THE KITCHEN MYSTERY

i have had a kitchen mystery of late.  several weeks ago i thought my ghostie had returned and was causing havoc.  i had placed a couple of quarter loaves of bread, in their wrappers, on top of a little gas heater that sits next to my pantry door in my kitchen.  i had planned on putting the old bread out for the birds and squirrels.  i usually sweep my kitchen floor daily, since it is beige and shows every little thing.  i don't always put the swept up pile in the garbage though.  there has been some palmetto bugs and a few small cockroaches (not due to my lack of cleanliness, but due to the house being so old) who had succumbed to the bug spray the sprayer put down several months ago and i had swept them into the pile as well.  i went into the kitchen one day and noticed the dead bugs were gone and the piles of lint and dust were disturbed.

a couple of days later i noticed, disturbingly so, that one of the quarter loaves of old bread was in the floor, about a yard from the heater, and the dust pile was drug over with it.  ok, my ghostie is hungry.  should i make it a sandwich??

i keep my broom next to the heater in summer when the heater isn't in use.  i thought maybe the landlord, who had been there earlier that day sweeping off the front porch, had borrowed my broom.  then i saw the porch broom on the porch......mmmmmmmm.  ok, what is going on?

that night i let my kitty come into the kitchen with me, and she sniffed every inch of that kitchen floor.  and then she sat down next to the sink unit and stared at the space behind it.  mmmmmmmmm.  roaches???  or something larger????  after i took her back to the room, i came back in and looked around the kitchen.  there were little turds in the corner and by the planter.  mmmmmmmmm.  mouse?  squirrel?  chipmunk?  RAT????  it had to be bigger than a chippie or a mouse because the droppings were a little too big for them.  i have never seen squirrel droppings, but there are numerous squirrels around.  i was sure it was big because it had dragged the bread out into the middle of the room.  i started having visions of wharf rats.........YUCK!!!!!!!!!! 

while i was putting up some dishes in the drain board, i noticed behind the drain board, on the table, were pieces of bugs, legs, antennae, wings.  omg, OMG!  the critter had been sitting on my table eating its bugs next to my clean dishes.................

i grabbed the whole table and moved it, then took everything off of it, cleaned the table with bleach and then proceeded to wash everything in the drainer, as well as the drainer, in bleach water, and then rinsed in hot water.  ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!!

the next day i went to the dollar store and bought four small mouse traps for a dollar.  i put some hot dog on each one and set them.  the first night one was triggered, but no sign of a critter.  i noticed a spot on the floor that was reddish, but thought it might be some pasta sauce from spaghetti i had the night before.  i left it on the floor to see if it turned dark.  that evening it had turned dark brown, like blood does.  so i knew i had gotten something, but it had gotten away.  it could have even been a large palmetto bug,  but there was no trail.  i reset it, and for the next week, nothing.  then a palmetto bug triggered one, and got its little rear end separated from its body. 

then one night i went into the kitchen pantry to get something out of a box in the corner, and i heard rustling.  i looked quickly at the box of used plastic grocery bags i keep in the pantry, and there, running DOWN the wall, was a rat.  at least i think that is what it was.  it wasn't really big, but big enough to change my mind about what i was going to get out of the box.

i reset all the traps with fresh food and went to my room.  later that evening when i went to the kitchen for a glass of tea, i saw the rat run across the kitchen from the door of the pantry to the sink unit.  sigh..................

last night i went back into the pantry to get something, and once again heard rustling.  so, i said "THIS IS IT!  I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!"  i got all the traps, reset them each with cheese, and put them in the pantry, closed the door, and stuffed bags up under the door so it couldn't just "walk" out.  i let my kitty in the kitchen and she checked out every nook and cranny again, and double sniffed the pantry.  i went to bed..............

today before i came here to the library, i checked the pantry and the traps.  one was sprung, with nothing in it, and one was unsprung.  and one was missing........................... MISSING!!!  does that mean that whatever sprung it is still attached, walking around???  i didn't have the stomach or the courage to move the box.........but i have to when i get home.  i will let you know what i find...........if i don't pass out.  i am sure it is a SUPER RAT.  you know, glows in the dark, bright green glowing eyes, long fangs and claws..............OK OK, ENOUGH, I AM SCARING MYSELF!!!  lol

i thought i might dispose of the critter by putting the trap on the back porch and letting the kitties learn how to strip a rat...........but i am sure mama kitty has already taught them that.

i am sick at my stomach now, so will end this entry.  gee, that library bathroom is sooo far away..........................