Laser Rat

My house is in a heavily wooded area in Santa Cruz County.  Because I no longer have a cat, I have, from time to time, wood rats making a visit.  They are gross, and therefore I bought one of those electric rat zappers.  It's been some time since I've been able to get the trap set up (plus no evidence of rodent activity in the house), but I set it up anyways, as it has been raining.   I baited it with cat food, as that is easier to sprinkle in the little holes at the end, where bait goes.  And today...behold!  A rat, gone to Rat Heaven.  The nice part of the zapper is that you really don't have to see the rat.  I love all beings, but rats are destructive to a house and carry diseases of all kinds.

Home Depot and Orchard Supply are becoming my new best friends as I get my Lompico house into shape for a second big haul-out.  I'm so disgusted that it has taken me so long.  I cannot get a refrigerator in until the deck is replaced, unless it is brought through the back entrance, but am going to call an appliance repair guy as soon as the haulout is done.

In the meantime, i am pulling up all the linoleum in the kitchen/dining room and calculating square footage for the new linoleum tiles.  Next is deciding whether to repair my parquet tile floor in the living room or crowbar up all the tiles (many of which are missing anyways) and replace it with new flooring.

It's turning out to be quite a project, but I am proud of the work I have done.

Plus, no rats.