Lately, I noticed that some onions (only onions, not garlic!) been peeled off. Who could that be? I ended up has to clean up the mess. Then, I purposely left two potatoes outside. Normally, I kept potatoes in the fridge. A few days, one of the potatoes gone. Nobody in the house knew where about it. Who could it be?? Could it be ratatouille?
One early morning, while I was coming downstairs, I heard squeaky..?? did I say squeaky? ya squeaky sound quite obvious...My husband was standing at the kitchen door laughing. Wonder what it was that caught his attention and funny too. I peeped through the door...oh my gosh...a rat was swimming in the aquarium. Actually, it wasn't swimming but kept jumping trying to escape from the aquarium. Luckily the water was shallow, so it didn't drown. It was about same size as "Tompok" except black in color with long tail. The fish freeze at one corner.
Urgghhhh....the feeling all mixed up. Funny, pity and dislike all at once. So, confirmed that all this while we had ratatouille in the kitchen... "Want to keep it?"my husband joked. Oh dear, what a joke...this was pest and germs breeder. I made my husband released the rat at the nearby drain. I drove the car while he carried the aquarium....The rat leaped the moment my husband tilted the aquarium and disappeared very fast...
The fish died a day later. A few days passed by without any trace of ratatouille. On the fifth day, we had to throw a loaf of Gardenia bread. The rat was making a come back....(not sure either the same one or not). So that night, my husband and I placed a ready made glue at a corner near the kitchen cabinet. The ready made glue had added advantage compared to conventional glue as it was already applied on the box and odourless. The beauty part was that the box could be shaped in few styles, flat or box shaped to accommodate any spaces. Thanks to the inventor. The cost quite high, RM5 per piece. Bought 4 pieces at one go.
Left the glue for one night and used a slice of Gardenia bread as bait. The next morning, we were so eager to see how did it look like. Disappointed...the bread was gone and the glued box was moved quite a distance. The rat must had struggled hard and managed to escape but a bit of its hairs stickied on the glue.
While I was cleaning up the mess, met my next door neighbour. Told him what had happened and he asked...
"What is the colour of the hair".
"Grey...emm...like yours"
"So, it must be 60plus..."
We laughed at the joke.
That night we tried again only this time we placed the glue quite a distance from the wall. Again...it was not easy to catch one. I went and cleaned up the whole house. Bought the "serai wangi" liquid to disinfect the whole area. The rat(s) had invaded my kitchen cabinet in the wet kitchen...it was no joke of the cleaning up...the stinky smell....I really hate.....but advised from people, rats were so sensitive...the four letters word HATE could not be used. Rule number 2! Then what was Rule number 1? The three letters word RAT. Must be referred as "Cik Siti"I was not sure whether this rule only applicable to Malay's custom or was it more towards superstitious.
Fixed the kitchen cabinet. Sealed any holes and replaced the faulty hinges. Cost me RM80.
A week passed by. I let "Cik Siti" enjoyed its moment. I tried a new trick. Bought pink candies (King Kong rat killer). The candies were much cheaper, only RM2.50 for small pack. Placed in two serving plates, 8 pieces in one plate (used caps of empty jam bottles). First two nights, nothing happened. Still continued with house disinfection activities. No food or left overs available in the kitchen. The third night, five of the candies disappeared. Refilled. The next day all candies gone. Wreck my nerve!! How many "Cik Siti" ?Refilled. All gone again.
My neighbour called me. In his hand was an orange plastic bag. Caught a dead one near his drain.
"Got any missing hair?"
"Looks fine"
"So, the one still run free"
Oh...not an easy mission. Refilled the candies but all the candies were untouched for a week. My brother proposed to switch brand as the candies did not lure "Cik Siti" any more. By this time, I had wired the kitchen windows and the toilet ventilation access. Spent RM150 for the wires. Not my expertise but that day I really became a carpenter.
Surveyed for the different product. A hardware's man recommended cup cakes. Yes, the poison really resembled one except in miniature version. Quite costly. RM1 for a piece. Hopefully, would work. That night replaced pink candies with cup cakes. Extra precautions as the kids may easily mistaken as cup cakes.
No luck, "Cik Siti" sense the tricks....The cup cakes did not do the trick...two weeks the cup cakes were not consumed.
2 months passed by, still no new development. "Cik Siti" took revenge...they trespassed the wired ventilation access...droppings and urine found in the toilet, near the fridge and on top of dry kitchen cabinet. The battle started....We doubled the wire in the toilet ventilation access. This time we placed in from inside and sealed with strong tapes. Resealed windows. The kitchen windows looked like Ali Baba's door (from the famous Ali Baba and forty thieves story)...
To cut the story short, I spotted the favourite hiding place....behind the gas stove...hmmm....it was really troublesome to remove the heavy and bulky stove (complete with electric oven) which was sandwiched between kitchen cabinets....Ohh...I need superhero like "Hulk Hogan", "Superman" or "Spiderman" helped....
Meanwhile, I managed to trap 2 little stuarts and 1 dead "Cik Siti". My prayer was answered. My "Hulk Hogan" ( the gas delivery man) was at my doorstep to the rescue. Amazingly, he pulled out the gas stove easily and did what was necessary (wired all the openings). Definitely, it was not free service...paid him RM35.
However, the "Cik Siti" never gave up. Now, it used the sewerage drain as its passage...I covered the one in the toilet with a bucket of water. So it ended up used the one in my wet kitchen. I placed a plastic mat ( normally for toilet purposed) which was quite thick. Managed to pass through as it bored a square hole. Oh ya...it really tested my patience...this time I placed a 1 feet by 1 feet rock on top of the drain hole. Wrapped the rock with a piece of old clothes and left the kitchen closed for half of a day.
The second half of the day, noticed that it did not manage to escape and was traped inside the house. It bite the cloth but the rock was too hard...At 5 p.m. I spotted the "Cik Siti"...Oh my gosh, the face was so ugly....got patches of glue on the face and was restless. It kept on looking at the rock...I begged my husband to buy the cage trap but he ended up brought back the flip flap trap...While my husband was busy assembling the trap, I spotted "Cik Siti" was hiding at a corner of the sauce rack...My screamed alerted the whole house.... My husband came to the rescue. One hand with a broom and the other hand tried to disturb "Cik Siti". Finally, "Cik Siti" leaped...It was behind the door....Immediately, my husband swung the broom and hit "Cik Siti"...quite a hard blow...but "Cik Siti" did not give up. Climbed the wall to escape...another hit on it...sprawled on the floor but still alive...
I was shaken at one corner and turned blue....my husband was laughing at me....quickly, I remembered the hot water....filled up the jar and passed it to my husband. Last draw, "Cik Siti" finally gone....
Now, I declared my house is "Cik Siti" free but I'm still put up watch ears and eyes....
My second daughter developed new interest in her reading, she has collections of "Geronimo Stilton" series....
Mozzarella.....anyone???
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