ENCOUNTERS WITH RATS

 ENCOUNTERS WITH RATS

 

LT COL NOEL ELLIS

01/XII/2023

 

If we have to leave our home for a couple of days it has its consequences. The day we returned, our utensils in the kitchen started rattling in the middle of the night. That is how ghost stories take root. It is so irritating when one has to get up past midnight to investigate.

It was a rat for sure. One medium sized rat was frolicking around. It must have found the place free from humans, so it decided to sniff around in search of food. These vermin got into every drawer and soiled every cup and saucer it trespassed on. Tell tale signs were its droppings.

Operation ‘Rat Hunt’ was launched to eliminate this rodent. Bugger was smart. It would wait for us to go to sleep and then get on its daily hunt. Moment we would switch on the kitchen light, the battlefield would go absolutely silent. For three continuous nights, we were on the hunt.

We had a ‘Khadakki’. A mousetrap, in which moment it takes the bait, the spring gets activated and the gnawer gets clamped. Mr Rat was too smart and nibbled on the bait without activating the trigger. An alternate weapon had to be deployed. It was war after all.

I remember as a kid, rats used to trouble us then also. Wheat sacks and quilts would be gnawed into. Papers and documents were shredded into smithereens.  Those days Dad had an air gun which was put to use. We would corner the rat and put it to sleep. Today, we don’t have one.

Be that as it may. That night we closed all the kitchen cupboards tightly. No food item was left for this rat to treat itself. In the middle of the night, my wife screamed at the top of her voice. This bloody rat had bitten her finger. The chase began. This character went and hid behind the fridge. Hope it won’t bite into its wires.

This reminded me of another story while appearing for ‘Part D’ exam in Leh. The generators would switch off at 10 pm. Thereafter, one had to burn the midnight oil literally by using a kerosine lamp. We were newly married. More than the exam, it was a paid holiday. Exam was not a priority.

At night, while studying in my quilt, I felt something nibbling on my hand. I smiled to myself. I thought my wife was getting naughty. I jerked my hand and tried to concentrate on my book when something bit my toe nail. My goodness, it was not my wife but a big fat rat. That night and subsequent nights in the transit camp, I kept awake studying and chasing rats. Thanks to them, I passed the exam.

Back to the present. A new weapon called Rat poison had to be deployed, before we fell ill. ‘Cakes’ were deployed strategically. After a day we were at peace.

The story didn’t end there. Wife was watching a TV serial late at night when a big rat came and sat right infront of her. The Muddha on which she was resting her feet was effectively utilized by her to trap it. She revealed the episode to me the next morning. As I peeped through the ropes. The rat was there, either asleep or dead.

Without lifting the Muddha, we pushed it to the veranda with its contents. The rat was dead. We breathed a sigh of relief. We even bought a ‘stick pad’, in case it kept pestering us. That weapon is still seal packed.

We were enjoying our morning cup of tea in the veranda, when my wife shouted RAT. It’s a huge one, she said. Not again, was my reaction. I picked up the watering hose and thought of giving it the ‘water cannon’ treatment. As I sprayed water, a cat was waiting for this rat hiding behind the fish tubs. She got startled and climbed up the rack. It knocked the air pump into the water, uprooted a few plants, broke a pot, and ran to our neighbours house. The pump got short circuited and blew up.

In the meantime, to avoid getting wet, the mouse too followed the cat. Within seconds, breakfast was served for her kittens. A big fat mouse was firmly stuck in the cat's jaws. I am aware that the rats fake being dead. The first chance they get when the cat drops the mouse infront of kittens, rats can scoot. This cat was smart. It went for its jugular and ensured a hearty meal for her two kittens in tow.

One more rat was dispatched to where it belonged. Imagine all this happening in a span of a week. Will we have more encounters with rats? I wonder!!!!!!!!!

 

JAI HIND

© ® NOEL ELLIS