To catch a rat

I’m on a crusade. I have a mission. This is war.

I have become determined to rid our team house of the rats living in the ceiling. In many ways we live quite harmoniously together. They are not particularly visible house guests. Heidi frequently complains that she is kept awake by their scurrying around above her bedroom at night. Sometimes one of us will spot a flash of movement and see a long tail disappearing through a gap in the woodwork between wall and ceiling. Occasionally we will find a food package has been nibbled. But just knowing they are there is enough for me to want to be rid of them.

We already had a rat trap as this is not the first time that rodents have been an issue either in the house or at the office. However, rat traps in the Philippines seem to be of the humane variety so what we have is more akin to a cage with a narrow entry, and a one way platform that drops when pressure is applied to it and acts as an entrance to the section from which there is no return. Personally I would prefer a trap that immediately kills its victim as somehow I prefer the idea of dealing with a dead rat rather than a live one.

It's a rat trap...

I first set the trap with cheese but after several days the only interest was from the ants. One of the team suggested maybe a stronger cheese was required and offered her garlic and onion cream cheese. Worth a try, I thought, but still there was no sign of the rat. The third attempt was with peanut butter mixed with dried dog food (how we come to have dried dog food is another story but we know the rats like it because there is evidence of them nibbling at the bag it is kept in at the office).

Three times I put down the bait and three times it disappeared. Clearly the rat was now interested but, despite the fact I kept putting the bait in a slightly different place in the trap, it was also way too smart to get caught. At this point I decided that all I was succeeding in doing was fattening up the rat and so I stopped baiting the trap while I planned my next strategy. And then, last Sunday afternoon, with no bait in sight, rat number 1 was caught. I like to think I had trained him to expect there to be food in the trap and then curiosity and temptation got the better of him and he finally allowed himself to fall into the trap.

... and you've been caught!

So now the dilemma of what to do with it. I’d been told that previously caught rats had been given to the guards to dispose of so I carried the cage outside. The guard on duty that day was clearly unsure what he should do as I presented him with the rat in the trap. After a few moments hesitation he said ‘Ma’am I will take it’. Did he mean he wanted it as a pet (I have to admit this one did have quite a cute face)? Was he perhaps going to eat it (I know that’s what some people do in Chad when they catch a rat)? Then he said ‘You wait’ and got on his bicycle and cycled off down the street holding the handlebars with one hand and the rat trap with the other. He returned after about 10 minutes with the now empty rat trap and informed me he had left the rat at the church. I felt a momentary sense of guilt about giving our rat to the Roman Catholics but more than anything I felt relieved that there was one less rat in our house.

Round two of the battle began on Friday evening. Part of me was hoping that there had only ever been one rat but I know that is unlikely and so I was not surprised on Saturday morning to see that the bait had disappeared. Undeterred I baited the trap again and within a few hours I was rewarded with another catch. As I carried the cage outside I was met by the three workmen who were taking a break from their work repairing the roof. They were immediately fascinated by the rat in the trap and although they speak limited English they did manage three words: ‘mouse’ (no, it’s a rat), ‘video’ (really? You want to film it on your phone?) and ‘dead’ (phew, they are going to kill it).

They then proceeded to fetch a bucket and were obviously going to fill it with water so I deduced that this was going to be death by drowning for the rat. However, they then realised that the bucket might not be big enough for the cage. As they attempted to see if it would fit somehow the platform that was keeping the rat trapped got knocked and, seizing his opportunity and almost faster than the eye could see, the rat was out of the cage and gone. It ran into the room where the workmen are staying and despite giving chase they were unable to catch it again. I feel even worse about giving a rat to these men than I did about giving one to the church but they didn’t seem to mind. I’m also thinking it hasn’t gone very far from where it has been living and will maybe find its way home…

The one that got away

As I write the trap is baited for round three. It feels like I have won two small battles this week – I’m just not sure I’m winning the war.