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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 20 2013 : 8:48:02 PM
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I'm not sure if this is the appropriate location for this post, and to be honest, it really has nothing to do with yoga at all, other than the simple fact that my yoga practice - union with the Divine - is the ONLY thing keeping me halfway sane at this point. I want to share a story which for some reason I find quite humorous, although everybody else may not.
Those who know me on FB and have been following our saga are aware of the ongoing rat infestation in the trailer walls. Now most people say, "EW! Doesn't it freak you out hearing them in the walls while you are lying in bed?" No, it actually doesn't, because I LOVE rats.  I find them adorable (and I've had them as pets before). You may have different kinds depending on where you live; like, I've heard the ones in New York are large, ugly and scary. But the ones here on our farm in Florida are medium-sized, with beautiful sleek gray fur and "tuxedo" pattern (white throat, belly, gloves and stockings), bright eyes, and pink nose, hands and feet - very cute. I enjoy their company and it makes me sad that they must die.
If they were simply "hanging out" in the walls it would be fine, but the problem is they ate the insulation so now our electric bill is like $300/month and now they are working on chewing the drywall. Also, everyone keeps telling me they will gnaw on wires and cause a fire, which obviously is a concern although it hasn't happened yet. So clearly they must be removed. Over the years they've avoided every kind of trap (humane, inhumane and everything in between) and we have used poison periodically, which worked until recently when they stopped eating it.
So, at this point, willing to try just about anything, I read on the internet that peppermint oil supposedly repels them. It does NOT! In fact, they LOVE it.  I got some "natural bug spray" made from peppermint oil, and when I sprayed it into the walls the rats eagerly gnawed on the drywall where the peppermint had soaked in. yum, yum. But spraying the peppermint oil into the walls had another completely unforseen effect, which I will discuss next.  |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2013 : 9:22:40 PM
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I could hear them getting in through a ceiling vent, so we went up on the roof and sprayed a huge amount of peppermint oil in there so it could drip into the ceiling and down inside the wall. However, due to the configuration of the vent, I had to turn the can upside down, which releases more propellant (some type of hydrocarbon - can anybody guess where this is going? I LOVE science). I then went inside and drilled a few holes in the drywall in areas where I heard the rats frequently, and sprayed in there. I also knew they were nesting in a spot under the floor, where a drain pipe P-trap is surrounded by (or maybe supported by?) a wooden box - the function is unclear to me, and I sprayed a huge amount of oil down there around the pipe. As mentioned above, the rats LOVED the peppermint and soon began happily munching on the drywall where I had sprayed it. But then a peculiar thing happened.
About an hour later I noticed a warm spot on my bathroom tile floor. I pointed it out to my husband, and he said, "Oh, that's where the hot water pipe goes under the floor to the shower." Which was true, however, I had never noticed it before. But since I was very busy working I said, "oh well, maybe I just never noticed it." Later in the day it became even hotter. When I got up the next day the bathroom floor was VERY HOT and so was the wall! I said, "ok, I'm going to have to go under the trailer and find out WTF is going on. Clearly somethin' ain't right here." I really did not expect a fire because there are no electrical wires under the floor, and the rats do not smoke cigarettes, but... Meanwhile I ran the dishwasher, did a couple loads of laundry, and my husband came home from work and took a long shower. I told him of my plan to investigate, but then when I stepped on the bathroom floor, it had suddenly cooled off! how very strange.
We went under the trailer and discovered the wooden box surrounding the P-trap was blackened and smelled of smoke, and was damp. We also found water dripping from the flooring insulation nearby; my husband used a knife to cut through the insulation and a huge amount of water gushed out. With the insulation pulled back, we were able to see that the wood sub-floor was charred, and wet. On looking further it turned out the bathroom floor was rotted, moldy and literally falling apart under the shower where the drain pipe had become disconnected, and waste water was backing up and emptying into the floor at that spot and probably had been going on for years. The smell was quite unpleasant. 
BUT, here is the cool part:  The large amount of waste water which poured into the floor all at once from the shower, the dishwasher and the washing machine, had leaked into the burning rat's nest under the floor and put out the fire! So we were LITERALLY saved by sewage. Is that f*king amazing, or what?! Had it not been for the leaky pipe, the trailer would most certainly have burned down, probably as we slept. The fire was just a few feet away from the foot of my waterbed.
Now here is the science part which I personally find quite amusing: On doing some research and analyzing the situation, it appears that the fire was caused when the (probably flammable in its own right?) propellant from the peppermint oil bug spray mixed with the ammonia in the rat feces and urine in the rat's nest! It is ironic because I had done it in the hope of repelling the rats, since everybody was telling me rats start fires by gnawing on electric wires, but in fact my attempt to prevent this, had instead caused a fire! OMG, is that funny or what?! Well, I think it is.
And of course we are VERY THANKFUL. God takes care of us. 
Unfortunately the damage to the trailer is so great that it would cost probably around $10,000 to fix (including the roof and other problems in addition to the fire and rat damage) which is just not even remotely doable, and since the trailer is 17 years old I'm not sure I would want to make the investment even if we did have the money. So this means we will have to move into Lothlorien House when our tenant moves out in June, and we won't be able to keep the House as a yoga studio/ retreat center as we had intended to do. But, I will still teach yoga at the House by keeping the "living room" empty and using it as the yoga studio.
As far as, "What does this story have to do with AYP or yoga?" - nothing, really, except that my yoga practice allows me, in continual Divine embrace, to be able to laugh at a situation like this. Without yoga the recent events of my life would have certainly driven me to despair.
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Edited by - Radharani on Apr 20 2013 9:34:32 PM |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2013 : 10:37:14 PM
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| Probably too late for this, but if you look on ebay for rat repeller, they have ultrasonic emitters that people can't hear, but it drives rats and other pests away. You could put one under the trailer. |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Apr 20 2013 : 10:39:37 PM
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thanks, Ether. Apparently those don't work, though, according to all the "experts" I've asked and reviews I've read. I have not heard any more activity since the fire - maybe it scared them off!  |
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bewell
1275 Posts |
Posted - Apr 21 2013 : 8:03:25 PM
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| Enjoyed the story |
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Yonatan
Israel
849 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2013 : 8:54:35 PM
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| Interesting story, thanks for sharing |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - Apr 22 2013 : 9:30:48 PM
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Glad you guys enjoyed the story! Isn't life bizarre?! LOL.
BTW, re: the alleged ultrasonic rodent "repeller," apparently this falls into the same category as the peppermint oil "repellant," in that some people SWEAR by its effectiveness, while others had just the opposite experience. E.g., 90% of people in the reviews swore that peppermint oil worked GREAT, totally drove away the mice, but another 10% said the mice were ATTRACTED by it and even ATE it! Well it was cheap and nontoxic (albeit HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, LOL!) so I figured "might as well try it," and my mice LOVED it. The reviews for the ultrasonic device were about 50/50, and many people said they found piles of mouse poo on top of the device; the "experts" said many rodents don't mind the sound once they get accustomed to it, after a week or two...
So far fire seems to have worked the best, which is particularly amusing since I was threatening to use plastique after the peppermint oil failed  |
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BillinL.A.
USA
375 Posts |
Posted - Apr 23 2013 : 9:28:59 PM
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Radharani your stories and your perseverance keep me trying when I'm tempted to give up.
I'm an exterminator and have caught tons of rats in my old fashioned "snap" traps right next to the electronic repellers.
Ya that fire will do the trick for you he-he. If you want to use baits in the future and they don't eat solid ones this is a liquid one that's useful cuz rats have to drink frequently. Each packet concentrate makes a finished quart:
http://www.amazon.com/Liquatox-Ther...sbs_indust_2
Radharani its an anticoagulant so the internal hemorraging is relatively humane compared to like strychnine which causes agony in the poor critters. |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Apr 24 2013 : 10:17:46 PM
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| the reason they get used to the ultrasonics is it deafens them. That is why devices that operate continuously don't work for long. the ones that work have to have a trigger to only work for a short time, like a motion sensor. And, yes, nothing works all the time everywhere. Diversity allows for survival of the species. |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2013 : 8:36:19 PM
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| BillinLA thanks for the link! We may need to use it in the future. The fire drove away most of them and I think the last one died the other day because we smelled him... As for the snap traps, our rats are WAY too clever; they either eat the bait without snapping it, or avoid the trap entirely. You know, we had ordered one product which was electronic: you are supposed to put bait in one end, and when they step into the trap, they get electrocuted. Well, they would NOT go in it no matter what bait we used. Interestingly, on the side of the trap in large letters it clearly said "Electronic Rat Killer" (or something to that effect - I can't remember the exact name). We think it might have worked better if it had said, "Rattie Bar and Cafe" or some other tempting sign. |
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Radharani
USA
843 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2013 : 8:37:14 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Etherfish
the reason they get used to the ultrasonics is it deafens them. That is why devices that operate continuously don't work for long. the ones that work have to have a trigger to only work for a short time, like a motion sensor. And, yes, nothing works all the time everywhere. Diversity allows for survival of the species.
yep, makes sense. I also read that many rats have now evolved to become resistant to the poisons which have been used for years. |
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saved by sewage
