RAT-Mania Part2

Since the hamsters gone, we tried to keep fishes and a couple of tortoises. The kids developed new interest. The tortoises only lasted for few months and only one out 6 fishes managed to survive until October 2008.

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???

RAT_Mania - Part 1

It all started back sometimes in 2007... we were on the second floor of One Utama Shopping Complex. The kids and I sat at one of the benches while waiting for my husband to purchase movie tickets (if not mistaken, it was Spiderman movie) at the Tanjung Golden Village Cinema. The kids went off running along the corridor when they spotted something interesting. They came and get me off to the shop. It was a new pet shop with attractive fishes displayed in glass aquarium. I attended my youngest son who was so eager pointing to those fishes and kept on saying "Shish....shish...."



The rest of the kids were busy looking at hamsters in cages. My eldest daughter approached me and kept on begging for a pet hamster. "Please...please...they were so cute..." she cajoled me. I pitied her because she had been asking for a pet, particularly cat, for quite sometimes. I never responded as I was not favourable to one except fish. This time she really persistent. The rest of the siblings supported her. I had hard time to reject and demanded her to ask the father's permission. Hopefully, the father would object.


From distance, we saw my husband walked approaching us. My daughter ran to get him and bargained with the father on the pet issue. All the interest to watch movie had diverted to hamster...She came to me with big smiling face. "Abah agrees...we will get it after the movie" she said happily. I didn't say much not to disappoint anybody including myself, I just wanted to enjoy the movie......


After the movie, she dragged us to the pet shop. It was too late to disagree as the father already promised earlier. I gave her condition that she had to be totally responsible for the pet, from food, cleanliness and care. Half heartily, I suggested that two hamsters would be better to keep them accompanied. The kids chose the hamsters, cage (set inclusive of feeding tray, water bottle and wheel) and of course the food...... We took the little additions to the family to lunch and later to our home.....

We placed the hamsters in the small 8 by 10 feet room next to the wet kitchen. It kept the hamsters cozy and warm. The kids named one as "cutee" and the other "tompok". The kids really paid extra attentions to the hamsters. Everyday after school, they would take their pets for playing outside the house. My eldest really kept her promised. She refilled the water bottle and fed the hamsters every morning before off to school. After a week, it was time to make over....cleaning time....it was really challenging for first timer....my husband's helped was needed.

2 months passed by and the hamsters had grown up quite fast. Cutee was bigger and active than Tompok. It would spend most of the nights exercising on the wheel. Both were inactive during day time. They loved to bury foods and themselves. By the third month, quiet Tompok has turned to be aggressive. Both would occupied their time riding the wheel and we also bought the ball for them to play and exercise around.

6 months later, ahhemm.....Cutee and Tompok had been parents. It was the first time for us to experience baby hamster. Truly dark pink without any fur. Cutee was being very protective of the baby from Tompok. The baby hamster was called "Junior" and it grew very fast. First the fur started to grow like patches of grass and soon it covered the whole body. Within one month, Junior size was almost equal to Cutee and Tompok.

We sent the three musketeers to the nearest vet when we made a trip to balik kampung on Hari Raya for five days. The kids missed the pets. Even though I did not like animals but looking into their eyes really touched and melted my heart...

2 months after Hari Raya, Cutee surprised us with the additions to the family. This time, Cutee gave birth to five pups. Tompok was acting rather weird. It would climb and bite the cage. So, we opted to put him into another cage to give him some space. But it seemed that Tompok became bewildered. We pitied him and returned him to the same cage. Tompok ended up killed and ate all the pups. Cutee was seen depressed.

Tompok was so aggressive that one day, it bite my youngest son finger until bled. But my youngest son loved to play with the hamsters so much. He referred the hamsters as "cat"...what a perfect match!!! I voiced out that it was rather dangerous to keep the pets any longer as they were posing danger. The kids opposed and I gave in.

One evening after school, the kids took the hamster to play in the garden. They enjoyed their time especially my youngest one...he kept on kissing, hugging and running around with Tompok closed to his mouth. He didn't want to put it down....

The next day, Tompok already lifeless. We dug a hole at one corner and buried it. My eldest daughter blamed her brother for what happenend. I had to explain about life and death...

A week later, my youngest coughing worsen and almost likely to develop asthma. This time, it was final...the hamsters , Cutee and Junior , had to go...I had hard time to convince my kids especially the eldest one....

One afternoon, when two of my kids were at school, the hamsters were nicely packed in the clean cage and handed over to 'Mr. Newspaperman'....the rest was history........

Not long, our house once again been invaded with the rodent colony.....don't forget to get the rest of the stories in Part 2....