Nov 10 2005, 10:51 PM
I just got home and Dusty was outside while I was gone. She didn't come when I called her, so I left the door open, and pretty soon I heard her come in making a funny noise. She had a RAT in her mouth! I screamed, and scared her. She dropped it, couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t re-catch it, and now it is hiding somewhere IN MY HOUSE! OMG, I'll never be able to sleep as long as that thing is running loose in this house. HELP!
I wish Mike (hubby) was home, but he's working out of state for the next few months.
Nov 10 2005, 11:11 PM
I am here alone with the worthless cat and the damned RAT somewhere in this house. Worthless cat is on my lap purring, while the RAT is hiding somewhere in this house, with lots of hiding places. Do you think it will crawl up on my bed? How will I ever get rid of it? HELP!!!
Nov 10 2005, 11:24 PM
Jeeze, the body of this thing, sans tail, is about 4 inches long. It's a RAT - definitely not a little mousy. To top it all off, my cat has never before caught anything! She's not a hunter (or so I thought!)
Nov 11 2005, 10:36 AM
I'm buying traps on my way home from work. Dusty was sleeping soundly on the sofa when I left this morning, oblivious to her "friend" hiding in unknown places.
I'm concerned about what kind of traps to get. Dusty, being the ditz that she is, may put a paw on the glue trap and lose the entire pad of her foot. I also hate the slow kill method, being the humane person I try to be. Isn't there a Society for the Preservation of Rats somewhere that will come to my home and RESCUE the rat? I'm seriously getting the creeps thinking about that thing in my house! I just want it GONE! But I'm such a chicken, I can't bear thinking of it suffering either, or me having to pick it up. UGH!
Nov 17 2005, 08:59 AM
Update on the rat saga.....I thought I had it contained in my office since I saw droppings there. I immediately set out 3 traps with peanut butter. There are a total of 8 traps scattered throughout the house. No luck. This animal apparently doesn't LIKE peanut butter! This was on Saturday. I've seen no new "evidence" of Mr. Rat anywhere! I don't smell anything either. Maybe he found his way outside (I hope).
July 26, 2006
THE REST OF THE STORY!
Everyone whoâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been reading the news knows that the entire country seems to be in the grips of an unprecedented heat wave, and nowhere more than the California Central Valley. Here in Fresno we are trying to endure the 6th straight day of 110+ days, and the 11th day of 100+.
I HATE summer, and have been begging for an early fall since the beginning of spring. Not being one who can stand the heat very well, I usually end up sleeping downstairs on the sofa under the moderate relief of the ceiling fan on “high.†Last night was particularly bad, and after what only seemed like an hour or so of deep sleep, I was abruptly awakened by a loud banging noise from the kitchen directly behind my sofa. As I startled to quickly awaken, the first thought was that someone was breaking in the house from the backyard slider about 6 feet from my sofa. I sprang awake, to see my Dusty kitty carrying something HUGE in her mouth. She stopped in front of the dimly lit TV, dropped her cargo, and as it moved, regained her position of dominant female feline huntress, re-pounced, and as she was in this heroic position, I lept over the back of the sofa and ran upstairs, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure it would wake the neighbors.
I am hoping I can outrun this swift-footed feline, as I envision her steps behind me. Quickly I reach the foot of the bed where my hubby is sleeping blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding at his feet. I manage to croak a barely audible, but panicky “Mmm-mmm-iiiiâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]kke!†I quickly glance to my rear to make sure Dusty and “friend†are nowhere to be seen. “Wake up! Dusty has something HUGE in her mouth and itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s ALIVE!†By now he thinks Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m delusional or in the early stages of a stroke, but at my insistence he throws on some pants, goes to the closet to retrieve a couple of fishing nets, and bravely sets out downstairs to placate his hysterical wife, who by now has barricaded herself in the upstairs bedroom.
Moments seem like an eternity as I sit curled up in a fetal position on the bed awaiting some sound of victory from downstairs. After much rustling around, he announces that Dusty had dispatched her prey with the skill of a seasoned huntress and was preparing to feast on RAT TAR-TAR on the entry hall rug! He managed to scoop the dead but scary-looking creature into two fishing nets, depositing the corpse into the garbage can outside. When he issued the “all-clear†signal, I gingerly crept downstairs to a wide-eyed victorious husband. A quick glance at the cable clock - 5:25 am, the adrenaline still wildly pumping through my system, and I knew that further sleep was out of the question.
Flashback to last November 10 when I stupidly left the back slider open and Dusty appears on same entry hall rug with much smaller RAT. She is probably distracted due to my screeching, drops rat, who escapes capture and apparently has taken up residence somewhere in this house. Said rat apparently dislikes peanut butter, because despite 8 well-baited traps, cleverly eludes re-capture. Curiously there have been no rat droppings or other evidence of this creature living in our midst for the past 8 months! We have concluded that this wily rat has existed on dry cat food and Dustyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s water bowl, coming out in the wee hours to dine in solitude, while the feline and human residents were peacefully unaware of its nocturnal meals.
In case you think this is some far-fetched rat tale, I offer proof below.
I just got home and Dusty was outside while I was gone. She didn't come when I called her, so I left the door open, and pretty soon I heard her come in making a funny noise. She had a RAT in her mouth! I screamed, and scared her. She dropped it, couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t re-catch it, and now it is hiding somewhere IN MY HOUSE! OMG, I'll never be able to sleep as long as that thing is running loose in this house. HELP!
I wish Mike (hubby) was home, but he's working out of state for the next few months.
Nov 10 2005, 11:11 PM
I am here alone with the worthless cat and the damned RAT somewhere in this house. Worthless cat is on my lap purring, while the RAT is hiding somewhere in this house, with lots of hiding places. Do you think it will crawl up on my bed? How will I ever get rid of it? HELP!!!
Nov 10 2005, 11:24 PM
Jeeze, the body of this thing, sans tail, is about 4 inches long. It's a RAT - definitely not a little mousy. To top it all off, my cat has never before caught anything! She's not a hunter (or so I thought!)
Nov 11 2005, 10:36 AM
I'm buying traps on my way home from work. Dusty was sleeping soundly on the sofa when I left this morning, oblivious to her "friend" hiding in unknown places.
I'm concerned about what kind of traps to get. Dusty, being the ditz that she is, may put a paw on the glue trap and lose the entire pad of her foot. I also hate the slow kill method, being the humane person I try to be. Isn't there a Society for the Preservation of Rats somewhere that will come to my home and RESCUE the rat? I'm seriously getting the creeps thinking about that thing in my house! I just want it GONE! But I'm such a chicken, I can't bear thinking of it suffering either, or me having to pick it up. UGH!
Nov 17 2005, 08:59 AM
Update on the rat saga.....I thought I had it contained in my office since I saw droppings there. I immediately set out 3 traps with peanut butter. There are a total of 8 traps scattered throughout the house. No luck. This animal apparently doesn't LIKE peanut butter! This was on Saturday. I've seen no new "evidence" of Mr. Rat anywhere! I don't smell anything either. Maybe he found his way outside (I hope).
July 26, 2006
THE REST OF THE STORY!
Everyone whoâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s been reading the news knows that the entire country seems to be in the grips of an unprecedented heat wave, and nowhere more than the California Central Valley. Here in Fresno we are trying to endure the 6th straight day of 110+ days, and the 11th day of 100+.
I HATE summer, and have been begging for an early fall since the beginning of spring. Not being one who can stand the heat very well, I usually end up sleeping downstairs on the sofa under the moderate relief of the ceiling fan on “high.†Last night was particularly bad, and after what only seemed like an hour or so of deep sleep, I was abruptly awakened by a loud banging noise from the kitchen directly behind my sofa. As I startled to quickly awaken, the first thought was that someone was breaking in the house from the backyard slider about 6 feet from my sofa. I sprang awake, to see my Dusty kitty carrying something HUGE in her mouth. She stopped in front of the dimly lit TV, dropped her cargo, and as it moved, regained her position of dominant female feline huntress, re-pounced, and as she was in this heroic position, I lept over the back of the sofa and ran upstairs, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure it would wake the neighbors.
I am hoping I can outrun this swift-footed feline, as I envision her steps behind me. Quickly I reach the foot of the bed where my hubby is sleeping blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding at his feet. I manage to croak a barely audible, but panicky “Mmm-mmm-iiiiâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]kke!†I quickly glance to my rear to make sure Dusty and “friend†are nowhere to be seen. “Wake up! Dusty has something HUGE in her mouth and itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s ALIVE!†By now he thinks Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]m delusional or in the early stages of a stroke, but at my insistence he throws on some pants, goes to the closet to retrieve a couple of fishing nets, and bravely sets out downstairs to placate his hysterical wife, who by now has barricaded herself in the upstairs bedroom.
Moments seem like an eternity as I sit curled up in a fetal position on the bed awaiting some sound of victory from downstairs. After much rustling around, he announces that Dusty had dispatched her prey with the skill of a seasoned huntress and was preparing to feast on RAT TAR-TAR on the entry hall rug! He managed to scoop the dead but scary-looking creature into two fishing nets, depositing the corpse into the garbage can outside. When he issued the “all-clear†signal, I gingerly crept downstairs to a wide-eyed victorious husband. A quick glance at the cable clock - 5:25 am, the adrenaline still wildly pumping through my system, and I knew that further sleep was out of the question.
Flashback to last November 10 when I stupidly left the back slider open and Dusty appears on same entry hall rug with much smaller RAT. She is probably distracted due to my screeching, drops rat, who escapes capture and apparently has taken up residence somewhere in this house. Said rat apparently dislikes peanut butter, because despite 8 well-baited traps, cleverly eludes re-capture. Curiously there have been no rat droppings or other evidence of this creature living in our midst for the past 8 months! We have concluded that this wily rat has existed on dry cat food and Dustyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s water bowl, coming out in the wee hours to dine in solitude, while the feline and human residents were peacefully unaware of its nocturnal meals.
In case you think this is some far-fetched rat tale, I offer proof below.
