The rat is dead
Last month, a visitor made an unwelcome appearance in our kitchen, eating oranges on the counter. He was first caught virtually by my laptop’s iSight camera, then later physically by a classic spring-lever trap.
It was loud; it was unsettling; it was over.
I actually like rodents as pets. I grew up with gerbils and hamsters, and enjoy watching rats in the cages at Petco. If my daughter wanted one at some point, I’d be game. But my qualms about nixing this specific rat were minimal. Roof rats like this one are not California-native, so trap-and-release would just be dooming some bird or other indigenous creature.
He was apparently a loner. Since his demise, we’ve sealed up a few possible entry points. He likely came inside to escape an unusual cold snap earlier this year.
Articles
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:23 pm
What is good in life is to crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women…
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Not to divulge much information on geography and/or coordinates, but walking home one night past a certain red brick wall on melrose, at the point where there is a liquour store across the street, a 15 inches size raccoon stared at me while rat-tat-tatting at a faster pace. Creepy.
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I guess I’m the only person who feels sorry for the rat. That doesn’t bode well for my future in Hollywood.
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Hey Eve, I’m with you. I feel sorry for that Rat too. But I don’t know what I would do with one, now I have a son tapping around…
February 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I bet you feel like Von Luger, the camp commandant in ‘The Great Escape’. Except the other way around.
Oh forget it. :D
February 4th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
We keep getting field mice in our garage due to the nearby construction (yes, they’re still building new houses in Texas). Over the last few weeks, we’ve killed so many, I’m pretty sure I’m going to go out there and find some sort of mouse-built memorial to the dead in the not-to-distant future.
February 14th, 2009 at 2:24 am
In NYC there’s a saying: Be happy you have mice, it means you don’t have rats, because rats eat mice.
IMHO you were smart to simply old-school trap it. Just think if it was preggers…
Think I would have Orkin (or the likes) make a bi-annual calls as follow up to boot.
LOL your iSight!!!