I called Josh this morning at 2:40 a.m.
That meant it was 5:40 in Texas, so I knew he'd be awake.
He answered the phone with tired, raspy, "What's going on Love?" which meant it was actually 4:40 a.m. in Texas.
I told him that I could hear rats, but couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from.
He told me that he knew exactly where the noise was coming from...my head.
We stayed on the phone for an hour until he had to get up to get his day started.
Then I tried to go back to sleep, but every time I turned the lights off, the noises came back, only this time, they sounded like they were coming from the floorboards just below my bed. Chewing, scratching, scurrying noises that were loud enough to send me and my pillow into another room to try to sleep.
Yans was the first one to spot the evidence this morning while getting peanut butter from the pantry.
Crumbs from a half-eaten bread bag.
A potato that had been removed from its sack and half-eaten. (It has also come to my attention that we've got a pretty serious problem with dog hair.)
And the most condemning evidence of all...
I miss you for a lot of reasons Josh Downs, but high on my list right now is that you're much better-suited than I am for things like rat extermination.
YIKES! I would have to move....
Posted by: Mary Jo | June 13, 2013 at 10:27 AM
Oh my that is a problem!! YIKES is right!!!!
Posted by: Tracy | June 13, 2013 at 11:03 AM
Ugh! I think I would call my dad. ;) Hope you get rid of them ASAP!
Posted by: Kellie | June 13, 2013 at 11:08 AM
Oh my goodness I would sh*t if I had a rat in my house!!!! Good luck catching it! Your a brave woman I would be so scared.
Posted by: Jen Fike | June 13, 2013 at 11:31 AM
time to get a cat!! a hungry cat!!
Posted by: megan | June 13, 2013 at 12:02 PM
UGH! I think I would move out until someone could secure that there was nothing in the house anymore!!
Posted by: Sarah | June 13, 2013 at 12:10 PM
Oh my goodness. I would be headed for a hotel. You are one brave woman to still be there. I hate anything creepy crawly or unpredictable!
Posted by: Alicia | June 13, 2013 at 12:13 PM
I currently have two mouse traps in my bedroom. My thoughts are with you. My suggestion to you if you don't like to deal with setting traps would be to get a couple large sticky rat traps. I think I found mine at the grange co-op. When you do catch the varmit you must show a photo.
Posted by: Libbi Moore | June 13, 2013 at 12:14 PM
OOOH, I feel your pain. We had mice in a couple of places we've lived...I have some nasty stories I could share. I can't imagine something bigger. Here's to hoping you get rid of them soon. We are firm believers in those plug-in rodent things (really technical, eh?). Go to your local hardware store and ask. They emit a really high-pitched sound that humans can't hear, but it drives rodents bonkers and they leave. It may not get rid of the ones you have right away, but it would help keep new ones from coming. GOOD LUCK!
Posted by: Laurel | June 13, 2013 at 12:56 PM
How did those rats get out of your head? Yikes! I vaguely remember a tv show, maybe the Twilight Zone, with a giant rat living in a guys place, maybe in his mattress. You should move. The show didn't end well.
Posted by: Kelli | June 13, 2013 at 02:29 PM
We dealt with this earlier this year. I would highly recommend calling an exterminator and getting a free quote. We did the trap thing for a few weeks and they just wouldn't go away. I called for the free quote and turns out there were A LOT of them living under our house for a very long time and we had no idea. They had eaten the entire vapor mat (the big plastic sheet under your house) and luckily they had not gotten into the insulation. Cost us about 1200 to have everything cleaned, sanitized, replaced, including vents, carpets, couches, etc. So I'd call b/c there was NO WAY I was going to look under my house and have that image in my mind.
Posted by: C | June 13, 2013 at 02:37 PM
ugh! I feel your pain! I was mowing the lawn last weekend (had been way too long since it had been done) and in the longer area of the yard, as I mowed, the mice scurried! YUK! I'm voting for the male-gender family members to come to the rescue; feminisim didn't include rodents :)
Posted by: Rachelle S | June 13, 2013 at 03:21 PM
Ewwwwwww!!! I am so sorry, Karen!!! I hope you can get rid of them soon. Yuck.
Posted by: Robyn :) | June 13, 2013 at 04:01 PM
Eeeeek..... mice & rats make me shudder!! We can occasionaly hear them at night in the attic. Creeps me out big time! We just had another mouse nest removed from my car! There are traps set all over the place and catch a few of those nasty buggers but can't seem to completely eliminate them all!
Posted by: Debbie | June 13, 2013 at 05:07 PM
So not fun at all!! horrible critters. Hope you get rid of them soon!!!
Posted by: Nicky from Okotoks | June 13, 2013 at 05:13 PM
oh that is AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much worse/bigger then the little field mice I have had to deal with. UGH!!! Hope Josh is home soon! Maybe you can all camp out at hanna house!
Posted by: Jennifer S | June 13, 2013 at 06:01 PM
Oh...I too think a frantic call to the exterminator would be 1st thing on my list...gives me the shivers just thinking about it...I hope you sleep well tonight.....I know the kids will say it is time for each of them to get a cat!
Posted by: janel | June 13, 2013 at 07:19 PM
UGH! A couple of years ago I noticed some shredded up plastic in one of my cabinets. Upon pulling everything out, I found that mice had gotten in an eaten an entire bag of caramels (they opened the bag, unwrapped the candies and ate them). We set a trap and low and behold, we caught it. When my husband went to clean it out he said "That is the fattest mouse I've ever seen!" I said "What did you expect? It ate an entire bag of caramels!"
Posted by: Jennifer | June 14, 2013 at 05:30 AM
I can relate...my husband was gone a lot when my daughters were little. When he came home for a weekend I told him that we had a mouse problem. He shrugged and said I was imagining it. Then he set a trap. He had to reset that bugger 7 times to catch all the mice! EEK!!!! I have never done well with wild animals and insects - living in my house! Good luck!!! EEK!
Posted by: Theresa G. | June 14, 2013 at 08:13 AM
We had a snake in our pantry-luckily it was dh who found it and got rid of it. Need to send my daughter's cat up to you - she catches mice/rats regularly...unfortunately cat didn't keep an eye on the last one and it ran into the bedroom - didn't hear what happened next.
Posted by: Doris | June 14, 2013 at 10:53 AM
Let me join the chorus of voices...EXTERMINATOR!
Posted by: Linda | June 23, 2013 at 01:49 AM
Ok please don't judge..... I hate rodents! Hate! But I am also very scared of them! We had a huge problem with them at the barn! The rats were so bad they wouldn't scurry when the door opened, just look at you and walk away, the nerve! Go to your local tractor supply store. Buy fly bait. Go to the room where the rat evidence has been found and put the bait in a pie pan and add Mt. Dew. The rats will take a sip of this and drop within four feet. IMPORTANT!!! Keep all pets away from this!
Posted by: jess | June 24, 2013 at 01:47 PM
HOTEL AND EXTERMINATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Cee | July 02, 2013 at 02:18 AM
Karen, I will have to type out my "rat story" and send to you. :) I feel your pain...
Posted by: cindy b | July 05, 2013 at 03:35 PM