How my mom gets rid of a rat
By Sherry
@norcal (4889)
Franklinton, North Carolina
November 12, 2015 7:27pm CST
I consider myself an animal lover, but sometimes even I think my mom takes her compassion for animals to a ridiculous extreme.
A few months ago a family of rats had taken up residence inside the wall of her kitchen. They would come out at night and throw wild parties, chewing through cereal boxes and leaving their little tell-tale pellets in the cupboards.
She tried one of those ultrasonic rat repellers, but they did not seem to bother the rats at all. Very reluctant to do anything that would harm the rats, she devised a plan to catch them alive and release them into the wild. I'm not sure where she thought they would go. I assume they would head for the nearest house.
Amazingly, she managed to catch a couple of rats in a tall trash can with a hand full of dog food in the bottom of it. The rats were not able to scale the sides of their trap.
Then it was time for the relocation phase of her plan. She placed the trash can in the back seat of her car and began backing out the driveway. She hit a bump which cause the can to tilt, and the rats were able to escape from their prison.
She quickly exited the car. She left the car doors open so the rats could get out. That's not what they did though, they hid inside the dashboard.
What she failed to consider was that my dachshund is crazy for rats. He slipped into the car and did some serious damage to the dash while trying to get at them.
I think the rats must have found a way out through the engine compartment. The rats were never seen again, but the car still bears the scars of that incident.
6 people like this
8 responses
@Letranknight2015 (52665)
• Philippines
13 Nov 15
It's been months since I have gotten rid of a single rat at our back yard. We have a dog but she's always outsmarted by that rat. Now, again I've spotted two small rats in the kitchen, its' time to buy some fly trap again



1 person likes this
@Letranknight2015 (52665)
• Philippines
13 Nov 15
@norcal missed my cats, just that my mom didn't like them one bit.
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
13 Nov 15
An amusing tale, very well written.We did the same with squirrels that had taken up residence in our loft, but we bought a proper squirrel trap. It would only trap one squirrel at a time though, so I had to make several trips with them in the boot of my car to the same location, and hoped they would find each other again.
1 person likes this
@Freelanzer (10782)
• Canada
13 Nov 15
That is so funny but good for her. I am so afraid of rats, I couldn't do that
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
13 Nov 15
Well-meaning but naive people who try to safely trap and release disease-carrying rodents... I know those people. Trust me, you have to drive a rodent up to two miles away in order to avoid them just coming right back in the house. When we had mice, you bet I set up traps. Killed eleven mice before we were clear of them. Your mother took a huge risk getting into a car with rats. I hope she doesn't try that again.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153530)
• India
13 Nov 15
I can understand your mother's feelings. Rats and mice are so good looking and they are just doing what is natural to them. But I have had no such luck. *I catch hold of someone to help me get rid of them and you know how it is done. My whole day gets spoilt.
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