestation of both. So he set some more traps and bait (poison) around the house hoping in time... our guests will help themselves out.
After a while... I wanted to test things out to see if the rat poison and traps worked (like the first time). So I put some cheerios on the garage floor and underneath my living room console and the kitchen corner. By morning... they were gone. Our guests... had a feast.
That's when I finally decided to look underneath the bed. That noise... from a few weeks ago.... was actually a mouse in our room. I had a canvas bag that was ripped to shreds. The documents in there were all chewed up. And lo and behold.... in the middle of that canvas bag.... was a pack of Merci Chocolate that someone gave me to a few years ago that I didn't want to eat... but wanted as a sentimental keepsake. The rat smelled it all the way from the garage!?!?!?!?!? How many times did I keep coming back to help themselves???????
Once again... we called pest control. Once again... they set traps and food (poison). Middle of December... I got fed up. I went to Home Depot and opted for the "unethical" solution... I bought a pack of the sticky mats and put them everwhere. Under neath the bed... under the living room console table. I sprinkled some Cheerios as bait hoping I can nab the culprit. The next morning.. I woke up to examine my prize.... and I saw the glue pad had flipped over. The Cheerios were gone. I flipped it over and saw some mouse hair stuck onto the glue. I almost got it!!!
If one trap wasn't enough... this time, I placed three. One next to another, next to another. I added some Cheerios again as bait. This was going to be it.... I had it this time. I go to bed with a smile on my face... thinking I had outsmarted Mickey. Next morning I wake up to examine the trap.... they're no longer in a neat row. One is on the other side of the living room and one of the sticky trap... is flat out missing!! No clue where it went!!! Must've gotten stuck to the rat... and he ran off with a trap on his back or something.
For the umpteenth time... we call pest control. They're saying it's not a cute little mouse... it's a rat. Nothing the technician can do... but toss away our teeny-tiny glue traps... and set up more professional traps. Give it a week... it should take care of the problem.
Every morning... I wake up... and I examine the kitchen and dining room floor for mouse/rat poop. And without a doubt... sometimes there'll be 1-2. Sometimes there'll be a bunch. It's still here! There are days when it's silent... and I would hope that it's gone...gone... gone.
Then towards the end of December, we took a little trip out of town. The day we get back... not only was there rat poop in the kitchen... in the dining room... it was also in OUR room. And in NN's room!! The house ran amuck everywhere when we were gone. I drove to pick up some dinner... and Joyce texted me... "The rat got into our pantry." There were pictures of a half eaten bowl of buldak. Our spaghetti was gone. Ripped to shreads. The dude went to town.
Throughout the Christmas holiday... we were home almost all the time, into the wee hours of night. So I thought we'd scared it off with our noise and lights (unlike when we took off for vacation). Everything was quiet for about two weeks. I'll occassionally see rat poop in the morning... but nothing too major. At the turn of the year... things took a turn for the worst.
Last week.. as usual... I woke up and walked surveyed the kitchen and dining room. Of course, there was rat poop everywhere. On our counter... the corn bread that was in a plastic container was eaten into. The rat... ATE THROUGH THE PLASTIC!!! And for some reason... the microwave was pushed out about 5-6". Ugh.... the rat got behind there and started to frolick. I tossed the cornbread... shoved the microwave back into place... when... BOOM!!!! The rat jumped out from behind the microwave!!!!! I almost smooshed it!!!!
It was scared.
I was scared.
I grabbed a broom and chased. It ran away towards the fireplace.
I didn't know where it went.
Back in the kitchen... it came back another door way and went behind the fridge.
I tried to corner it and started jabbing the broom blindly and frantically like a mad man.
It worked.
I scared it enough.. the rodent succurried out the other side and ran for heaven and earth.
I started to chase. But couldn't see it anymore.
It was gone.
But for the first time... I saw it FACE TO FACE!!!! IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!
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