Amplified, thrashing death at 3:30 a.m.

[teela brown]

Of a rat in our attic.

We had been hearing a rat scampering in our attic, so we called an animal pest specialist. He sealed off any holes where the rat might be coming in. But a critter must have been sealed in, for we continued to hear scramblings and scratchings. The pest guy couldn't come back for a few days to set traps, so we ourselves did what we remember him doing in the past: put a baited but unset trap up there for a few days. This gets the rat used to the idea that this new object is safe. When we checked after three days, the peanut butter was licked clean off and the trap surrounded by rat poop. Last night, we replaced the trap, baited and this time set.

I was sleeping in the guest bedroom, which is directly beneath where the trap was placed. At 3:30 a.m., I was slightly awake and heard a CLANG! Scrabble scrabble thrash thrash clang clang clunk clunk clunk scrabble. It went on for a good 20-30 seconds. Gross! If you think hearing a rat scrambling around in your attic is unnerving, wait until you hear his prolonged death throes amplified via a wooden ceiling and drywall in the wee hours of the morning.

[Patience Worth]

When we had one caught in a trap in the kitchen I felt so sorry for the little guy. Kept hearing the thrashing and finally went to check. He was caught by one paw. Got out my hotmitt and picked him up with the mitt. Carried him to the backdoor, opened the door, let his little paw free and threw him into the back yard. Good-bye little rodent. Live free but stay the hell out of my house or the next time you're DEAD!
Don't want to hear anything like that. If you don't sleep somewhere else, you may never sleep again. (BTW If there is one, there may be another.)

[sturmhauke]

Last year a rat got under the refrigerator and got decapitated by the motor, just in time to stink up the house for Thanksgiving. It died quickly, I suppose, but we didn't notice anything was amiss until the stench hit. It took us forever to find the fucking thing, because the fridge blew eau d'rat corpse to other parts of the kitchen, making us think it died somewhere else. I even thought it was a gas leak at first, until I pulled out the oven for inspection.

[Chacoguy]

When we moved into my first apartment, my wife saw a mouse so I went and got two traps. I put one under the sink and went to put one in the back room. Before I could set the second one, the first tripped. I set the second and went to get the first. By the time I got the first emptied, the second tripped. Lather rinse repeat. We had ten mice by the end of day one and 40 by the end of two weeks. That's when we got two cats. They lasted a couple of months and disappeared. So, we got more we went through eight cats in a year. The guys upstairs said that our Malaysian neighbors probably ate them. That place was weird.

[Anacanapuna]

Originally Posted by teela brown

If you think hearing a rat scrambling around in your attic is unnerving, wait until you hear his prolonged death throes amplified via a wooden ceiling and drywall in the wee hours of the morning.

Well, you'll probably get scratched from the short list of applicants for Commandant of the Death Camps when the Raffboards takes over the world. "Amplifed death thrashing" is on the schedule for entertainment of the loyal troops, and if you can't provide the required audio, well, there's just no future for you in the regime. Sorry.

[bufftabby]

Just be glad it wasn't a wombat.


I like to consider my cat to be the most humane form of pest control. He takes care of crickets too.

[eleanorigby]

Originally Posted by sturmhauke

Last year a rat got under the refrigerator and got decapitated by the motor, just in time to stink up the house for Thanksgiving. It died quickly, I suppose, but we didn't notice anything was amiss until the stench hit. It took us forever to find the fucking thing, because the fridge blew eau d'rat corpse to other parts of the kitchen, making us think it died somewhere else. I even thought it was a gas leak at first, until I pulled out the oven for inspection.

This is the one that drained the blood from my face.
There is a wall in our master bath where the mice get caught (at least 4 have died there since we built the addition 17 years ago). Sometimes you hear a scrabble, followed by frantic scrabbling, followed by silence and then the stench starts in about 3 days. We figure they must fall from some place in the attic and get impaled on a nail or some such.

[Dragonlady]

EWWW!

[Wolf Larsen]

The title sounds like a good name for a death metal band.

Riggs, have you thought about filling the voids in that wall with self-foaming insulation?

[teela brown]

Originally Posted by eleanorigby

. . . Sometimes you hear a scrabble, followed by frantic scrabbling, followed by silence and then the stench starts in about 3 days. . . .

Yeah, we figured a rat was "sealed in" by the stopping up of any holes up there, because after the sealing, the noises recommenced with a cautious metallic scratching (the sealing devices included metal screens). This was followed by scrabbling which increased nightly from mild to frantic, followed by frantic metallic scratching. We deduced that he was sealed-in and did the trapping ourselves rather than risking him dying up there and stinking the place up.

We used Whole Foods brand organic peanut butter as bait. I hope he enjoyed his yummy last bite.

[Solfy]

Originally Posted by Chacoguy

So, we got more we went through eight cats in a year. The guys upstairs said that our Malaysian neighbors probably ate them. That place was weird.

:eew:

[Mr. Buttons]

Originally Posted by Chacoguy

That place was weird.

That sounds like the understatement of the year.