R.I.P. Mouserat

After a few failed attempts at building Mouserat traps, I finally bought some poison in the city. These poisoned bait pellets were all they had in stock.

I put one in my kitchen and one near my bedroom. After the first night they were untouched, so I kicked it up a notch and added a dollop of peanut butter to each one. The next morning the one in the kitchen was moved about two feet and half eaten. I left it out and by the following morning it had disappeared. So I put a new one out with some fresh peanut butter, and that one disappeared by the next day.

I was starting to doubt the effectiveness of the poison. I also wondered if there was more than one rodent scurrying around my house at night. Maybe a whole nest? Eek!

But finally after maybe 4 nights the poop stopped showing up in the kitchen, and the bait remained untouched. So it was time for a test. 1) I left my glass cereal bowl upright, which is it's favorite pee spot. 2) I left my dish sponge out, which was it's favorite chew toy. The next morning everything was untouched-- success!

A day or two later I was walking by my storage room and smelled a hint of decay. Yep, it died in there. Luckily it was pretty fresh and there were only a couple flies buzzing around it. I used some plastic bags to carry it outside and dispose of it.

But not before snapping a photo.

I guess it was a mouse after all. Who knew one small rodent could cause so much trouble?

Of Mouserats, army ants and other small creatures

Earlier this week I prepared my second attempt at a Mouserat trap, using a design I found on the web in a rare moment of somewhat working internet. I baited it with peanut butter and oatmeal. The idea was that the mouse crawls into the tube to get the bait, and its weight makes the tube fall into the bucket. I filled the bucket about halfway with water, hoping it would drown. Otherwise it would just climb out. (Large bins are not easy to come by in the village.)

As I was doing that, the kids knocked on my gate. They had news for me-- the linthumbu (red driver ants) were back. Sure enough, we found them all over the grass in my yard, concentrated in the now abandoned termite mounds. (The termites left once the heat wave started up again). Great.

I put poison out where the ants were, getting bit on the toe by one of the large soldier ants in the process. Curse words did follow.

Then I saw this cool caterpillar by my house. Normally I might have tried to move it elsewhere to save my seedlings, but it's been so dry that I haven't planted anything yet. So it can chew on the weeds all it wants.

While I was inspecting the caterpillar, a little frog or toad hopped by in the dirt. It was the size of the tip of my thumb.

While I surveyed the ants in the fading light, a mosquito kept insistently buzzing near my ear. It's about that time of year again, I guess. First flies, then mosquitos.

Unfortunately, the Mouserat trap failed. The tube just fell into the bucket of water. I used a toilet paper tube for it, but I think maybe the tube was too small. As a Mouserat, it's bigger than most mice. So I will have to find a bigger substitute. The Mouserat seems angry at its near capture, as it is making a ton of noise tonight, and knocking over all kinds of stuff. Maybe it is hoping to keep me awake so that I will be too tired to try and trap it tomorrow night. Pretty good plan, actually.

All this, on top of normal stuff like cooking, doing dishes and lesson planning. I love nature, but I wouldn't mind a little less of it around my house right now.

To catch a Mouserat

When I was sick, both Colii and my Mom felt it was very important to tell the doctors about the mouserat. The doctor said that could have been a factor, or it could have been something else. Nobody really knows.

But when I got home and saw how the Mouserat had pooped all over my kitchen, including on the hot plate and where I dry my dishes, and that it had again dragged my dish sponge away, I considered the possibility that it had in fact been the Mouserat.

The next morning as I was going through my purse, and I realized I had left a granola bar in it, and that the Mouserat had found it first, the possibility seemed more likely.

Apparently the Mouserat also likes dark chocolate:

Then last night it scampered along my headboard, waking me up. I tried to shake the headboard to scare it way, but it kept coming back after I would lay down. Clearly it is not afraid of me. Then I could feel it moving under my pillows! Granted, there is a mosquito net separating us, and it was separated by two pillows from me, but that is way too close for comfort. This has got to stop. Maybe this rodent did get me sick after all.

So I am trying to build my own Mouserat trap. I tried this last night, but apparently the gap was too big and it was able to get the rice underneath without upsetting the bucket. I'll try again tonight.

I'm trying to look up other catch-traps online, but my internet is really bad in the village so usually I can't open any links. I will have to try to search the web the next time I am in the City.