Family Matters
By Isabelle Southcott
TRAPPED!
Rats!
I'm not scared of spiders and snakes and mice but I draw the line when it comes to sharing my home with rats.
A few months ago I bought a house in the Townsite. I thought it was a single-family dwelling but another family was already happily living there when I moved in. Unbeknownst to me, a colony of rats were ensconced in my home.
Before I go any further, I want to tell you that I am not scared of rodents. I don't hate rodents. In fact we used to have pet mice. I even took Alex's pet mouse to the vet when she was sick and dropped antibiotics into her mouth.
I simply do not want to share my living space with them. I don't want them running over my kitchen counter and poking around my food cupboards while I am sleeping. I don't want them travelling through my walls while I slumber. I don't want rats in my house.
I knew I needed help eradicating the rats so I called rat man. Okay, his name really isn't rat man, it's Paul Hirst, of Powell River Pest Control, but what rat man doesn't know about rats isn't worth knowing.
First, Paul rat-proofed my house, which meant the rats couldn't get out. He plugged up the few holes they'd been using to go in and out and then he set up traps baited with peanut butter. Although I didn't like the idea of living in a house with heavens knows how many rats, there was nothing my kids and I could do but wait.
It didn't take long before the rats found the traps. Some days, we'd catch four, other days two or one. Each time we caught another, I thought, "This has to be all there is."
But there were more. So far we have trapped 18 rats in my house!
The whole time this was happening we had a dreadful smell in the basement--the kind of odour that makes you want to hurl. We didn't notice it when we first moved in because the previous owner had placed half a dozen air fresheners in the basement. But after gagging over the strong scent of air fresheners and removing them, something decidedly unpleasant took over. The smell of rats.
Once rat man caught all the rats, he removed the drywall from ceiling in the smelliest basement room. More than three pounds of rat poop was found in one little section. I was horrified, not just because it was gross, but also because of the health hazard. Upstairs, we discovered insulation damaged by rats. More work to do. I couldn't believe it. My beautiful new home! I wanted to cry.
Instead, I took a deep breath and thought about everything I loved about the house. The view, the beautiful floors, the cherry tree in the back garden, the stately covered front porch, the wonderful neighbours....
Yes, there's always reason to be grateful. When we're in the middle of a difficult situation, it can be hard to find, but if you stop and think about it, there's a lot to be grateful for.
