Last week before leaving for Germany, I finally had our driver take me to buy a couple of rat boxes. He had been telling us about these boxes, but I thought that I could catch the "mouse" using my mouse trap or sticky traps. Well after having the thing make me mad last week...read previous posts if you haven't already done so...I decided it was finally time to get the rat box.
Anyway, I am now the proud owner of two of these wonderful looking boxes. Only 30 rupees a piece (less than a $1 each). Quite the deal! OK, didn't really matter what they looked like to me as long as they worked. So, our driver says that we have to bait with coconut. Huh? Whatever...once again as long as it works. Anyway, he baits the traps with a piece of coconut and dried fish...let's just say our house has a wonderful smell to it now! Anyway, the concept of the box is that the rat goes in and when it eats the bait off of the hook that the lid will spring shut. I'm not thinking this contraption is going to work...after all since I'm convinced we have a little mouse, I'm thinking the mouse can then escape through the metal bars on the top and the back of the trap.
So, the traps are set, and we go to Germany (by the way, I promise to have a post about our trip soon). We come back to find that all of the coconut and fish gone, but the traps haven't been tripped. Ugh! At this point, I'm pretty much ready to give up and put a bowl of food out for the critter and just adopt it as my pet. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of getting the poison that someone offered me and going that route. Anyway, today our driver asks about the rat box. When I tell him all of the bait is gone, but no rat...he calls it "brilliant." Quite a big word for our driver to be saying. But yes, I have to agree the thing has now avoided 3 different types of traps and probably has an IQ level that could be considered brilliant.
Well our driver insists on baiting and setting the traps again. Fine, whatever...if it makes him happy...I really don't care any more. I have more important things to worry about...like going to the U.S. next week. So, tonight I am talking on the phone all night when I finally decide time to fold some laundry and go to bed.
I walk back to the laundry room and see the lid to the box closed. Not really worried...since I'm pretty sure the thing is a mouse and could have tripped the trap and climbed out. Since S is still gone, I decide I have no choice but to look in the box to see if anything is in there. The problem being is that the box is sort of under an open counter, and there is no way for me to see in it without moving it. Now keep in mind, I am not a person who freaks out at the sight of a mouse or rat...just really prefer to see them when they are dead. So, I put on big snow/ski gloves and get the baseball bat and squat down to shove the box around so I can see in the back side (I'm pretty sure that I was quite the sight, but hey whatever works). I turn it, and sure enough nothing. Well, being that it is sort of dark, I decide that I had better get the flashlight to look in the box before I go moving the box anymore. Well with the flashlight, sure enough, there is a critter in the box...and in my opinion, it is definitely a rat! OK, I am now breathing deeply. I go outside to get our security guards, and after saying rat about 10 times and pointing to the house, they finally figure out what is going on (keep in mind that our security guards speak pretty much no English and that our driver does the translation for us and he has gone home for the day). Maybe next time I should jump up and down and scream, and they would get the picture quicker.
Anyway, the rat has now been disposed of. When our security guard brought the box back in (after all I'm pretty sure we only had one critter, but just in case, the trap has been reset), he said that the rat was big. Well, heck yeah, the thing has only been eating apples, cat food, coconut, and dried fish. If I were on Survivor, I would probably have roasted it to eat!
So, the critter has been caught. In the haste to get it out, I didn't get a photo of it. S probably won't believe me that we caught it since he wasn't here. Plus, I figure that no one reading this blog wants to see a photo of a rat. You'll just have to trust me on this one!
So, the latest count...
snakes, 5
rats, 1
geckos, countless
Boy, isn't life in India fun???!!!
So, the traps are set, and we go to Germany (by the way, I promise to have a post about our trip soon). We come back to find that all of the coconut and fish gone, but the traps haven't been tripped. Ugh! At this point, I'm pretty much ready to give up and put a bowl of food out for the critter and just adopt it as my pet. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of getting the poison that someone offered me and going that route. Anyway, today our driver asks about the rat box. When I tell him all of the bait is gone, but no rat...he calls it "brilliant." Quite a big word for our driver to be saying. But yes, I have to agree the thing has now avoided 3 different types of traps and probably has an IQ level that could be considered brilliant.
Well our driver insists on baiting and setting the traps again. Fine, whatever...if it makes him happy...I really don't care any more. I have more important things to worry about...like going to the U.S. next week. So, tonight I am talking on the phone all night when I finally decide time to fold some laundry and go to bed.
I walk back to the laundry room and see the lid to the box closed. Not really worried...since I'm pretty sure the thing is a mouse and could have tripped the trap and climbed out. Since S is still gone, I decide I have no choice but to look in the box to see if anything is in there. The problem being is that the box is sort of under an open counter, and there is no way for me to see in it without moving it. Now keep in mind, I am not a person who freaks out at the sight of a mouse or rat...just really prefer to see them when they are dead. So, I put on big snow/ski gloves and get the baseball bat and squat down to shove the box around so I can see in the back side (I'm pretty sure that I was quite the sight, but hey whatever works). I turn it, and sure enough nothing. Well, being that it is sort of dark, I decide that I had better get the flashlight to look in the box before I go moving the box anymore. Well with the flashlight, sure enough, there is a critter in the box...and in my opinion, it is definitely a rat! OK, I am now breathing deeply. I go outside to get our security guards, and after saying rat about 10 times and pointing to the house, they finally figure out what is going on (keep in mind that our security guards speak pretty much no English and that our driver does the translation for us and he has gone home for the day). Maybe next time I should jump up and down and scream, and they would get the picture quicker.
Anyway, the rat has now been disposed of. When our security guard brought the box back in (after all I'm pretty sure we only had one critter, but just in case, the trap has been reset), he said that the rat was big. Well, heck yeah, the thing has only been eating apples, cat food, coconut, and dried fish. If I were on Survivor, I would probably have roasted it to eat!
So, the critter has been caught. In the haste to get it out, I didn't get a photo of it. S probably won't believe me that we caught it since he wasn't here. Plus, I figure that no one reading this blog wants to see a photo of a rat. You'll just have to trust me on this one!
So, the latest count...
snakes, 5
rats, 1
geckos, countless
Boy, isn't life in India fun???!!!
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