I married a man whose last name is Mammel and I feel it levels me up. I didn’t change my last name but I’m Mammel by association. My kids are Mammels. I’m sort of amazed at your love hate with your rat…I love them as pets and hate them as pests which feels unfair but that’s life.
One time my mum saw a rat 🐀 in the garden of our house 🏡 through the window of the kitchen🪟. She screamed, ran upstairs and slammed the bedroom door shut announcing she was going to check into a hotel 🏨 (she doesn’t like rats). In her slamming of the door, in our rickety farmhouse, the door handle fell off locking herself in the room. After such dramatics she shyly knock on her door to ask us to let her out 🚪 We laughed, then let her out. The rat was never found and lived its ratty life in our garden, mum never did go to the hotel.
In 2020, we had an infestation of rats in our yard/neighborhood. (Because: 2020.) I have feelings about rats now. Maybe if there had only been one they would be different? I much prefer the bunny who lives in our yard now. It can eat all the produce it wants.
Rats are the navy seals of mammals (lets not talk about the cats mmmmmkay)
Rats can swim underwater, gnaw their way out of a prison, and more. They also have super smell and are part of an heroic mine sweeping team (yup check a great story on how they work together with hominid mammals and even get to retire after 2 years and just chill and eat giant avocados.)
Okay, but I need to know: what have you named the rat?
(I saw a rat over at the office neighbor's house; it scurried under their house. I've named him Templeton. He was very cute, but I kinda hope he stays over there.)
Mmmm... I might be ostracized and kicked off the page. I might be cancelled! But... the rat... We had a long-time ebb and flow mouse infestation in our house. Sometimes we would hear the cats scuffling with one (the cats were no help) and we would go downstairs and catch the mouse in a tupperware and put it out. However, when they started chewing through the hose to the dishwasher and flooding the kitchen floor, I finally called an exterminator. (Plus, it was gross, and our remedies -- stuffing openings with steel wool and whatnot -- didn't work.) The exterminator guy placed poison in locked boxes in a few places outside the house and immediately all signs of mice disappeared. Like literally the next day. And they never came back. It's been about three years since the exterminator came, and we've never replenished the poison or done anything else to keep the mice away. Even though I was very torn and uncomfortable about the whole thing, I'm glad the mice aren't in our house anymore. It's hard to find an acceptable place to land with type of situation. But -- if it works for you guys -- I'm glad you still like the rat.
you may want to re-consider finding her a new home far away. I love domestic rats, but the wild ones are destructive and very resourceful. They can squeeze through VERY small spaces (15mm says the internet) so if there are any gaps into your house she might be tempted once the weather cools off.
Spring/summer would be the time to move her so she has plenty of time to get established in a new place before winter.
I loved this story, though I am sorry for it. It sounds like the two of you are working things out, though. I had my allegiances tested with a mouse infestation a few months back. Thank you for sharing.
I'm invested in this rat saga now. I fully get why you love/hate the rat. I also get the worry about your future crops. I think you need to choose one or the other. Either you have a rat living in your yard and you don't grow food for yourself, or you get rid of the rat and grow crops. OR if local weather permits, grow spicy peppers that the rat won't eat! Tell the rat I said "Hi!"
Despite the fact that I had a pet rat in high school (who lived in my room, so she actually was my “roommate), I have no advice. However, I do remember thinking that her little paws were very cute.
Soon there will be many more rats! The rat has a food source and a secure home....next will be a mate and offspring. If you don't get rid of it, you will be sorry. I'll bet if you relocated it to a rural setting it would thank you for the ride.
We have a local rat in our yard as well. We never fully see it though, just the shadow of it disappearing around a corner or under the fence. It’s a city rat like yours so it digs holes and eats holes in our refuse bins.
Last week we all received a flyer for the “Mad Ratters” (written in Alice in Wonderland font), a company that helps flush out rats on your property.
Also complicated feelings about rats over here: they probably were here before us! At this point I'm 50-50 bird/mammal inclined, but the birds and squirrels are equal partners in flipping over my seedlings (and I do refer to squirrels as day rats).
I've an old fabric row cover over some of my crops, and I visited a demonstration garden recently that used chicken wire cloches for protection. My cat and I like watching the rats cleaning up after the birdseed, so for now we've a truce.
This reminds me of a time that I got in my car on my way to a job interview, of all places, and noticed a raccoon in our garage. It had taken up residence in the rafters. I left a voice note for my husband letting him know I wasn't sure what to do and didn't have time to figure it out, but also that the raccoon's name was Clark. After my interview, Clark was still there, so we just left the garage door open until around 10 pm hoping he'd eventually go out for a snack. He did, and we've been Clark-free ever since. But whenever I see (any) raccoon in the neighborhood, I wave and say, "Hi, Clark."
I married a man whose last name is Mammel and I feel it levels me up. I didn’t change my last name but I’m Mammel by association. My kids are Mammels. I’m sort of amazed at your love hate with your rat…I love them as pets and hate them as pests which feels unfair but that’s life.
One time my mum saw a rat 🐀 in the garden of our house 🏡 through the window of the kitchen🪟. She screamed, ran upstairs and slammed the bedroom door shut announcing she was going to check into a hotel 🏨 (she doesn’t like rats). In her slamming of the door, in our rickety farmhouse, the door handle fell off locking herself in the room. After such dramatics she shyly knock on her door to ask us to let her out 🚪 We laughed, then let her out. The rat was never found and lived its ratty life in our garden, mum never did go to the hotel.
In 2020, we had an infestation of rats in our yard/neighborhood. (Because: 2020.) I have feelings about rats now. Maybe if there had only been one they would be different? I much prefer the bunny who lives in our yard now. It can eat all the produce it wants.
Rats are the navy seals of mammals (lets not talk about the cats mmmmmkay)
Rats can swim underwater, gnaw their way out of a prison, and more. They also have super smell and are part of an heroic mine sweeping team (yup check a great story on how they work together with hominid mammals and even get to retire after 2 years and just chill and eat giant avocados.)
Okay, but I need to know: what have you named the rat?
(I saw a rat over at the office neighbor's house; it scurried under their house. I've named him Templeton. He was very cute, but I kinda hope he stays over there.)
Mmmm... I might be ostracized and kicked off the page. I might be cancelled! But... the rat... We had a long-time ebb and flow mouse infestation in our house. Sometimes we would hear the cats scuffling with one (the cats were no help) and we would go downstairs and catch the mouse in a tupperware and put it out. However, when they started chewing through the hose to the dishwasher and flooding the kitchen floor, I finally called an exterminator. (Plus, it was gross, and our remedies -- stuffing openings with steel wool and whatnot -- didn't work.) The exterminator guy placed poison in locked boxes in a few places outside the house and immediately all signs of mice disappeared. Like literally the next day. And they never came back. It's been about three years since the exterminator came, and we've never replenished the poison or done anything else to keep the mice away. Even though I was very torn and uncomfortable about the whole thing, I'm glad the mice aren't in our house anymore. It's hard to find an acceptable place to land with type of situation. But -- if it works for you guys -- I'm glad you still like the rat.
you may want to re-consider finding her a new home far away. I love domestic rats, but the wild ones are destructive and very resourceful. They can squeeze through VERY small spaces (15mm says the internet) so if there are any gaps into your house she might be tempted once the weather cools off.
Spring/summer would be the time to move her so she has plenty of time to get established in a new place before winter.
I loved this story, though I am sorry for it. It sounds like the two of you are working things out, though. I had my allegiances tested with a mouse infestation a few months back. Thank you for sharing.
I'm invested in this rat saga now. I fully get why you love/hate the rat. I also get the worry about your future crops. I think you need to choose one or the other. Either you have a rat living in your yard and you don't grow food for yourself, or you get rid of the rat and grow crops. OR if local weather permits, grow spicy peppers that the rat won't eat! Tell the rat I said "Hi!"
Despite the fact that I had a pet rat in high school (who lived in my room, so she actually was my “roommate), I have no advice. However, I do remember thinking that her little paws were very cute.
Soon there will be many more rats! The rat has a food source and a secure home....next will be a mate and offspring. If you don't get rid of it, you will be sorry. I'll bet if you relocated it to a rural setting it would thank you for the ride.
We have a local rat in our yard as well. We never fully see it though, just the shadow of it disappearing around a corner or under the fence. It’s a city rat like yours so it digs holes and eats holes in our refuse bins.
Last week we all received a flyer for the “Mad Ratters” (written in Alice in Wonderland font), a company that helps flush out rats on your property.
Also complicated feelings about rats over here: they probably were here before us! At this point I'm 50-50 bird/mammal inclined, but the birds and squirrels are equal partners in flipping over my seedlings (and I do refer to squirrels as day rats).
I've an old fabric row cover over some of my crops, and I visited a demonstration garden recently that used chicken wire cloches for protection. My cat and I like watching the rats cleaning up after the birdseed, so for now we've a truce.
Rats, if socialized from infancy, make very friendly and affectionate pets.
This reminds me of a time that I got in my car on my way to a job interview, of all places, and noticed a raccoon in our garage. It had taken up residence in the rafters. I left a voice note for my husband letting him know I wasn't sure what to do and didn't have time to figure it out, but also that the raccoon's name was Clark. After my interview, Clark was still there, so we just left the garage door open until around 10 pm hoping he'd eventually go out for a snack. He did, and we've been Clark-free ever since. But whenever I see (any) raccoon in the neighborhood, I wave and say, "Hi, Clark."
Chuckled the whole way through this, what a cute and clever little creature!