Another Rat Encounter

On Sunday, I spent the day around the apartment, doing laundry, catching up on emails, unpacking, etc.  Pavol was in Bayahibe for the weekend and Robert and Mari had went to the beach for the day, so it was just me.

About 2 weeks ago, Pavol told me that he saw a rat clinging on to the wire mesh that covers our back gate area.  I thought this was odd and pondered whether or not he was crazy.  Regardless, we kept the door between our kitchen and the back area closed ever since.  We had also noticed that a hole was forming at the bottom of the mesh.  Also not a good sign.

So, back to Sunday.  I had done a load of laundry which meant I was in and out of the back area with the door open for most of the morning.  Once all my clothes were hung up and drying, I closed the door nearly all of the way (It gets stuck about 2 inches from actually closing and to fully close it, you have to give it a good hard shove).  Then I went and sat down at the dining table to do some more work on my laptop.

All morning, our landlady and a couple workers had been cleaning up the yard, removing trees, garbage, etc.  I thought they had finished but was still hearing some noise that was coming from behind our kitchen.  I thought perhaps they were fixing the mesh that had gotten the hole in.  I walked over to sneakily check out what the guy was doing, but when I went to peek through the opening in the door between the kitchen and the back area, my eyes were drawn downward.

There sat a rat.  A fat rat.  Just looking at me.  I had a brief moment of shock and just stared back at it.  Then it dawned on me that there was a fat rat IN my house.  I quickly slammed the door shut as hard as I could.  It was then that I noticed what the noise was.  The rat had been chewing away at the edge of the door and the door frame, leaving a good sized pile of wood chips.  The space that was left when I had not fully closed the door was just a tad too small for it to get through so it was trying to eat its way through.

For those of you that aren't aware, where I come from (Alberta), we don't have any rats.  In fact, when a rat is found in our province, it makes the news and is promptly removed from the province (see links at the end).  So I have no experience with rats.  What a day to be home alone.

I went back and sat at the table and pondered what I should do.  Should I make sure it is out of the back area and then try to block its entry through the mesh hole?  Should I get a rat trap?  Rat poison?  I tried calling Manuel, since he lives the closest.  No answer.  Then I tried calling Pavol to see if he had already discussed this with the lady and to get his advice on what he wanted to do.  Call couldn't be put through. Next closest person: Maria.  Maria was available.  Of course, I hadn't talked to her since I got back from vacation so I felt bad when I had to say, "so Maria, there is a reason I'm calling..." She was extremely helpful (like usual!) and told me that she would ask her mom (a veterinarian) what was the best type of poison/trap and get back to me.  She called me again after a bit to tell me that she was going to the grocery store later and she would pick something up there since the best type would depend on what was available.  Ok good.

So I went back to my work on the laptop.  A little while later I heard the noise again.   The rat was back to eating at the door (even though it was now closed fully).  I tiptoed into the kitchen and could hear the rat gnawing away.  I figured it would be best to scare it for now so that it would quit doing damage to the apartment.  So I kicked the door really hard and loud.  I heard it scurry away.

Even though I was finished my computer work, I decided to stay out in the dining area so that I could hear if it came back.  About half an hour later it did.  I tiptoed over again and scared it off again with another giant kick to the door.  More scurrying.

Finally, Maria called to say she needed to know whether I preferred to set out a trap with some food in or to set out some poison that would kill it and any other rats within a few days of ingesting it.  I didn't want to have to deal with a rat stuck in a trap, so I opted for the poison.  When she arrived, we slowly opened the door and put the poison out.  While Maria guarded the door I took down all of my clothes that were drying so that I wouldn't have to go back into the area.  We closed the door up tightly and went to wash our hands.

I remained in the dining area for the rest of the afternoon and early evening but I never heard the rat come back.  Then the guilt started setting in.  I was a murderer.  I know it is a rat, but I'm a big softy for animals.  My image of the rat staring at me earlier kept getting more cartoonish.  Suddenly I was envisioning a nice rat like the one from Ratatouille.  I was thinking about how the rat probably had a family and friends, and you know, it was just hungry; starving even (I mean come on, it had eaten through wire mesh and part of a door!).  Then the other side of my conscience said, "yeah but it is a rat and no matter how bad you might feel, you had to do it."

I'm going to be able to handle just about anything after this year!




Related Links:
History of Rat Control in Alberta
Canada Province Rat-Free for 50 Years
Rodent Gets Free Flight from Rat Free Alberta to Vancouver