We finally watched Over the Hedge. Jeepers, I liked that movie. Even if, in real life, I am the crazy shrill freaking-out woman hiring in the macho Verminator.
My version of the Verminator is a patient, mellow guy who has apparently embraced that part of his job is talking down hysterical home-owners. He came out about 3 weeks ago, pointed out all of the possible rat access holes, taught me a bit about rat behavior and set 4 traps. We've caught nothing. I've considered this failure, but the Verminator advised patience. Rats are smart and trap-shy. If I futzed with the traps, I can decrease the chance of catching one. Ok. Patience. I tried some patience.
P.A.T.I.E.N.C.E. Ok, enough of that.
Then the soap incident. And the all night vermin parties. And eating my green tomatoes. And keeping me up all night, listening to the sounds. It sounds like a dozen rats, having a disco and buffet all over my house. Patience is officially over!
So today I called in a neighbor/carpenter friend to make some (largely futile) efforts at making their lives more difficult. He will seal up a bunch of holes in my labyrinth of a kitchen, apply liberal use of some wire mesh, glue some 1/4 round in various places where it needs it, and tackle the stupid big hole under the sink.
I also had another lengthy therapy session with the Verminator. He called back and patiently listened to my quietly hysterical story of the night sounds, the bathroom raid, the sighting of a young rat and he worked through a lot of possibilities.
- To his mind, the soap incident is a sign of a desperate rat. A rat hungry enough to seek out the fat and proteins in a bar of decorative hotel soap.
- He's stumped that I haven't caught anything in the traps since normally juvenile rats are pretty dumb and get caught more easily. And a rat willing to eat soap should turn to the bait on the trap sooner rather than later.
- He's not willing to rule out the possibility that they can exit from the roof (given the sad state of my woodwork and some close tree branches) but that's not commonly how rats travel.
He thinks my work sealing up a series of exterior holes has made an impact and the wild parties I hear are the sounds of a rat looking long and hard for food and water.
I told him that we are leaning towards putting out poison this weekend. We talked realistic expectations and safe use. It takes days and sometimes weeks to kill a rat and if I've sealed up the exits, it will die somewhere in my walls. And until then, it will become increasingly desperate. Charming.
What I didn't count on in dealing with ROUS's is that it would end in desperation.
One alternative still remains. Next week we start the painting project. The painters will be removing and replacing a series of warped boards. It would just be so lovely and amazing if, when light is cast into the attic, the rats made a dash for it and moved out. If I could send a little community notice to them, it'd encourage them taking this opportunity to get the hell out of dodge.
Otherwise, there's nothing left but desperate measures.
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