As I have mentioned in one of my previous postings, when I was coming back to KC from California, I had secured an apartment with my former landlords. Sight unseen and in desperate need I had no choice staying in this current apartment. I’ve adapted well to this place and all the little idiocyncrosies that came with it. Oven light off means it’s on, the handle on the bathroom stool has to be physically moved up after a flush, taking a bath versus a shower that I don’t have and so on. Just little things.
Recently I’ve had to deal with rodents and brown recluse spiders. I haven’t really had experience in dealing with brown recluse, mice or rat problems anytime before or over this past year living here, so the last three weeks have been a new and interesting experience.
It all began when the new landlord started renovating the apartment above mine. The first experience was a brown recluse spider that appeared on my kitchen floor after I had opened the cabinet door under the sink. I accidentally and luckily stepped on it, with my shoes on, and I normally wouldn’t have given it a thought but this spider looked different from past spiders I had eliminated. After close inspection with my glasses on and confirmation from my landlord and the guy working on the upstairs apartment I began to be a little more concerned, not only for myself but Ellie as well. About two weeks after that incident, I saw another recluse on my bathroom rug and, of course, eliminated it. Then came the big scare about three days ago. I had gotten up at 4:30 am, like every work day, to walk Ellie. Once that’s done, I get ready to take my second nature call and then my bath. While sitting on the stool with the bath water filling, I glance down to the floor where my bare feet are and see a brown recluse next to my right foot. I lifted my feet off the floor and it started hopping around, then scurried off under the tub. Needless to say, it literally scared the “you know what” out of me.
The problem with the mice began about two weeks ago when, as I was sitting in my recliner watching t.v., I noticed out of the corner of my eye a movement over by Ellie’s dog food bowl. A mouse was perched on the edge of her bowl eating a piece of dog food then scurried into the bathroom when I got up. I informed my landlord about the mouse and he went and got four mouse traps. The snapping type, which I had never had to use, so it was a learning experience to me in getting it set up properly. In this case, a piece of Ellie’s dog food with peanut butter. I placed the trap in a narrow space between the kitchen counter and the wall and got the first mouse that night. A couple of nights in a row I was awakened to the sound of crunching dog food and thought Ellie was just grazing at night but the sound seemed to come from the bedroom but it wasn’t Ellie eating on the bed. The next morning I opened the door under the sink to throw away something in the trash when I noticed a lot of dog food from her food bag scattered around the cabinet. It had eaten through her dog bag and also gotten into my red potatoes I keep under there as well. So far, after two days of no mouse trap trips, I haven’t had any problems with mice.
The last major event was early this morning getting up at my usual time to walk Ellie. I headed to the bathroom, of course, to take care of business when I saw this big rat just sitting there in the doorway. It didn’t move when I moved towards it but sure looked alive to me. At my age when nature calls nature calls. I quickly put Ellie’s lease on and took her for her walk to take care of her business and embarrassingly, mine, behind a big tree. Now I had to deal with the rat when I got back, if it was still there. It was still there in the same position and same place so I poked at it with a clothes hangar. It didn’t move but seemed lethargic not dead like it had been poisoned. I grabbed one of my work shoes and, well, you know what I had to do.
I had an appointment to meet with my former landlords to check out a studio apartment at the former location I lived before leaving to go to San Diego today and liked what I saw. I’ll be moving there in one month when my lease is up here.
So, the current count: Mice: 10 Rat: 1 Recluse: 2 with one at large along with any unkown at this time and Roaches: Oh boy! Can only guess
God bless and God speed
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