I had so neglected my kitchen that a rat found its way into it and lived there for 3-4 days! On the first day, I thought I saw it but then I dismissed it as a shadow, a figment of my imagination, or a rather large lizard.
On the second day, my husband saw it scampering past and again we thought it was just a shadow or a large lizard. It was too fast for us.
On the third morning, I woke up to a very serious faced husband who said “Its confirmed hon, its a rat! I saw it and it has nibbled your coaster.”
I went to inspect my coaster which was for hot pots. I had placed the coaster under my used oil pot and the rat and nibbled it to shreds! Eeeeeyeeea!
And then…….. I saw it! It ran down my sink, then sat on my shelf and looked at me arrogantly (or so I thought). “I’ve taken over your kitchen.” It seemed to say. And no, it didn’t look a bit cute, not like the rat in ratatouille. It just looked disgusting! I kept on imagining it having a field day running around in my kitchen and I was beside myself with the thought. I closed the kitchen door silently and went to play with the kids. No way was I going to tackle the rat on my own.
When hubby came home later that day, we armed ourselves with an insect spray and a badminton racket each. Then we each stood on a kitchen stool ready to do battle with the rat. Lol. Just imagine that, two big people afraid of one wee rat.
We sprayed and shouted at it and eventually manuevered it out of the kitchen. Phew! After that, I had to scrub the whole kitchen. Everything had to be washed with soap and rinsed. The floor had to be flushed out with more soap and water.
I have no idea how the rat got into my kitchen. I do not leave food lying around and my rubbish bin is always covered. Food items are usually neatly and nicely tied into separate bags before throwing into the bin. There is nothing to eat which is probably why the rat had to nibble at my coaster under my used oil pot which was probably quite tasty from the oil that splashed over it. Eeeeyeeea!
Now, I dare not open my kitchen window or door or go out to the backyard. The other day, I saw another bigger rat running about in the backyard. Eeeeeyeeea!
Thank you rat. My kitchen is sparkling clean now. Â But I am not finished with my rat stories yet. Will write more about that another day.
Now, I’ll have to think of how to get rid of the lizards in my kitchen. Sigh.
Hi hi. If you find a way to repel lizards, let me know also. I hate finding lizard droppings everywhere!
Thanks for your words of encouragement. Makes my day to find little blogger rays of light like yours when I am stumbling in the dark. Thank you so much! *hugs*
*Hugs back*
eeuuuww!!
Back when I was living in a landed property, I too have seen big rats scampering past my back porch, but thankfully never in the kitchen. Now that I live in a high-rise, I doubt I will ever see a rat. *touch wood*
Haha. No, I never saw any when I was living in a high-rise.
May have come thru the pipes (for ur washing machine). Nasty pests!!! My father wud’ve “cham-sei-hei”! Even more gross…with all the blood.
They say, stick another fake lizard around. Apparently, lizards are quite territorial. 😉
Really ah? Maybe thats why there is one living under my refrigerator, one living behind the curtain, one near the washing machine. ;P
i can tolerate anything, except cats and lizard…i hate lizards!!! Tell me if u find out a way to get rid of them….
There are just so many of them outdoors, sometimes they find their way indoors, its so annoying and I don’t know how to get rid of them. I wish I could tell you how to get rid of them but I have to get rid of the lizards in my house first.
u can buy those sticky tape from ridsect and other brands for coackroaches and lizards. it worked and caught so many species! arrggh!!! put some food into them so that they will come.
use mosquito screen for ur grilles and ensure that the bottom of the doors have door seals so lizards wont coem in from outside.
Oh, thank you Wen for your many great ideas.
Just hope Ratty hasn’t come to think of your home as ‘his to share’… A rather large lizard visits our place occasionally; we’re grown rather fond of him but he does leave his calling cards about. Seems to disappear for a while after particularly energetic spring cleanings, if any conclusions can be drawn from that.
Oh you must have a clean and lovely house to only have an occassional lizard visit. I’m so jealous!
There is lizard repellent that u can get from the supermarket.
Oh, really? I’ve been looking for such a thing like forever but I could never seem to find one.
Wait! Wait! Did your husband say ur cooking has improved these past few days? Maybe it really is the ratatouille rat! 😛
If only I could talk to him (the rat), maybe he will be kind enough to cook and wash up for me too. Hahaha.
Hai….so hard to get rid of them when they seem to have FOUND you! 🙂
Hope you manage to get rid of all of them VERY SOON!
The rat is gone but not the lizards. I’m still cracking my head on how to keep my home lizard free.
Rat!! I fear most other than the lizards.
Mind you it’s the year of Rat. Haa haa…Get one of those traps. My late mom used to have one… and it worked all the time.
Talking about lizard, last week hubby and FIL cornered and caught one, flushed it down the toilet.
Err…. after that dare not empty the rat trap wor.
ewwwwwww………..hate them!!!! glad u managed to get rid of mickey mouse. i have yet to get those damn reptiles from my kitchen. they are huge i tell you. scaring the daylights out of me 🙁
You’re right about that. They are so scary. How could I have thought Mickey or Minney was cute!
Me and my sister used brooms to try and usher a rat out of our kitchen once. My dad came along with another broom, and we thought he was going to help us. Suddenly he swung the broom and SPLAT! Rat blood all over our kitchen floor.
Aiyoyo… gelinya.
Ewww. you may want to put traps for those other rats in the backyard too. Cant risk them coming into the house again or worse – reproducing!!!
Its too late. I think they have reproduced!
hahaha! am imagining the two of you with the “weapons” and on the “forts”! (^o^) Maybe it came in through the bathroom’s drainage hole (the hole where water flows out to the outside drain)?
We even had on proper “uniforms”, shoes, socks and long pants…. yunno, just in case the rat decided to run in our direction! Haha!
Just keep trapping them and eventually, hopefully, they’ll be rid off. We never show mercy. Drowning is the least messy way once they are in a trap.
As for lizards, we have found that raw egg shells repels them. So the next time you make fried or steam eggs try leaving a couple of egg shells by the window sill.
Raw egg shells, okie dokie, I shall try.
could be the neighbour’s pet..??
Haha. My neigbour, has dogs, even a cock-a-doodle-doo but no rats hopefully.
What an experience! We had something a little like that with a family of mice in the house. The darn things thought they were pets and would come out and watch tv with the family. I tried everything known to man and nothing seemed to work. They even taunted the cat. I should write that story some day. thanks for the chuckle
Hey! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same
niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on.
You have done a wonderful job!
Feel free to surf to my web page: nightclubs