ROUS (Rodent of Unusual Size)

This is what our apartment looked like last night:

The only thing that could flip everything upside down like this would be the presence of a RAT.  Yes, a rat.  Not a measly little mouse, but a giant gray rat.  And yes, he was big.

Here is the story. Two days ago we heard a scratching sound in one of our walls.  We went to bed and when we woke up the next morning we found traces of rat everywhere.  Even next to our bed.  It's okay to cringe now. I certainly did.

We set up barricades and had a stake out until we knew where he was.  We found his hole:

Back behind the oven.  We set up a video camera baby monitor so we could see where he was going and what he was doing.  Brent stood silent next to the oven for about 20 minutes until he came out. Of course he ran away into our living room and under our couch.

So we set up more barricades.  A glass wall leading to the kitchen:

We opened the front door and cleared a pathway.  We armed ourselves with a mom and a broom. I put on my tough face.

Brent flipped the couch and out he ran.  Straight into the glass.  Birds aren't the only ones.  Brent gave him a wacking or two, in the process breaking the corner of the glass from our coffee table. A small price to pay.  The rat jumped.  I probably screamed. Then he came towards me.  I gave him a licking too and then chased him straight out the front door.  Whew.

We celebrated.  I am not joking when I say that for the past two days I was constantly thinking about where he might be and what he might be putting his germs on.  It was good to get him out.

I spent all morning today mopping floors, vacuuming, and probably overusing a can of lysol. I learned that I might be hyper-paranoid when it comes to rodents living in my house.  Let's just say I am not planning on giving Brinley a pet rat anytime in the future.