I think it is really unfair! They are furry, cute creatures that look very much like hamsters and we don't hate them! Maybe it is the tails - they do kind of gross me out. Anyway, we have a rat in our garage. I have seen signs of said rat. Then when we were getting our Christmas decorations down from the attic this weekend, guess what I saw. Apparently my rat friend in the garage has some other friends up in the attic. Not good...pretty gross in fact.
Well, last night I had this crazy dream. I have been worried that the rat in the attic might get down into my closet. I had a dream there was a black and white rat (he was actually very cute) in my closet eating one of my favorite blouses. It is a white fluffy blouse that I only wear at Christmas time and my husband hates it (he says it looks like the shirt Seinfield wore in the pirate episode). Maybe subconsciously I was trying to tell myself NOT to wear it this year. So while Mr. Rat was eating my pirate shirt, I ran to the garage to put on some plastic gloves and grabbed a glass to put the rat in so I could take him outside and not kill him. I put the gloves on and there was a slug in one of the fingers, so I screamed and made my husband do it. He found the rat (who really looked more like a cat - he was huge) in my clothes and stuffed him head first into the glass. His body was sticking out, but he was trapped. My husband (loving man that he is - he won't even kill spiders in the house) threw the glass at me and ran out. I woke up screaming as I held the glass with the trapped very unhappy rat who was suffocating.
So this morning, I determined that I would figure out a way to get these rats out of our little piece of the world (after I feed them my pirate shirt). As I was taking my daily walk with sweet little Mayzie this morning, she runs into the bushes and comes out with .... a tail sticking out of her mouth. ANOTHER RAT??? She had caught a rat! First time in all of our walks during her entire life - the day after my dream! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Poor little guy - when she dropped him, he was half dead and I felt so bad for him. He tried to crawl into the bushes, but couldn't move. He looked at me with these big brown eyes and being a hamster owner, it melted my heart. He died while we were walking. Later my husband kicked him into the bushes (he said he was stiff) so kids wouldn't see him on their walk home from school. No respect for rats in this world.
I know this story is long, but I'm getting to the point. I asked my neighbor what to do about my rat friends (the still living ones in my abode). She said she has had some too and she called the city rat killers and they came out and set traps. But they will only set them in your yard. She told me WE would have to set traps in the attic and garage. There are a couple options - use the tube types that are all sticky inside and the poor little rodents get caught in them and then die a slow death. Or you can take them out if you are nice, but you need to hit them with a shovel to kill them quicker (are you kidding ME???). The other option is to put out poison and hope after they eat it, they leave or you will have a stinky mess to find somewhere. Neither option sounds good to me. So I was hoping someone who reads my blog would know how to get rid of rats without killing them. My neighbor says you have to kill them or they will just come back. But I can't do it. And I don't want to share a home with them any longer. Any one else have this issue and if so, what did you do? I know Kendra will know - I should have just emailed her and saved the rest of you from this long detailed story about my rat situation...
Because most people probably read my blog to see some scrapping inspiration (rather than hear about my rodent issues), I will leave you with some holiday pages:
This first one was part of my HOF entry last year - the journaling pretty much sums up how I feel about the holidays. It also explains why I am worrying about rats instead of getting my shopping done - haven't even started yet!!!
These are two MAMBI layouts I made last Christmas:
I hope your holidays are filled with joy, friendship and love (even for rats)! Suzy
Oh I do not like rats. Mostly b/c I know they carry diseases and that is so not good. Their dropping are very bad. I know you don't wanna do it but it is best they get killed off.
Love your layouts. No worries I have not started Christmas shopping yet either. I did made my Christmas cards. So that's one thing done. =)
Hope you got my email with the invite to read by blog. I put it back on private. Hugs to you.
Posted by: Janette | December 10, 2008 at 03:25 PM
We had mice in NJ. We had a pest guy who came out quarterly for the mice, spiders and termites. If you think rats are bad, you should see the spiders we had in Jersey... Anyway, the mouse "medicine" they left in the traps did kill them and I was always worried about just what you said - that they would eat it, then crawl away in my house and die. And I think a dead mouse might freak me out more than a live mouse... Anyway, after a few "treatments", the mice told all of their friends (must have told them in their dying breaths) not to come to our house anymore. And, miraculously, the mouse friends didn't come anymore. They must have moved over to our neighbors' houses - aka "the mouse safety zones". So, while a few mice sacrificed their lives, they died honorable deaths to save their brethren. Hope that helps. And your post made me laugh :)
Posted by: Lisa VanderVeen | December 10, 2008 at 05:46 PM
you totally make me laugh with your story!!! i too had a little rodent problem not too long ago -- when we were renovating out kitchen. needless to say some friends came to visit. For me I really did not care if they lived or died but i did not want the smell of a dead rat in my house either. first -- get a regular cardboard box. preferably one that can fit a cage.this is to prevent the rats from eating their way thru the box to get out (i have had hamsters as pets so i had an old cage lying around.) just an fyi: rats are drawn to peanut butter!!! if you put it out they will come! lol!! this is where it gets a little tricky... fold the cardboard box top like you are going to close it but don't...carefully place a couple of slices of bread with lots of peanut butter smothered on top - try to balance them out to make it seem that it is a flat surface. when the rat tries to walk on top of the card board box to get the bread -- the flap will then collapse and said rat will fall into the cage with a treat along with him/her. then you can let the rat out into the wild. let me know if you need any further instructions. i hope this helps. btw: i'm not a total stranger...i've taken a class or two with you at the oasis.
xoxo pj bartholomay pjbartholomay@yahoo.com
Posted by: pj | December 10, 2008 at 06:41 PM
FYI - the rat poison, which is called Decon, that you could feed those furry lil fellas is coumadin for humans. It's a blood thinner - and when the rats eat it, they basically bleed to death internally. However - if they're not caught within a decent amount of time after death, the mess they leave behind is rather well, messy to say the least. It ain't pretty, I can promise that. Decon can be fatal to your dog - this I happen to be speaking from personal experience. My husband - the expert rodent trapper he is, informed me that the smell is what attracts them, so it would be the same thing for your dog. Evidently, there's a massive infestation at his fire station, and the sickos they are have made catching them a scoring game. Anyways, he says that because the weather is colder they're looking for a place to be warm. I know that I'm rambling and my post is a little random, but I'm a tad high from the muscle relaxer and vicodin those sweet orthopedic dr.'s prescribed me. Anyway - my dog ate it and I was lucky enough to have caught it in time and it required me to induce vomiting in a dog, and daily visits to the vet for Vitamin K shots. And believe you me that can get costly (well worth it for my dog). I think the best bet is to hire a pest control firm and let them handle it. They're trained, and can get your problem under control with just a few visits. What's more, I know you don't want to hurt the rats, but those things breed like rabbits and multiply in hoards. So if you resort to having them exterminated, don't think of it as murder, think of it as an assistance to population control!
Posted by: kristen thornburg | December 10, 2008 at 08:19 PM
The comments on here are quite interesting.
I am with you. I don't like to kill little critters. I found a dead baby mouse in my garage last year. :( I thought it was cute.
I have never dealt with rats, don't know anything about them. I am sure Kendra has had plenty experience with mice (she probably hits them with a shovel) but not sure if she has killed any rats lately. ;)
I didn't know that had rats in the OC. lol
Posted by: Kristi Smith | December 10, 2008 at 09:03 PM
argh . . . I didn't know they had rats in OC.
Posted by: Kristi Smith | December 10, 2008 at 09:06 PM
LOL! I think it's funny that you and Kristi both thought I could help!
We have the same problem right now. Oh some of the joys of living in the country. I've been instructed by my rat-hating vet husband to buy rat poison tomorrow. He has to deal with any mess left behind so that's what I'll be doing.
Your dream was hysterical!
Posted by: kendra | December 10, 2008 at 09:29 PM
I´m with you, please don´t kill the rats! They are soooo cute. :)
Posted by: Linda | December 11, 2008 at 01:03 AM
I think a good option would be to get a cat, one or two rats may die, but odds are they will just leave. Again, you might want to consider allergies and vet expenses for this option.
If it were me, I'd call the exterminators, rats carry many potentially fatal diseases, so it is a matter health, and rats procreate fast.
Good luck
Alina
Posted by: Alina | December 11, 2008 at 05:34 AM
Oops forgot to comment on the layouts! Very cute.
And as for the dream, the slug in the glove reminds me of stuff that happens in my dreams.
Posted by: Kristi Smith | December 11, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Suzy this may help. Did you know rats breed in seconds... it takes 21 to 23 days and they have 6-24 baby rats at a time.... SO you can expect to be fully ratted out in just a few months.... Do what you need to do to save your house and your stuff. I figure they have the entire out doors to learn to live in so they need to leave my house and my stuff alone. I don't go get in their stuff or poop on it. ALSO driving down the street the other day I saw this rat just running back and forth like it was crazy and it finally ran up the curve on to the grass towards someone's house.... probably going to give birth....! Good luck
Posted by: Jackie Hyland | December 13, 2008 at 09:54 AM
OK, I am sitting here reading this as I'm eatting my dinner and I had to stop. YUCK! Well, maybe you did me a favor because I ate too much this weekend. Ha ha! I think ALi had this problem in her yard a few months back and put up little traps where they ran in and then the door closed and then you could go set them free somewhere. Good luck!
Posted by: Michelle QUinn | December 14, 2008 at 05:19 PM
You could always walk away playing the flute and throw your leg out to the side on every third step? They may well follow! Just a suggestion...
Posted by: Lynette van Barrelo | December 15, 2008 at 05:50 AM
lol at Lynette, that was funny! You should try that.
BTW, Stuart Little either came back to life or he left family behind. :(
Posted by: Kristi Smith | December 20, 2008 at 09:26 PM