MiceRatsAndMickey2012
Introduction/Definition/etc
So something moved, and didn't really see anything,
no real proof, must have been a reflection in my glasses,
then more sounds, and eventually a rustling behind the door
which is also behind the mirror... Look back behind the mirror
on the floor and nothing then a long tailed fairly big thing
making a racket... Go out and talk to the apartment management,
they don't have anyone for a while, and then come look around...
Video
Photos
Body
Maintenance comes with me, back to look for it,
and not where it was 20+ minutes ago, and
I don't find the arch in the floorboard with a name
on it, like a house sign, nor much of anything else...
Maintenance goes behind the stove, after I move
some stuff to get space to do that, and found some
previous steel wool put to plug up holes, apparently
they don't eat steel wool, picky little buggers...
And find one, a hole under / around the dishwasher,
which also has to be pulled out, plugged with
steel wool, and talk about the vermin some,
they left nasty tracks behind, dirty feet and all,
so he could see where it/they had walked
on a wire many times...
Adhesive traps (called surf boards)
are put out by maintenance, under
the dishwasher and under a heater
in the bedroom that is raised, I thought
I saw something go that way but
thought it was reflection in my glasses
some time back...
So can't sleep nor eat very well thinking
it's/ they are wandering about the apartment,
and all noises are the mouse/ rat stuck on
the surfboard. So sound sensitivity even worse,
and thinking of the kids living nearby,
must have them around too, but nobody
claims anything, exterminator had said
on lower floors, but guess they have
spread... We are near drainage,
and they like water, streams, near as I can
tell, they would need food (garbage is
disgusting and overflowed around here),
water, streams/ rain, and trying to stay
warm, when I first saw them, it was a very cold
snap at night...
None of my human food is appetizing to me,
when you have anything like rodents living
near/ with you, and you can't have pets,
a no pet policy, originally cats were
domesticated to help with stuff like this
more in a grain silo and agricultural societies,
than cityfried rats, big Kia sporting driving
TV commercial type rats, the types
I usually see squished on the roads,
biking through DC, in suburbs it's squirrels
that are squished on the roads,
I guess Texas Geckos, and Gieco
commercials, armadillos, skunks
and stuff in more rural areas and out
West and South.
And my maintenance doesn't come back when
asked and check the traps...
I can't get under the dishwasher, and nothing
has been done to check. It's been almost
2 months and I don't know anything was caught,
I though he said he got it, it was hiding under
the dishwasher, but thinking back, maybe it
was just he got the hole filled up, what I originally
thought we were talking about... All sorts
of things said originally, and wearing gloves,
latex here, in laboratories wearing chain mail
type gloves for handling lab animals
and all those things gory.
Later exterminator comes in for regular bimonthly
or whatever every two months treatments,
and at my request replaces the surfboard traps
with regular old school traps most might have seen,
at least in theory, spring action breaks it's neck when
rodent eats cheese on hair trigger, but he uses some
other bait injected, more like Cheese Whiz,
I guess...
No, no children in the home, they would
get into the traps. And one put down where I
might step on it, but trap set opposite
direction and one time, luckily wearing
sneakers kicked it and set it off,
while doing stuff like dishes in the sink
so one trap down, other one in a corner
under stuff, and thought there was a third
in another corner but nothing seen...
It's a noisy place here by comparison
to my old place, which was in the end
of a dead end court further in Suburgatory
(see Hulu.com archives of cable shows
http://www.hulu.com/suburgatory ),
and I lost lots of space, square footage,
by more than a hundred square feet,
plus storage in the basement (we had a big
rat there, but it was an outside rat,
as far as I could tell) on the balcony
or burrowing underneath it and around
the bushes...
One bike place nearby had a mouse,
I saw something in the corner of my eye
and they thought it was cute,
tried not to have me scare it???
I thought of health problems,
plague and disease is spread by
those things, and I have enough to
deal with.
Check wikipedia on Mouse and Rats,
and Mouse Trap, diseases associated,
some serious,
We really need a better mouse trap,
it's not working. Things are still making
noises in the night and in the day, and
I can't always tell which direction
the sounds are coming from, is it the
neighbors opening closing doors/ cabinets,
and odd sounds, or upstairs in the attic,
shifting sounds from expansion or contraction
of the attic or plywood, or birds chirping
again or squirrels in the drain spouts,
etc the attic, which needs to be checked,
it would be haven and subway system
for vermin of all sorts, and the
exterminator was excluded in his
contract, I talked months, maybe a year
ago now, after moving in, his first visit about it,
and now too late, really, already have
problems. And the apartment ratings
on the place here had mentioned Mice/
Rats, and now well, besides the crazy
place, I though was the residents, turns
out to be the staff attitudes and behaviors
too...
Issues, no shortage of issues,
around here, in the Barrio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrio
(Spanish for Neighborhood)
mostly considered invisible people,
some scary, others nice, it really is a mix,
not a Melting Pot, and I'm a minority,
and times are getting interesting with
Immigration laws changing perhaps,
advocacy events in the Virginia Capital also
around MLK Day Rally,
but I've not studied up, nor heard
how it went...
Jokes about Ratatouille movie,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382932/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatouille_(film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatouille
building a better mouse trap,
Tom and Jerry (cartoon, mouse is
Jerry, and smart, but Tom is a Cat,
and dumb), I didn't watch it much
growing up,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry
or playing cat and mouse,
on computer there are cute little
cats / kittens trying to follow the mouse pointer,
and all sorts of Mrs Fisby and the Rats
of NIMH book I read as a kid,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Frisby_and_the_Rats_of_NIMH
and later a movie with it turns out
rumored, Michael Jackson playing a big role,
I heard later...
Thriller,
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(song)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(album)
or music video of the song )
it's probably not...
Like bears, I'm not sure why we
make them cute and friendly in
media, and stuffed, rats/ mice are vile
creatures I want gone, in as most pacifist
manner possible, but ASAP,
as it's a Health Code Violation
too, IMO.
And I've considered a snake,
if vermin's going to die anyway,
maybe it should be fed to a snake,
at least it will have had some purpose
in life... Local animal shelter probably
doesn't rescue snakes cruelty
issues with feeding live mice
to snakes, etc...
BTW, seen dead ones in the hood,
on the curb a few days ago (still there) and
today outside the door, (pictured above)
I don't know if they drown in the rains
recently, hit crossing the street,
or got poison, or what,
but clear evidence they have been
around here, and likely still are...
Conclusion
Summary of experience or similar
Discussion
A place for feedback on the page presented
Page History
20120213 Jerry
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20120204 Jerry
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