I Don't Do Rats, he said
By cynthiann
@cynthiann (18602)
Jamaica
August 3, 2009 4:05pm CST
I came from the shower on Saturday night and was about to hop into bed when I noticed something wiggling just under my bed. I bent down to see it more clearly and it was a BABY RAT. I went ballistic, screamed and jumped on the bed. My daughter;s friend who was staying with us also screamed and ran from the house. I phoned three of my children but the calls went to voice mail. I then phoned a friend nearby that had four boys staying for a sleep over and they came to the rescue.
It became a nightmare. My home is tiny and lots of things are stored in plastic containers under the bed (a few - like the Christmas tree are not)
Four nine year old boys were yelling and shouting as they came across another 6 baby rats under the bed. I'm freaking out. My GF jumps on my bed too.
Then son #2 came to the house and when I yelled to him to come and help he yelled back, "I don't do rats, Mom". It was then I remembered that he too, is terrified of rats. He is six feet three inches and he is scared of rats! For a minute I was so cross.
Anyway, the boys cleared out everything under the bed and went through everything looking for the mother. All the babies were dead and I feel no remorse. I expect that the mother rat was dying and gave birth and then went out to die. I am not talking about mice but RATS. GREAT BIG UGLG RATS THAT CARRY DISEASE AND VERMIN. near me is wasteland and I expect that the rat came from there. The boys said to call on them if I see another one. I tipped them generously and they went away arguing as to how many each caught.
Do you do rats? Or are you like my son who doesn't do rats?
Anyway, the boys cleared out everything under the bed and went through everything looking for the mother. All the babies were dead and I feel no remorse. I expect that the mother rat was dying and gave birth and then went out to die. I am not talking about mice but RATS. GREAT BIG UGLG RATS THAT CARRY DISEASE AND VERMIN. near me is wasteland and I expect that the rat came from there. The boys said to call on them if I see another one. I tipped them generously and they went away arguing as to how many each caught.
Do you do rats? Or are you like my son who doesn't do rats?5 people like this
23 responses
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
5 Aug 09
I'll do you one better. I was sitting at the computer late late last night and I heard something, so I got up to investigate. There was a baby OPOSSUM hiding under a table in the next room. I scared him and released the cats to get him out of here.
1 person likes this
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
They said that I could call on them anytime, and one of them gave me his phone number! A nightmare!
@allyoftherain (7208)
• United States
3 Aug 09
Haha... great story. But I don't do rats either. Maybe when they're safely in a cage somewhere or on their own merry way out in the wild. Not in my house, and certainly not in my bed.
We had some problems with rats living in the walls awhile back. I could hear them crawling around at night and it scared the heck out of me. They never left the walls, but it was still not pleasant to hear them running around in there.
2 people like this
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Hearing them would freak me out too. Did you get pest control or put down bait?
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
3 Aug 09
I don't do rats, bats, mice, or anything that isn't human. I would be like you running for my life.....screaming and yelling across the whole neighborhood! I had mice once and someone told me to get this mouse poison....well I came home from work one day to a mouse staggering across my kitchen....it finally stopped in front of the bathroom! My son called and said what's wrong mom? I finally told him....he yelled in the phone..Liberate your kitchen mom! So I went upstairs and got a shoe box and tossed it over the mouse.....I put my foot on it then inched it to the back door....where I took the broom and hurled the whole thing outside! I was so relieved as I had to go to the bathroom and couldn't with it in my way! LOL...I hope you have an end to the rat problem! Yuck!
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
3 Aug 09
Yech. I try not to do rats, wild ones anyway. We did have pet rats when I was a child, but we kept them clean and they didn't carry diseases and so on. Don't know if I'd do it now though. Long story there...
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
I bet there is a story. Did it escape? I hate them, hate them, hate them, says she going hysterical
1 person likes this
@cyrus123 (6363)
• United States
3 Aug 09
Hi cynthiann! I don't blame you! I can't stand rats, either! I'm glad you survived all of this. I probably would have had heart failure if I saw that many. You live on a farm, don't you? I was raised on a farm and I know you always have a problem with rats whenever there's grain around. I don't live on a farm any more, I hate to say, but I do have a pasture in the front and to the side of the house where I keep my horse. There are a lot of little field mice out there and sometimes they get in the house in the winter. I scream and go ballistic whenever I see one, too. I'm just glad my little Jack Russell Terrier will kill them. I used to have a pest control man to come out and spray the house for termites once a month and he would put out glue boards for them. Now, I just get the glue boards, myself. I think they've wised up to these things and rat poison, too, though. I hope you can do something about them. Kathy.
1 person likes this
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Note to self: Buy a Jack Russell terrier. Seriously, we never had them in the house on the farm as we had cats but there used to be rats in the banana fields but I did't go into the banana fields!
@jwfarrimond (4473)
•
4 Aug 09
I don't do rats but my cats do - I'd just send for the feline vermin exterminators. 
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Trust me, as soson as my grnad twins leave on Saturday I am having the pest control come in to do their thing!
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
4 Aug 09
I don't blame you for freaking out. I don't like rats or mice. I guess if I knew there was a wasteland nearby I'd be stocking up on rat traps though. It's only normal that they'd be looking for a comfy place to snuggle up and what better place than under your bed. Just be happy it wasn't in your bed LOL Good thing you got rid of them...maybe the mama moved to another nesting spot to have the next litter...
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
5 Aug 09
LOL I remember a movie once where a woman lived in a terrible rat infested apartment and she got up to check on her daughter during the night and saw the blanket moving. Pulling it back there were 2-3 BIG rats crawling on her little girl trying to get warm...that's always stuck on me. Those little suckers love to climb and if they can climb up on a kitchen counter they sure as heck can get in the bed. The other thing is that mice and rats are incontinent...meaning the pee all the time. Mostly it dries and you never see it but it's still there. GROSS!!
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Don't even mention that they could have been on top of my bed! Yucky yuck. I think that they were disturbed by a nearby construction that is taking place.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
11 Aug 09
Apologies for not responding. I have been sick. There is always the thought of being infected by leptospirosis which is a horrible disease that rats carry that can kill.
@dreamr802 (985)
• United States
4 Aug 09
That was a funny story. At least the kids next door to you were able to help you out. I'm like your son, I definitely do not do any type of rodents whatsoever.
@dreamr802 (985)
• United States
4 Aug 09
Trust me, I would've been freaking out if I was there with you too...I'd be on the bed screaming as well
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Yes, it is funny in retrospect but not whilst it was happening!
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
3 Aug 09
I would have freaked right out. I love little mice but rats...oh no...not happening. My daughter did have a pet rat that I could not bring myself to touch or even look at much. He actually was pretty smart. He stayed here about a week or two and I had her take him to her dad's. He was more accepting of it than I.
1 person likes this
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
It was horrific but funny too in retrospect. The boys were laughing that my son was scared too. I really tipped them well.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
3 Aug 09
OMG!! I've only ever once seen a live rat that wasn't behind glass, and that was in Ottawa at a local mall, outside the mall of course, but I was freaked out for the rest of my stay at the mall. I've had plenty of mice in my home, and although I don't like having them in my home, rats would be far worse for me! I've had chipmunks and birds in my home, and those were bad enough too. I'd probably move away without any of my belongings if I ever saw a rat!
1 person likes this
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Do you know what was horrible? The twins yesterday were making sounds under my bed and saying that they were baby rats. I woke up to them making mice sounds. I freaked again!
Yes, it was awful. No sign of the mother and I am having pest control in the house to spray when the twins have gone.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
4 Aug 09
OMGOSH CYNTHI, That is awful. I would have probably started packing right then to move. Rats are awful things, Bless your heart u sure didn't need that kind of excitement, AFTER the awful week w.the boss that was terrible for u. hope the boss left today. U need to find out where they got in & make sure no more get in. I'm like your son, i don't do rats either. I would have been petrified i think.Thank goodness for those fine little boys. Knowing boys as i do i bet they had a blast, lol. please find out where that nasty thing got in. Please be careful.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
4 Aug 09
Boys will be boys, 
I figured they had fun. spraying is good but u need to find out how they got in & stop that place up. I have heard if u put aliminum foil in a hole where mice or whatever can get it it will deter them. I bet u haven't got settled down from that experience yet. I wouldn't have.
I figured they had fun. spraying is good but u need to find out how they got in & stop that place up. I have heard if u put aliminum foil in a hole where mice or whatever can get it it will deter them. I bet u haven't got settled down from that experience yet. I wouldn't have.@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
The boys so enjoyed it - thisty little bloodsuckers at that age! funny in retrospect but horrible when it happened. Will get the place sprayed after the twins have left.
1 person likes this
@jessi0887 (2788)
• United States
4 Aug 09
That is a story to tell that will gross anyone out. I hate rats, bugs, spiders. Lets put it this way if its not from a pet store i just might hate it. LOL!
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
I hater the whole group that you mentioned too - hate them with a passion
@CroakDesigns (160)
• United States
4 Aug 09
I have pet rats, but I think I would have difficulty dealing with wild rats in my home. Were these new born pink and hairless rats? My fear would be that a rat would get into a wall and die (and then rot and smell).
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
The one that I saw was newborn and that is when I screamed and leapt on the bed. They cannot get into my walls though.
@k1tten (2318)
• United States
4 Aug 09
Well, I don't mind rats. I don't mind rats that are store raised. Wild ones squick me out and it's not a good thing. I can deal with them perfectly fine, but if I find one in my bed though, there may be a freakout as well.
I'm just amused that the boys were fighting over who caught more. That had to be funny in a way and I would be laughing about it afterwards.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
It was funny in retrospect! You are so right as the boys were screaming and shouting and quarrelling over who found the most bodies of the babies. Disgusting - but amusing now that i think about it.
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
3 Aug 09
I am terrified of mice and so I certainly don't want rats around. If we have a mouse in the house, I don't like to walk into a room by myself. I don't usually see rats here, but I would freak out if I did. They scare me so much as they carry disease and are just so dirty.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
I know just how you feel and I feel the same way. Absolutely disgusting!
@tjades (3591)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Yikes! Yikes! Yikes! Many Yikessss.....
I am afraid of those vermins as much as i hate them. I do not and I repeat do not appreciate them ever trying to move in to share my living space with me. They are not invited and they most certainly are not welcomed either.
I am scared of them but my dislike for them would not allow me to stop until I got rid of them. I remember once when they tried to move in here the cat got so used to the screams and the calls that he would come running and just wait on us to point in the direction the rat went.
That was just a fabulous thing about that cat. We speak of it even so many years later. Even if he was away from the house in the bushes doing his thing and we went and called out for him the cat would come running. One point in the direction of the mice or lizard then all we needed to do was to move stuff around to get the pest moving and leave the rest up to kitty.
Sounds like you had drama in the house on Saturday night. Ha ha ha.... Even our nieghbours must be used to our episodes by this. Thankfully its not mice like lizards that slip inside sometimes. Rats.... As far as I am concerned they ought to know their place and that is not in someones house.
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
Do you know where I could get a cat like that? The house next dfoor is under construction and I am sure that they have been disturbed in the common land. I live in a gated community and ther are areas that have rats. It was so awful. I shudder whilst responding to my post.
@srganesh (6340)
• India
4 Aug 09
That was a long interesting story!How did you missed those rat family for so long period?I think the worst thing you have done was to dump things under your bed and had not cleaned it for a long period.That is how the mother rat found it the most secure place to yield her babies.Thank god,you got some help from the neighbors so that you could sleep in peace.About me,well I am scared of rats too.But if I see one,I will set a trap immediately and get rid of them.Cheers!
@cynthiann (18602)
• Jamaica
4 Aug 09
I htink that the rat came into the house to give birth and then it went outside to die. Maybe someone had put down poison
