rats

This was Dec. 5, 2011. Got in the truck to head to the post office to get stamps to mail out holiday cards. Smelled something funny. Did all my graduate school research on rats so I know the smell. Opened the hood. Saw that a lot of the insulation was gone. Then smelled the poop and pee. Drove to the post office in Covington to also stop by Wal-Mart to get rat bait/poison. Came back home and opened the hood again. Was on the phone with my friend, Chris. What do I happen to see looking back at me after I had the hood up for about a minute?!?!? A rat! Very back of the engine area. Chris said that I was very calm. Yeah, that whole research thing again. But now I'm pissed. Put the bait in the truck. Post on FB. But then friends post about about their friends having done the same thing but not being able to find the animal again and having to sell the vehicle cause of the stench. Take bait out the next day and head to Home Depot to get traps. Sticky ones and the newer plastic version of the classic metal/wood trap. Put in apple and peanut butter to entice. Notice that some of the bait had been eaten but not much.













Piece of poop. Lots more.













This is Dec. 14, 2011. Headed out to take the kids to the bus stop. Happen to look down on the driveway. Woohoo success! Kids were amazed. And freaked. It was about the size of the palm of my hand. Not big but big enough.



















Then for some reason a few days later I went to the back yard and checked on the grill. Had rat problems last winter. Well, we have them again now. So I put the rest of the opened rat bait under the grill and put the cover back on. Will deal with it in the spring so that it can thoroughly be fumigated/cleaned.

But while I was at Home Depot after Christmas seeing what was left for sales, I saw our neighbors there. They live around the corner. He was standing in front of the rat bait and trap section. Turns out they have them in their crawl space. I guess when their a/c was put in some gaps were left around the tubing/vents and they are now living under the house. Plus along their back fence area. So they were after bait and traps. Then another guy comes up - not sure where he lives. He's after bait and traps, too. They're in his engine compartment. Must be a bad year for them....