Audrey, The Rat Hunter

 

 

Graphic from Dreamstime. com

 

 

     I became a hero in my friend's eyes today. When I got to her store, she was upset.

     “There's a dead rat in a trap under the desk and I don't know what to do with it.”

     Well, I've had enough pet rats over the years so I certainly wasn't afraid of a dead one.

     Sure enough there was this small dead rat. I pulled out the trap, opened it, and picked the critter up by the tail.

     “Hand me a paper bag,” I said. I plopped the rat into it and tossed the bag into an outside trash can.

     As I was washing my hands, I remembered a similar incident that happened when I was working at The Government House several years ago.

     All of a sudden three women ran downstairs screaming. “There's a rat in the trap, but it's still alive.”

     It was in a trap, not trying to bite them, so what was the problem? I could handle that.

     “Anyone have a hammer?” I asked. My main thought was to put the critter out of its misery. I walked upstairs, smashed the rat's head and that was the end of the story.

     Well, not exactly. The story circled around the other employees for weeks. Audrey the rat killer. Someone even drew a cartoon of me with a hammer leaning over the trapped rat.

     I still don't know why people are afraid of rats. They're not there to harm you, simply to scrounge for food. I guess it's because they're nasty looking. But hey, there are a lot of nasty looking humans out there. Those are the ones I shy away from.

 

Author's Note: I had my share of pet rats. Read about Charlie in an earlier post by clicking here.

 

R.I.P. Charlie