Rats! It's Gone.

Suzy's mad. Thankfully not at me. Thankfully not at the boys. She's mad at the rat(s?). A few months ago our neighbor's cat, Missy, went out for a stroll and never came back. It was a sad day, but not unexpected as Missy was getting up there in age and it was only a matter of time before her surly nature wrote a check that her cat skills could not cover. I am thinking that she picked on one coyote too many. But I digress, so Missy is no longer in our lives. Missy was a hunter. Some cats are standoffish, some cats are cuddly (doubtful), some cats are fun loving and some cats are dumb (I am looking at you Spud up there in Cat Heaven). Very rarely did a day go by that a present was not left by our neighbor's back door. Mice, birds, large insects, mastodons, there was always something. Missy was earning her keep. It was sad that the occasional bird nest in the spring was harvested for her sport, but the birds learned to stay away. Apparently so did the rodents, because since Missy has been gone, the rats have come out to play, and Suzy is mad.

'What are the rats after?'

I am glad you asked! Tomatoes. Big, fat, red, juicy home grown tomatoes. I am not much of a tomato fan, unless it is in salsa or some similar concoction, but Suzy is, and her wrath is fearsome when she finds a half eaten tomato in the backyard that she was planning on picking. Her wrath is so fearsome that she took the surprising tact of telling me before she and the boys left for Portland to,

'Take care of the rat(s?). I want them gone.'

Awesome, rat hunting season has opened in our backyard. Doing some quick internet searches it became apparent that 1. rats love peanut butter, and 2. poisons are probably a bad idea. We do have a fairly active red tail hawk population in the area and I would be bummed out if one of them died from secondary poisoning (I know, I know, I am getting soft in my old age). Rat traps it is. Home Depot had two types, the normal one you all have seen before, and what I call, 'The Chair'. The concept of The Chair is simple, stuff some 'C' batteries in there, put in some bait, and energize a big metal plate. Rat goes in, zap, and the neighbors are wondering what you are barbecuing for the Fourth (sorry that was a little gross, that's what happens when Suzy leaves for a while, I downgrade my humor standards).

I settled for the standard. As much as I wanted to try The Chair, I couldn't see myself spending 30 bucks on it. The standard for $1.99 was much more in my price range.

I baited the sucker up (peanut butter crackers, Daniel's favorite snack!) and went inside to watch more bad TV. This morning I figured I would go check things out.

'Rats! It's gone.' They took the peanut butter cracker, the trap was sprung, but no rat. Lousy, cheeky little buggers. Didn't even leave me a tip.

We are re-baited, and ready again. Maybe this time I will get a little something for my efforts. Or I will have to rethink my purchasing decision... I can hear The Chair calling to me, ZAP!