***SEWER RAT UPDATE***

[asthmaticeog]

Continued from here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=4391167&mesg_id=4391167

The wildlife removal guy never called back, and Cleveland's Animal Control and Rodent Control departments are closed on weekends, so I called my landlord (very cool guy, BTW) to explain what had happened and ask him if he knew of any ratcatchers I could call. He made some inquiries and called me back, saying that a vermin professional of his aquaintence said that the best thing to do would be to wait it out - the rat would struggle to keep its head above water then eventually tire and drown, at which point I could simply hoist it out of there and dispose of it.

So OK, I ran some errands (including buying a whopping huge bottle of bleach and a new toilet brush to replace the one I'll never use again after this cleanup), goofed off a bit and came home. It's been at least six hours, so I opened up the toilet lid to get my dead rat out. It was lying there in some now truly fetid water.

And then it fucking moved. Squirmed like the skeletal guy in the movie "Seven."

This is getting REALLY old. x( I may yet just pour that bottle of bleach on the poor doomed fucker and hasten it's exit.

Aside to susang - can't find the camera. Still lookin', though.

[Robb]

1. Heck with the bleach

Pour in some cheap vodka. At least he'll go out smilin'. :D

[Flaxbee]

2. scoop it out. get a small net, and scoop it out

and then put it outside in some bushes or something... it has a right to live, just not in your toilet, and it sounds like it is stunned enough to be docile enough for you to scoop him. Though if you're in Ohio, he'll probably freeze to death outside - pretty low-key way to die - after being soaked in toilet water. Better than bleach, though. Please don't pour bleach on him.

[Dangerously Amused]

4. I gotta say I agree. Rats are intelligent creatures.

Of whatever options you have, please find the least cruel.

Oftentimes our local police will take care of a complaint like that, they take the injured animal away and shoot it. I know, it's still death. But it's not as much suffering.


Thanks for considering our concerns, anyway.

Good luck.

[skygazer]

7. If they're so intelligent

What's it doing in his toilet? Doesn't sound too intelligent to me.

[asthmaticeog]

15. I agree - I don't want to be inhumane.

But I don't want bubonic plague, either. I see it this way - it was effectively dead as soon as it came into my house, because while they are certainly intelligent, sewer rats are also vicious, aggressive and relentless. Trying to capture it for release would have put my safety (and my rabies-free bloodstream) at serious risk. I'm not dealing with this animal alive, and in no way do I consider its right to live more important than my health. Again, it was as good as dead when it chose my house to invade. The manner of its death at this point is a scholastic debate.

But I'm not going to bleach it alive. I *will* pour a shitload of bleach in there before I fish its carcass out, though... eeeewwwww.

[Kellanved]

3. wow, such terrible imagery

must be a swamp rat to hold out that long.

[Blue-Jay]

5. Right out of the cleveland swamp.

[asthmaticeog]

8. It's a resilient specimen, that's for sure.

Rats are really quite amazing, if repellent, creatures.

[southlandshari]

6. Why, oh why do I keep reading your updates on this?

:cry:

You really aren't kidding, are you? There really is a rat in your potty?

:cry:

If you are kidding, you are an evildoer. If you aren't, I really, really feel for you, darlin'!

:scared:

[asthmaticeog]

10. It's real.

And it's pissing me off. :grr:

[southlandshari]

14. I was afraid you would say that.

:cry:

If I'm this traumatized reading about it, I can't imagine how you feel. Will you ever feel comfortable using that bathroom again?

:(

[asthmaticeog]

16. Not for a long time. n/t

[ronnykmarshall]

33. Sewer rat or not ...

when ya gotta go, you gotta go!!

[radwriter0555]

44. Slow Speed Rat Chase. Utterly Hypnotic.

Whatta ya gonna do?

[flamingyouth]

9. What floor do you live on?

I mean, how far did this beastly thing climb to get into your bathroom?

God, this whole thing just freaks me out. Apparently this happens quite often in Seattle. x(

[asthmaticeog]

11. First floor.

I'm in an up/down duplex. So it didn't have all that much vertical space to traverse.

[neweurope]

12. Put on some leather gloves, get it out of there, the poor thing, and set

it in the bushes. A mouse once drowned in a water bucket at my stable, and once a squirrel in the water barrel I have for the horses... Can you imagine how terrible that death is? Paddling and paddling and paddling... That makes me cry! PLEASE get it out of there!


It's just a mammal, after all, not some science fiction evil thing...

PLEASE!

----------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[Maraya1969]

13. I've had everything from baby possums to birds and lizards in my

house. I TRY to get them out alive, (did I mention my cat brings them in? And yes he brings them in ALIVE.

I would hope you could get him out alive or make his death quick. I'd probably throw a big towel over the toilet, (with the seat up) and grab the little sucker and run. I know the towel would get wet but you could get a hold of the thing.

[asthmaticeog]

17. ***FINAL UPDATE***

It's over. My unfortunate houseguest expired, and is now wrapped in three plastic bags inside a coffee can inside a bigger coffee can inside yet another plastic bag out in the trash.

A moment of silence, please, for a repellent but tenacious beast who saw the first potable water of its life today. In my shitter.

[WCGreen]

18. Glad that's over with...

What a great way to spend a saturday....

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. I am so sorry. Icky and sad all at once

[DS1]

21. Come back in a month and mail the coffee can to the White House

:D

[BikeWriter]

45. R.I.P.

[RoyGBiv]

20. I want to make an observation ...

I'm glad this is over, but I am inspired to comment anyway because of some not-so-good advice I've seen here and in the other thread.

Rats and mice carry diseases that can kill you. They can carry other diseases that can make you incredibly ill, that you can then carry to others such as small children, who can then die because their immune systems can't handle it.

I love animals of all sorts very much and do not like to see them suffer, but the vermin specialist gave very sound advice, regardless of how cruel it sounds. Unless you put on some full-body armor, you are not protected from a rat bite. They have razor sharp teeth that can easily go through clothing, and they are not exactly calm when trapped, especially if they have some of the wonderful diseases they carry. The more scared and diseased they are, the more dangerous they are. And, you cannot be assured it will not escape your grasp or wiggle enough to latch on to the nearest availble body part.

I'd personally have my home cleansed thoroughly and possibly fumigated in the off-chance the animal managed to carry in fleas or left any droppings or urine anywhere. This isn't likely considering the way he entered, but it is possible.

[asthmaticeog]

26. THANK YOU.

I appreciate the good intentions of the people that urged me to catch it and set it free, but these creatures are altogether foul and brutish. You should have seen the fucking plague soup in my toilet bowl, it looked like Zero Mostel had eaten too many habañeros - suggesting that I gather that horror up with a towel and set it free in the bushes is laughably uninformed.

Anyway, rant off, I appreciate your post. Thank you very much.

[LisaL]

22. I know how you feel. There used to be a huge old rat living in

our apartment. Nasty things, rats.

[Blue_In_AK]

23. And I get freaked out when the voles come in our house...

...and they're just cute little brown things. This is really a terrible image you've put in my head. Ewww.....

[HEyHEY]

24. Stop being a pussy, get a putter and go do god's work

[greatauntoftriplets]

25. That creeps me out so damn much....

Fortunately, I haven't seen a damn rat around my Chicago neighborhood in years.

I remember being about 2 or 3 and sitting outdoors in the backyard playing in my sandbox and suddenly looking up and seeing a big rat between me and safety (the house).

I got up and walked slowly to the sidewalk and ran like hell. Damn rat couldn't keep up.

[tigereye]

27. glad it all worked out for you

yuk.

[MrScorpio]

28. I know that I shouldn't laugh...

But I'm laughing my ass off right now


:rofl:

[johnnie]

29. I'm laughing

I have checked up on this situation since the beginning and for some reason the thought of you dealing with this kills me..lol.

[Beware the Beast Man]

30. I'll send Coleman over on the double.

He doesn't give 2 shits about being humane, being a cat and all.

[Fenris]

31. It might be detrimental to his health.

;)

Sewer rats are walking disease bags. Like pidgeons, only worse.;)

[Beware the Beast Man]

32. I agree. Coleman's a sissy.

The rat, as dead as it now is, would still fold him up like a suitcase.

[HEyHEY]

34. Can't you catch it and let it go?

[asthmaticeog]

35. Dammit, HEyHEY!

You KNOW this was over two goddamn days ago, quit fucking around! :spank:

[HEyHEY]

37. Oh....so you killed it

Hmm

[CanuckAmok]

36. Did you ever read "American Psycho"?

All you'd need is a date, a bottle of acid, and some Habitrail sections.

I'm sure you have the acid and the Habitrail.

[Robb]

38. OK, I haven't read it

but I've been told about that passage and any reference to it whatsoever is COMPLETELY disturbing! :D

[CanuckAmok]

40. I aim to please!

"Feed me a stray cat"

[matcom]

39. CORNFLAKE BREADING BABY!!

:bounce:

:hide:

[graywarrior]

41. I just sat here and read the entire thread from beginning to end

Stephen King would be jealous of this.

[davsand]

42. I am LMAO with this one.

I'm really sorry you are dealing with it, asthmaticeog, but this is some seriously funny and twisted shit. I have gotta say it may be one of the funnier things I've seen on here in a while.

Years ago there was a bar that I'd frequent for Happy Hour and it had a beer garden that backed up to a "stream" that runs thru town. It had water in it that was really suspect--including bits of misc. stuff floating that you never wanted to look at too closely. Anyhow, I was a few hours into my "5 to closing" shift one night and we decided to go sit in the beer garden and twist up a fattie.

As we sat there I looked up and there were about a half dozen rats capering around on that patio. Those suckers were about the size of terriers. We were just lighting up and could not see any sense in stopping too soon, so we stayed with the rats.

After about ten minutes those rats decided we were not a big threat and they came wandering up next to the table. I was ready to book at that point--in spite of the most excellent buzz I had going. My buddy looks me dead in the eye and says "Let's smoke another one. You go after a couple more beers."

I RAN inside to the bar.

Shortly after that my buddy comes in and tells me that one of the rats jumped up on the bench NEXT to him. He left the bag, the cigarettes and all.

I never went back again.

You have my sympathies. I can't imagine that kind of shit going on in my bathroom.


Laura

[swag]

43. Nnnnnng