Sunday 8 August 2010

There's a Rat in Mi Kitchen (UB40 song)

This morning I went to make a cuppa, leaving my room door open. When I got back I spotted a big grey rat! Yuck! I grabbed a broom, chased it into the bathroom and locked the door.  I then found Daisy, one of the landlady's dogs, hoping that she'd dispatch it quickly, but she just wasn't interested so I chased it around a bit more and out the front door.  The beastie had generously left behind a few droppings which I swept out the front door too.

A little later I was sitting on my bed under the fan.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see a plastic bag moving about in the breeze. Only it seemed to be moving a bit too much and when I looked again I saw the cause  - a snake!!!!  I grabbed the broom again, got it into the bathroom, quickly took this blurry picture, and locked the door.  The tiles are 20cm, so I reckon this fella's about 130-140cm.  Not as big as the one which visited our offices recently but a bit more mobile. We called a lad from down the road to identify and deal with it.  Unfortunately, when we opened the door again, it was just disappearing into a gap in the roof which it must have reached by climbing onto the basin and then springing 100cm to the roof.  Luckily we found it again in the laundry room and managed to frighten it off.

Turns out it was another rat snake and I'm wondering if it was tracking the rat through sense of smell, perhaps from the droppings.  Whatever, I'm keeping my door firmly shut from now on.  I have to admit that at the moment I'm quite wary of things which could be lurking in corners!

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3 comments:

  1. Yuck, is an understatement !! You were very calm in circumstances that would freak me out !!

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  2. Hi Celia,
    I remember sitting on the porch of my home in India, reading with the neighbours' kids. A big rat came hopping round the corner, saw us, and continued on up the stairs. I shouted "It's a RAT!!!" - the kids replied "So??" They didn't blink an eye!

    I think cockroaches are my least favourite but rats come a close second!

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  3. Hmmm... none of the aforementioned are my favourite creatures. Your blog is getting popular - the comments from the NZ kids are lovely.

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