…draining our resources with no end in sight.
What, you think I’m talking about Iraq? Well, that war seems to be going about as well, but I’m talking about a 2-year Rodent Siege on Casa del ‘Wacket.
Roof Rats. Citrus Rats. Whatever you call them, the damn things have been invading my laundry room since December of ’05 (probably longer than that, but that’s when I first came face-to-whisker with the Enemy). We’ve set traps, patched holes, blocked under-house access, filled cracks with foam sealant, and cussed a lot. Every so often I think we’ve finally conquered. Weeks, even months may go by when I don’t feel it’s necessary to bang on the laundry room door before opening it. And then…
Grrr. Two nights ago I was reading Yakko a bedtime story (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), when directly over his bed, from behind the AC vent, I hear squeak-squeak-skitter-skitter-skitter. Oh, hell no. I tried to pretend it was an auditory hallucination. A minute later, a squirrel ran across the roof, startling the Rat Bastard into squeaking and running along the duct down the hall (our house is old, and the ducts are exposed below the ceiling. Very easy to hear things).
Yakko slept in our room that night.
So now the guy from the mechanical service is re-sealing all our duct work and the air handler, which is in the laundry room, and which apparently has had holes torn in the seams by the destructive little shits.
He just left. $725 for an hour’s work. *sigh*
Well, I feel pretty confident that the security of our ducts will not be breached again. But I’m still left pondering how the heck they’re getting into the laundry room this time.
One more year. One more year and then we’re out of this house. I don’t know how yet, but It Will Happen.
