Looks like I was ahead of the curve with my Visitors problem of last Fall. I can hardly bring myself to say the word “r-a-t” after discovering burroughs in my yard last October, leading to an all out war through December. I live near wetlands, with train tracks a distance away on the opposite side from my house. They were dug up and replaced, and at the same time the house next door, that had been unoccupied for months, was being emptied and renovations started. This prompted the local vermin population to seek new shelter in our corner of the street. I’ve spent 48 years on this street and in this house, and NEVER even SAW a rat. It is a nice suburban street with nice houses and nice families. And then rats. Something was up.
I was not alone on the street to have issues, but I think having parrots as pets (and the seed and pellets they eat made my home more attractive to the visitors. It was, and continues to be, one of the most horrific experiences of my life. After trying to just trap individual critters, the cumulative effect of seeing so many dead animals was literally soul-breaking for me. I think all warm fuzzy creatures are beautiful, and I wouldn’t want to play a part in ANY of their deaths. It was too much to see it all, every day. I cried. I shook. I had nightmares, They chewed through the walls of my home. They broke up my foundation and carved through masonry. They went into a wall, where we could hear them scratching. They bred in an inaccessible dead spot under my house. They came into my house at night. I had nightmares. I am grateful to several key friends who were able to help me through it. Finally, I gave in to the exterminators suggestion and just put bait boxes around my house. Within a few weeks the bait was gone, and so were the Visitors. I didn’t see them or any evidence of them again. The End. If I EVER see ANY signs of them again, the poison comes back. Immediately, I have no guilt after what they did to my house and my sense of safety in it.
I am writing this because I seen reports that the rat population is on the rise in the suburbs. Rat burrows have appeared in Quincy, Melrose, and residential parts of Revere (I am sure there is more of a problem, but there is a stigma involved in saying you have a rat issue. Rats are the herpes of the pest world.) The exterminator I used told me a story of a woman a few streets away from me who went away to Florida for the winter and returned home to find rats had overrun her living room, living in the couch cushions and destroying everything. Yes, it happens like that. It is a horror show.
Rats are the worst invader out there, people. If you even SEE one, it is a sign of trouble as they are never alone. I remember seeing two little faces poke out of a hole in my yard before this all started and I thought “Oh I wonder what they are? So cute!” They were obviously inquisitive juveniles. I didn’t get it, having had no more rodent experience than the occasional mouse that my cats brought to my attention. My cats couldn’t touch this problem, and they are tough hunters. Even they hid in my bedroom at the height of the infestation.
With the increased population (is it me, or does it seem like there are more people living in the burbs than ever before? Everything is crowded and traffic is always congested…but I digress.) People on the Wakefield Community Board on Facebook discussed it yesterday, and some had the opinion of “I would never use poison.” Honey, until you have dealt with what I have, and I will not share the horror of the specifics, please don’t judge. I offered a comment or two about what worked for me based on hard-won experience and suffering. Just sharing so someone else might not have to go through what I did. My old house is covered in “Great Stuff” canned foam bubbles and concrete patch in attempt to keep the buggers out. They are smart, they are aggressive, they are relentless. The damage is permanent and I don’t have extra funds to renovate it all away. I am doing little things as I can. My main point is until you have had your home, and I don’t mean your yard, violated and literally attacked by such insidious wildlife, you can’t fully understand what you have to do to stop it. I still have nightmares over what I went through. After reading the comments on the board about rats showing up in people’s yards, I had one of those creepy-crawly dreams last night, That is what has prompted me to focus on this topic today.
Someday I think I will have to have a PET rat as karmic repair for the mammalian murders I committed with traps, and then poison, last fall. It might be a healing experience for all species involved (lol.) Until then, though, not a day goes by that I am not considering that they could be back, or come back. PTSD from the Visitors is not a stretch. During the last phase when I used poison, I was laid up at home following back surgery. It was awful. I imagined all the poor little things (!) that were nibbling the poison, and slinking off to die somewhere. And then other creatures ingesting them. I hated myself for it. Truly. Then, though, thinking of the alternative (and I could tell you stories) I had to rationally realize it was the only way out of the nightmare. Even my veterinarian agreed it was the only thing to do. And it worked. So peace out, people, not trying to offend anyone with my opinions about using poison. It is just that I never thought it would happen to me, and it did. Just thought I’d share, just in case anyone is in the same boat. It is not the topic of cocktail parties and even the exterminator told me there’s more of it going on that anyone knows. Cheers and good luck, fellow sufferers.
Everyday I write whatever is on my mind. I try to incorporate art. Today I didn’t as this little PSA had to come out. Back to the art world tomorrow, I guess! Cheers.