The rat

Poor little guy!!!

We have an area off the kitchen that has high cement walls and is completely closed in and tiled. Last time I spoke about it was with regards to the cockroaches that came out of the sewage drain in there and were trying to get out of there and into the house to survive the toxic fumes from the exterminator.

This morning I go down to the kitchen for breakfast with Declan and Juliette informs me that there is a rat stuck in the aforementioned space. Poor thing probably was walking along the top of the wall and fell. Probably as a result of a cat trying to catch him.

Now I say little but if anyone remembers our cat Mala well this rat was the same size as her, so a big rat but small cat sized. Poor thing was trying to climb back up the wall or go down the sewage drain which of course in both cases was impossible. I called Ross at work to tell him about it and asked if he could send someone to get the rat and put it back outside without harming it. His answer was "yeah I saw it this morning" and "just get it into a box and put it outside". Um no, I don't pick up random rats. I told him he should probably find out if there was someone in the city who could trap it and free it because I was not going to be doing it myself.

In the meantime Juliette had Declan up to a window watching the poor thing who by now was exhausted.

As Ross looked into it I went to see our guard and asked him if he was ok with trying to get the rat into a box. He immediately grabbed a box from the garage, walked into the back space, picked up the rat by the tail and plopped him gently into the box. He then took the box out though the front of the house and freed the rat across the street. My hero!!!

Sadly I did not get any pictures of the rat but this is not the first time we have had a rat back there and I suspect it will happen again.

Last time we were away for the weekend, left to their our devices the household staff disposed of the rat in a way I was not going to let happen again.  :(

The top of the wall, also the vie from Declan's room

The loooong way down and closed in area. 

GUESS WHAT?! Ross got pictures of the poor guy so here you go. He doesn't look all that big in the pictures but he was absolutely the size of a rabbit, or Mala!

Insecticide

Ok so it's been a bit since I wrote a truly disgusting post...ie the one about the bugs in the flour. Though I have found more in other flour this blog is not about that.

We have been having a bit of a problem with ants recently. Just in the kitchen but they are everywhere and it has gotten out of hand. No matter how clean we keep it they are there. Also we have these "mouches blanches" that are eating up the few plants we have by the pool so I had Ross call the exterminators.

They came in full hazmat gear and after asking what kind of bugs were the problem (ants, "mouches blanches" and mosquitoes) sprayed outside the house. Then, they left. All was fine and I put Declan down for his nap and then went downstairs to start making dinner.

As I walk down the stairs and towards the kitchen I see something scurry past me, then another, then Juliette with a can of RAID. It is then I realized we had a problem. They were everywhere and with only one can of RAID we were defenceless really. As I stepped into the kitchen there were more and more of them. All scurrying farther and farther into the house and if they got to hiding we would never find them and surely they would multiply.

Juliette and I attacked the kitchen with the RAID and a big shoe and the broom and anything else we could find. We found out where they were getting in a plugged the holes with paper towel (The doors on houses in this climate do not seal as there is no need for it to keep the cold out so things get in twice as easily as in Canada) and then when the ones inside were dead and all the holes were plugged we waited. We could see them outside the kitchen door trying to escape their fate but for many of them it was too late.

I guess we had more than ants, we just didn't know it and when the exterminator came he sprayed and then dumped the remains of the insecticide down the little storm drain in the area beyond the kitchen and they came out and were trying to escape. Thank goodness Juliette was there with the RAID when the attack started or there would still be some hiding in the house.

Now, the outdoor area beyond the kitchen is a disgusting tiled mess littered with the remains of hundreds of cockroaches.