Ratatouille in Real Life (Part 4)

Okay last of the rat story I promise… so I never was able to find out if Animal Control actually picks up dead rats.. if some one knows let me know…

The next morning the rat and the trap were missing.. at least from all appearances.. I mean if I couldn’t see him from the sliding glass doors or windows.. I wasn’t about to go out there.. if he wasn’t dead he was going to be one mad rat.. probably looking from some revenge. So I avoided the back patio and the laundry area for a week before I got up the courage to go out there (meanwhile everyday Mark was leaving me threatening messages to go out there and find the rat.. so he could have some closure.. uh hello.. what about my safety?), I went out there and still nothing.. but as I said before the patio at this point was in such a state of disrepair it was difficult to see what was actually out there. Somehow I did clear a rat free path from the laundry room to the sliding glass door.. it’s amazing what you will do when the threat of having to go back to the Laundromat is eminent.

Well that seemed to be working out just fine.. Pet Louie had completely vanished until a month later Alycia’s friend Mark (I know confusing for purposes of this blog he will be Mark 2) came to visit and decided that he was going to dedicate his time to a major service project.. cleaning up our back patio/laundry area, sifting through Alycia’s stuff to take care of whatever the rat has infiltrated and locating the rat. I am forever indebted to Mark 2 for taking pity on us.

So apparently food storage IS really important. Pet Louie could not have survived out there with out it. During “Project Cleanup” it was discovered that the rat had actually eaten through Alycia’s 72-hour kit.. his razor sharp teeth had acted as a can opener and he sucked the goodness out of a tuna can.. this big guy was the McGuiver of the rat community. There were also some granola bar remnants and a couple of empty juice boxes. Mummified Pet Louie was found under a weed that that had been growing out in the patio area, literally under our noses the whole time.... I am really surprised he didn't stink up the place. Pictures were taken (courtesy of Mark 2).. if your stomach can handle it let me know and I’ll send them over.