Big Fish…

Guess what I caught in one of my glue traps last night? A MAGGINS! lol I had the bright idea yesterday that I would put a sprinkle of dog food on my glue traps and caught something unintended.

“Hold still,” I told Maggie as I laughed and she squirmed and wiggled impatiently.

I was trying to cut the trap out of her fur with a pair of scissors.

“There! You are free!” I exclaimed as Maggie ran out the dog door as if I had perpetrated this unfortunate event upon her.

I'm Not a Monster...

Last night was the first time in many weeks I was able to sleep through the night without being awoken by something crashing in the kitchen or the pitter patter of little feet running by me on the bedroom floor. I finally have peace. You wouldn't believe how loud and boisterous those animals were. Yes, killing the rats was a dirty and bloody business, but as I said this is war. It was me or them and I wasn't about to let them run me out of my own house.

They first came in through the dog door eating Maggie's food and drinking her water. They soon moved in and made themselves at home thus spurring me into action. I don't take much satisfaction for what I did. I have a conscience and it worried me deeply. I asked my father several times if what I was doing was right and he spurred me on saying it was a dirty business but must be done. It was more humane killing them than just dropping the rat and the glue trap into the trash and forgetting them (as it advised on the packaging). That would be true suffering to just die of thirst and lack of food -- suffering from a lack of mobility.

I think I got the last rat last night just before bed and that will be the end of that. I won't be writing about it anymore. Those of you with heightened sensitivities can also rest in peace.

Editor's Note: Rats and fleas contributed to the spread of the bubonic plague in the medieval ages or dark ages as they are also known. Tens of millions of people died during the plague. The fleas would bite the host which were the rats and then bite humans thus transferring the pathogen. I always worried fleas from the rats infesting my home would bite Maggie and myself giving us some similar or lesser ailment. I know it sounds like paranoia, but that's just my schizophrenic nature making its presence known.

Wonderful, Glorious Sticky Glue!

Well, I got four rats with the glue traps last night. They were a resounding success! Every time I was almost back asleep I would catch another one, a very loud racket would ensue and I would have to get up and attend to the business at hand. I would have had five, but one wiggled out of the traps. I was catching them all behind the refrigerator -- one of their major thoroughfares. I feel like I haven't had a lick of sleep this morning -- all bleary eyed and tired. I kept wondering just how many are there? We're now set to get all the devious little bastards. I am hoping we are down to one -- the one that got away. I fear he/she is going to be gunshy of the traps from now on, though. They are quite intelligent and social little creatures. EDIT: I got the fifth one around noon. These glue traps really work!

A Dirty and Bloody Business...

I caught another rat this morning. The SNAP! stirred me from a deep slumber. The trap landed on its hind leg and it was still alive and screeching in pain. I keep having to remind myself that I am waging a war on these animals -- the interlopers they are.

"What do I do?" I asked my father on the phone about this dirty and violent affair.

"Whack its head on the edge of your kitchen counter until it is dead," he told me. "You don't want it to suffer. Carry it out to the edge of the yard and throw it over the fence where Maggie can't get it."

It took three good violent whacks to kill it. I felt so terrible as if I had just committed murder. Then I remembered all the nights these rats have kept me up and kept me from sleeping. They have shit and pissed all under my sink. All is fair in love and war, right?

Phone Calls of Co-Battle Cries!

"Did you get any rats last night?" dad called me and asked me from work.

"We got two," I said excitedly. "They're nocturnal so hopefully things will heat up again after nightfall."

"That's good to hear!" my father replied. "They were about to drive you and Maggie crazy."

I told my father thank you for the traps and peanut butter.

"We had a problem with your birthday order," my father then told me.

This didn't bode well.

"They were out of stock on your memory card," he told me.

"Can I get the next size up? The 128 GB model?" I asked.

"How much is that going to cost?" my father then warily asked in return.

"Just $36 dollars," I replied. "I was looking at it today thinking I should've spent the money and got that size."

My father said whew and that he thought I was going to tell him it was a $100 dollars.

"Send Matt an email and we will get it ordered," my father told me.

As I was talking on the phone, I heard the rattrap SNAP! again.

"I think we got another," I told my father abruptly.

"Go look and see!" dad exclaimed excitedly.

I opened the kitchen cabinet door and yes, we had gotten one more. That makes three total since last night.

Two Little Shits Down. Two or Three More To Go...

My father was right. The Mags and I were laying in the bed about to drift off to sleep when we heard a very loud SNAP! Maggie got up to investigate and I followed her into the kitchen.

"Got one!" I said, pumping my fists into the air after opening the under sink kitchen cabinet and peering in with a flashlight. "Yes!!!"

This is war! (war cry!)

I reset the trap after wiping off the blood. (This is dirty business.) Maggie and I got back in the bed when moments later we heard another SNAP! Yes, we got one more. I reset the trap with some fresh peanut butter and it was quiet for the rest of the night. The rats look like some kind of mouse/rat hybrid at close glance.

Ye Olde Rattle and Grind...

You know you are getting pretty good at fixing computers when an exhaust fan in your computer starts to loudly rattle and grind in the night (the fan's bearings were going out) and you change the fan in just under 20 minutes and you are back in the bed. Yes, I had a fan go out and I replaced it with a spare I had on hand. It was a busy night last night. I am feeling it this afternoon.

"We're gonna get those sons of bitches!" my father said tonight.

"Here's three rattraps and some peanut butter," my father said upon arriving with our Sunday night supper. "I expect you will hear those traps SNAP! in the middle of the night tonight."

I thanked my father profusely as Charlie put my two pot pies and three cookies on top of my entertainment center. It was then time for Charlie to lavish attention upon our Maggie. Maggie will "talk" to Charlie she gets so excited.

"Don't joke around with Charlie," dad then told me cautiously. "He's in a terrible mood tonight and has bitched about everything under the sun."

"Oh, hush John," Charlie then said laughing as he sat on the couch with the Magster.

I immediately got in the kitchen and set the rattraps as my father supervised. Those loud SNAPS! can't come soon enough. I am tired of being awoken by crashes in the kitchen. The SNAPS! will be music to my ears.

Things quieted down around here after the dynamic duo left and I gave Maggie her pot pie which she relished. She will eat the whole thing and not leave a crumb. It makes me feel good for her to get and enjoy such a thing.