Rats!

As you know, we have been battling rats in the space between the downstairs ceiling and the upstairs floor. To date, I have pulled out seven (7!) very dead rats from the three traps in our downstairs storage room. My routine is thus: clear out the room, stand on a chair, put on my rubber gloves (I don't own these, I rent them with an option to buy!), tie a tea towel around my nose and mouth, place my long knife within reach, grab my screwdriver, unscrew the tiled ceiling plates, take down the disgusting, rat-feces infested tile, check the traps, pull out the bodies, put more bacon cheese on the traps (they love this stuff!), put the ceiling tile back in place, take off the rubber gloves, and breathe a big sigh of relief that no rat tried to attack me from above (we are killing off their family members!). The pictured plastic bags act as body bags, and, yes, I'm more than a little freaked and scared when reaching up into the dark to pull out the traps.

Yet it appears that we are not alone in our troubles. Apparently, a huge rat came to an unfortunate demise in Stockholm's Central Station today. Here is a news excerpt below from CNN.com:

"STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- The electrocution of a fat rat in an electric station Saturday caused a three-hour power outage in Stockholm's central train station.

The early morning outage led to some delays in train traffic, since the rat's 11,000 voltage blowout led to a blackout in the station and halted elevators and escalators, Jesper Ekenlund, a spokesman for power company Fortum said.

Nearby hotels and shops were also affected, he said.

"The rat had sneaked into a secondary substation and came into contact with some parts that caused it to short circuit," he said.

"It must have been really big because there's a certain distance between the parts it touched."

Ekenlund said Fortum will now have to decontaminate the area where the rat met its fate.

"The blow was so forceful that it (the rat) actually burst," he said."

Now, isn't that a cheery story for the blog. Well, on the bright side, we're discovering that having rats is one way to build some sort of camaraderie with our neighbors. We have seen and talked with them more in the last couple of weeks than we have in a long time, as Swedes tend to hibernate in the winter. So, here's to rats (Skål!)...the bridge to community! --MM

Comments

[Renee]

Yes, thank goodness, the rats seem to be gone! At least, we don't hear them anymore. They were never inside the house, but made lots of racket in the ceiling. The racket is gone because they've apparently found a warm dwelling in a more natural setting . . . finally, Spring is here!

[Linda]

The girls think the rat catching is quite an adventure. The description of how you were told to remove them made us chuckle and of course the picture is great too. Has this adventure come to an end?

[Mom/MeMe]

Dad and I had a good laugh over the word picture following the picture on the computer of your description of conquering the rats! Whew! How I hate those ugly things! Can you believe that in India they actually worship them? They walk into the temples with no shoes on, and the rats literally run over their feet! You really need to put these things in a book someday! We sure enjoy hearing from you all! Love much, Dad and Mom

[tim & jenny]

awwww, nasty!!! but, that's great that you can see the "bright side" of things in that they've helped you talk to your neighbors more than usual! hope the problem goes away soon! yikes!

[Granny and Papa Cooper]

yes.. we heard on the news about the rat that shut things down for awhile there in Stockholm ... all I can say is gross, gross, gross..
we're just so happy you have hopefully gotten rid of the ugly creatures !!! and I'm sure you are to..
anxious to see you !! Love, Mom and Dad