It was several years ago when I first became aware of a scratching noise low down in the kitchen party wall. Harry said I couldn't have heard anything in there because it was a solid wall, nine inches thick. These houses are well over a hundred years old. No way could anything get in there. Must be a neighbour rummaging in a cupboard. Trouble was, the neighbour was always rummaging in the cupboard, but now it seemed further up the wall. What was going on in there?
One day I was cooking the evening meal and heard scratching right at the ceiling level, followed by a thud and a scampering across the ceiling. There was a creature of some sort up there. Gordon Bennett!
Harry was never there when the "thing" was active, in other words he never heard it! Maybe it didn't exist except in my imagination. He couldn't have made that more clear.
I put up with "the thing" for a while hoping it would go away, only it never did go away. It started to party and other "things" started to scamper about with it.
Whether Harry could hear it or not, it was time to do something about it. I rang Council Pest Control on a Thursday. They would send someone round next Wednesday, as that was the day designated for our area and as "it" was not actually in the house, it was not considered an emergency.
The Pest Controller came in an unmarked van. Phew! That was a relief! He turned out to be a very pleasant, helpful young man. He said that although we are never far away from a rat, this area was a squirrel area. That gave me a glimmer of hope.
He climbed up a small ladder, took off a few tiles and peered into our kitchen roof. He said there was a bit of a problem. A sloping roof built over a flat roof ..... creature in a three inch gap between the kitchen ceiling & the top of the flat roof. He couldn't get at it because of the sloping roof being built right on top of the flat roof.
"Only one thing for it," the man said, "You'll have to cut a hole in the ceiling so that I can get a better idea of what we are dealing with."
"He must be mad!," I thought. "If I did that it would be in the house!" He told me it was that or nothing and that he would call round next Wednesday when the hole was cut.
After refusing point blank at first, Harry persuaded me to let him make a trap door in the ceiling. The very thought filled me with horror, but he cut a square about a foot each way and found another piece of plasterboard to fit inside. I bought strong duct tape to cover the joints because it made me feel more secure! Who was I kidding? Couldn't any rodent eat through anything?
I had sleepless nights worrying about whether "it" would jump down into the kitchen while we were asleep. First thing every morning I examined the trap door to see if it was intact.
The Pest Controller called the following Wednesday and peered into the hole using a torch. "Bad news," he told me. "It's rats! Probably 6-8 of them." He put two trays of poison into the opening and sealed it over with the duct tape. He would be back next Wednesday.
(to be continued.)
One day I was cooking the evening meal and heard scratching right at the ceiling level, followed by a thud and a scampering across the ceiling. There was a creature of some sort up there. Gordon Bennett!
Harry was never there when the "thing" was active, in other words he never heard it! Maybe it didn't exist except in my imagination. He couldn't have made that more clear.I put up with "the thing" for a while hoping it would go away, only it never did go away. It started to party and other "things" started to scamper about with it.
Whether Harry could hear it or not, it was time to do something about it. I rang Council Pest Control on a Thursday. They would send someone round next Wednesday, as that was the day designated for our area and as "it" was not actually in the house, it was not considered an emergency.
The Pest Controller came in an unmarked van. Phew! That was a relief! He turned out to be a very pleasant, helpful young man. He said that although we are never far away from a rat, this area was a squirrel area. That gave me a glimmer of hope.
He climbed up a small ladder, took off a few tiles and peered into our kitchen roof. He said there was a bit of a problem. A sloping roof built over a flat roof ..... creature in a three inch gap between the kitchen ceiling & the top of the flat roof. He couldn't get at it because of the sloping roof being built right on top of the flat roof.
"Only one thing for it," the man said, "You'll have to cut a hole in the ceiling so that I can get a better idea of what we are dealing with."
"He must be mad!," I thought. "If I did that it would be in the house!" He told me it was that or nothing and that he would call round next Wednesday when the hole was cut.
After refusing point blank at first, Harry persuaded me to let him make a trap door in the ceiling. The very thought filled me with horror, but he cut a square about a foot each way and found another piece of plasterboard to fit inside. I bought strong duct tape to cover the joints because it made me feel more secure! Who was I kidding? Couldn't any rodent eat through anything?
I had sleepless nights worrying about whether "it" would jump down into the kitchen while we were asleep. First thing every morning I examined the trap door to see if it was intact.
The Pest Controller called the following Wednesday and peered into the hole using a torch. "Bad news," he told me. "It's rats! Probably 6-8 of them." He put two trays of poison into the opening and sealed it over with the duct tape. He would be back next Wednesday.
(to be continued.)
