The Rat Man Cometh Revisited

David from Capable Pest Control showed up, looking eager for the job. He had taken great pains over the phone to explain what would be covered in the charge, including two return visits. Also, he said he would try to find places where the rats are coming in, and suggest that we shore up those places.

Here's a photo of David with the traps. He explained that, because we moved everything out of the room, they have probably fled (perhaps to other parts underground, or even into the house, ugh). But he set two traps inside the storage area, and I think more inside the crawl space. He did find droppings inside the crawl space under the house, so they are definitely getting in.

And the surprise of all....I saw him put a sticky-like brown substance onto the trap. I asked, "Is that the bait?" He said yes, and pointed to a large Snickers bar that he keeps with the traps. Unbelievable. He uses Snickers as bait! Hell, I told him, I could be tempted. He laughed.

He showed me 3 places where they could be getting in: (1) there's an electric box on the side of the house and the door doesn't fit any more; that needs to be fixed. (2) There's broken mesh on the little window in the back leading into the crawl space. (3) There is a large hole where the heating duct goes. However, if I can get rid of the rats in the storage space and close the door, they shouldn't be able to access that.

I really appreciate the assessment. I just hope that there's enough time to catch the rats, if they're there, before the plumber shows up on Tuesday and disturbs the traps.

The game begins.