War Is Ugly

That's right. Bill Murray is my alter-ego right now.

I posted this a few weeks ago. Just thought I should update y'all. If you are squeamish, I would advise you to stop reading right now.

Confession: I used to be squeamish, but war makes you hard. Well, I'm still somewhat jumpy, but nothing like I was when I first posted about this as a novice. Oh what a naive thing I was back then!

Confession: (again) I hate rodents! I hate those bastards!!! There, I said it again, and now I feel a tiny bit better.

Ok, I recorded battle #1, and reported that I thought the surge was working. Wrong. The enemy regrouped and re-invaded. So I raided my piggy bank and went to Lowe's to get some more combat gear, namely, those sonic pest chasers for every room in the house and some different traps. That knocked them back for a few days, but they are persistent little buggers and it was soon evident they were back. Again.

Sometimes you have to use your brains in addition to brawn, so I decided to study the enemy. As my mother always taught me, you must know your enemy. Even if you don't think you can stand it. There is plenty of advice out there. First of all you have to recognize you have a problem that is not going to go away overnight. Tip Diva confirms my feeling that I am not ready for the exterminator...yet.

OK, so right now, a whole bunch of my pantry is boxed up in two plastic snap-tight containers. The dog and cat food is also in one of those containers outside on the porch. Let me tell you, that really ticked those rodent bastards off. ( I feel good every time I call them that!) I put the pet food in a brand-new container and the next morning there were major, deep, gnaw marks all the way around it where they tried to get in...and yes, I tortured them with a semi-clear plastic container. And I feel good about that. They gave up after about a week.

Steel wool is the bomb. It has really helped. All this calmed them down for a few days and then....they came back!!! Not so many (I can tell by the noise level, I am making progress) but one is too many as far as I'm concerned.

I have an area in my bed room where the sheet rock got soft years ago (before I moved here) from roof damage. I recognized it the first time I painted that room, but then I forgot about it. I never had a problem. I did a little patching the last time I painted, still, no rodent problems. Well, they have now found that spot, and they chewed thru it. I blocked it and had some peace for a few days. Then it happened.

I was drifting off to sleep and I realized I had a visitor. Under my bed. Not sure how he got there or why, did not matter. I went to find the cat, who seemed in no big hurry to do anything about it as she curled up with me on my bed. The noise ceased, and I fell asleep. I woke to an epic battle. There was much thrashing around under the bed and I could tell the kitty was winning. Eventually she started making that weird howling noise they do when they're in heat...except she was spayed years ago. I figured that must be her victory howl. So far I have not found the remains of the enemy. But the next morning, I did see signs of the battle. I don't know, and don't want to know, which animal jumped up on my bookcase (next to my bed) but it knocked off a decorative plate that was holding some jewelry and trinkets, AND broke (but did not tumble) a Mexican blue blown glass vase that was holding loose change. Collateral damage. Epic battle. Go Kitty.

Actually, she has been the champion. She has all the gold medals. Here's the score card:

Mom: 1 by trap

Sydney the Ratter Terrier: 1 likely by accident

LG: 2 by BB gun

Kitty: 7 (that I know of)

I have had some horrifying moments that have just left me REALLY POed once the horror and the fear has worn off. Like the morning when Willard dropped out of my pantry cupboard and ran along the backsplash, jumping to the floor only to land in the (empty) mop bucket. From there he jumped straight up, about 2 feet and way clear of the mop bucket to get out, before he scurried into the laundry room to disappear into his hole. I did not know I could scream just like a bad actress in a B movie, but now I know I am completely capable of this. My corgi did not know what to do about all that except bark. Oh, yes, we were one loud upset mess here at Camp Osceola on that morning.

Against all advice, I did put out some poison. I had a solid block of it sitting on the windowsill in the kitchen, since that seems to be the scene of much of this crime. I noticed some gnawing on it, but had not yet noticed any slowdown in activity much to my dismay. One day after I had cut off the food supply, but still had not plugged all the holes (that I knew about) with steel wool, I noticed the block of poison was missing. I was frantic, thinking the bastards (:)) had knocked it on the floor and poisoned my dogs. I checked their teeth for green residue, and my corgi did not like that, I think it brought back a bad bad memory for him...like the time he really did eat the rat poisen, but lived to tell about it...but no residue. I could not understand what had happened to it. It was 3" long, probably 1.5" thick, it was a block! LG and I finally had to conclude they had taken it back behind enemy lines, as it seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Good. I hope a bunch of them died eating that.

Did I tell you this will make you bitter? And crazy???

Well, the battle continues. I still have at least one really obnoxious interloper that I can hear banging around under the sink early in the morning. I have a few extra days off this week. I will be spending some it searching for more holes to plug with steel wool, and cleaning up all the clutter I can find. I am angry, and sometimes discouraged, but I am not giving up. Ever. Their numbers are diminished but I will not rest until they are all gone. Over and Out.

The General