kathleenblakeney - Great Rat Hunt 2010

It all started 2 weeks ago with a few missing Reese's cups. That's when I knew this war was going to be personal. Nobody, human or animal, gets in between a woman and her chocolate and gets away with it, much less in Africa when it is such a rare delicacy! So I kept my eyes and ears open for the mousy culprit. I wasn't particularly surprised about the little critter taking up residence, after all, when you live in a wooden cabin in a forest in Kenya, during the rainy season no less, a visitor or two is to be expected. Yet when chocolate disappears, the little guy has outstayed his welcome

Fast forward to the night of March 11th. Stuck at the base with amoeba, bacterial infections and a myriad of other ailments, Kyle, Jessica, Cherise and I decided to have a nice, quiet evening with a movie. What resulted was anything but quiet. After watching Twister, I headed to my closet to get my Pjs, opened the door, looked down and saw sitting on the floor with his beady little eyes staring up at me, a huge rat! This guy was a good five inches long, not including tail, and was nice and fattened from his chocolate delights weeks before. While I would love to say I was the picture of bravery, taking care of our rodent issue on the spot, I'm sure you can imagine the true story. I shrieked, the rat ran across the room to hide under a bed, and I promptly gathered my things and transferred to the other girl's rat-free cabin for the night.

When I awoke the next morning, the hunt was on. I geared up for battle, which truly was a sight to behold. With a t-shirt and pink pajama shorts, I slipped into Alison's tall white galoshes, strapped on my headlamp, and with broom in hand, marched up to the frontlines in search of my adversary, the rat. My war strategy was simple enough: Clear all the assorted items from the floor of the closet and shelf above, get Nadia's belongings under mosquito nets to avoid future allergic episodes, and let Jared, the infamous bush hunting cat, in to take care of business. As I was moving boxes from the shelf, I pulled a blanket out of the way and stumbled upon "The Nest." You guessed it, Kathleen screamed as the rat ran in front of her face and she bolted out the door declaring, "I've found him, where's the cat?!" My war comrades, Jenessa and Jessica shouted moral support from the porch as I marched Jared in to attack and destroy the chocolate stealing beast.

I set Jared next to the box the rat was hiding behind and excitedly said, "Alright hunter, go get him," to which Jared looked at me, purred and walked the opposite way to lie down. We were off to a slow start. With a little help and encouragement (AKA me moving the box and showing the rat to Jared... some hunter!) the battle began! I retreated to the porch, content on allowing the professionals to take care of it. After a few moments of scurrying, hissing, and scuffling around the room, we heard squealing from under KC's bed. Finally! Jared must be killing the rat, yet upon peeking inside, we saw him playing with/torturing it. Evidently Jared's preferred war tactic is "playing" with his foe until it dies of a heart attack. I was hoping for something a little quicker and more merciful, but what can you do? Suddenly, the rat escaped and Jared was back on the trail... that's what you get for playing with your food!

Around this time, Erin joined us on the porch and in the middle of conversation exclaimed, "Oh, there's the rat!" He had once again cheated his imminent death and was squeezing out a cracked window. Not one to lose, Jared raced outside and to our dismay and loud objection, chased the rat toward our porch huddle and we scattered. Jared cornered the rat and valiantly carried his defeated enemy into the woods, never to be heard from again. RIP you vile Reese's thief!

Kathleen and Jared, Crime-fighting duo: 1
Sneaky Chocolate Stealing Rats: 0

Reese's Cups: -2 (sigh)