3:30am disposal

So after having lived in a house that had about 100 rats that lived between the ceiling and the roof and would make regular visits to my kitchen, despite my having everything in the fridge or in sealed, air tight containers,  and to the wardrobe, in the middle of the night making me have to wash dishes that had already been cleaned, before I used them and having to commit countless items of clothing to the ‘rag bag’ due to holes having been chewed through them, and Kadek’s veto of my idea to get a pet python to handle the problem, I was so happy to finally move into a new house that was built without ceilings and nowhere for unwanted guests to hide. 

So when I was awoken a few nights ago by the sound of chewing wood and subsequently all three dogs going nuts trying to find where that sound was coming from, I was not amused. Oh no. This is not happening here. Drastic measures would have to be taken.

The next morning, I borrowed a mouse cage trap from my next door neighbor and carefully baited it with dried fish and set it in a place that the dogs could not reach but was sure to get the attention of my newest unwelcome visitor.  First night nothing. I think it was the same rat we’d seen running up Oda’s tree about 10 yards from our house a few days before and was just paying visits in the night to our house.

I was awoken last night at 3:20am by loud whiny squeaking. Ooooh I think my trap worked! With the help of my cupboard shelves and a plastic stool, neither of which I was sure could support my weight, I climbed up to retrieve the trap that had been set on a ledge between my office and the bedroom. Sure enough, there he was.  I had a good look at him and he could easily fit in the palm of my hand. With his big black eyes and satellite dish ears, disease and pestilence aside, he was almost kind of cute… almost.

I explained to him that this was not okay and that he’d left me no choice. I took him downstairs and got my bicycle. Unbeknownst to me one of the neighbourhood kids had been playing with my bicycle and put the seat all the way down. The dynamo I have hooked up that turns on the light when you pedal had also been adjusted so it wasn’t working. So here’s me trying to relocate my new friend to somewhere far far away, with a rat and trap in one hand, my cell phone with the light on being held securely between my teeth, practically hitting myself in the chin every time I pedal, trying to navigate the off road dirt paths in the middle of the bush at 3:30 am in the pitch black with three dogs jumping up, trying to get at my cargo, almost knocking me off several times. 

I must have been close to a km away when I heard something squeak. Okay this is it. A place far enough away from my house that he won’t find his way back and other rodent friends to keep him occupied so he doesn’t get any funny ideas about coming back to my place. I got off my bike, crossed a creek and walked way into some sort of plantation of some kind and set him free.

I finally got back to the house, went upstairs and thought… okay now I can sleep. And I did, for an hour and 20 minutes until my alarm went off at 5:30 to make sure Kadek was up because he had to go pick up a guest from Ubud and take her on a day tour at 9. Okay with Kadek thankfully having ironed his own shirt, I made sure he was properly caffeinated and waved him off and thought, okay NOW I can finally get some sleep, just as the sun starts coming up and beaming into my room. As nice as it is, not that nice if you are trying to sleep and don’t have curtains yet. Just as I start to doze off at about 6:45, the neighbours get the chainsaw going.

Ahh life in paradise.