Have rats residing under the concrete slab outside of the back door. Granted, I’m a live and let live kinda guy and am more or less predisposed to allowing them some freedom to make a living, but that is in too close a proximity. Thus, I am engaged in a war of wits to force them to either pack up their traps and vamoose or face summary execution.
Thus far, I have plugged up all of their escape routes save for one, packing them all with mothballs, sand, and rocks. They still didn’t get the hint and failed to vacate the premises. Consequently, I was forced to escalate. Having left them one entrance, I got a bunch of gas bombs in order to “nuke them from orbit”, so to speak. I set one off yesterday, but one either escaped or took up residence after the others had cashed in their chips. So I just set off another one. I don’t know what I’ll do if this doesn’t work.
Well, I’ll probably be somewhat cruel and pack up their remaining entrance and let the stupid thing starve under there, except that it would probably tunnel its way out somewhere else and there I’d sit again.
Harumph.
Still, one must admire their pluck.
UPDATE: Thus endeth the struggle. I tossed in another gas grenade and nothing attempted ingress or egress overnight. Hence, I believe my descent into chemical warfare was successful. Still makes me a bit sad though; I don’t have much of a thing about rats so it bums me out some to have to do that.
