10.05.2008
Tamashin’s
Tale’s: The rat
I have been asked by several contributors
on the Forum to get together a few of my true experiences of living in Brasil
and put them on the home page and/or newsletter.
The
rat
It was 3.30am in the morning when, all of a
sudden, there was an almighty crash from the BBQ area. Talk about a rude
awakening!
With thoughts of recent kidnappings and
break-ins not a million miles from my mind, I raced through the house to the
kitchen area, where I peered through the glass door into the darkness of the
BBQ area.
I was confronted by a large rat sitting
next to the fridge on its haunches, looking not unlike an old armchair.
It had knocked over some bottles and things
and was now chewing its way through a pink baseball cap. I was momentarily
distracted thinking who wears a pink baseball cap in this house but it passed
when the rat jumped onto the serving area. We were now eye to eye ( I was
stooping a bit) and I was thinking about what to do next when my well meaning,
good lady wife tapped me on the shoulder. I suffered a mild heart attack but
recovered quickly. She advised me to leave it alone and it would go away.
“Where” I thought and how would you know it had gone. I decided to trap it with
one of the children’s clear plastic toy chests. Incredibly, this took about an
hour as we played a bizarre type of chess game around the BBQ area. When I did
finally trap it, I put a heavy chair on top of the box for good measure.
Later that morning I rang the local council
to ask for advice on what to do with the rat. They told me to take it to SUS.
“I haven’t hurt it” says I, but they explained, very patiently, that the rat
would be taken away and examined for diseases.
Clear plastic chest in arms with a very
large, unhappy rat inside, I marched into the local SUS and up to the reception
desk. Several people left the room.
They would indeed examine said rat. I asked
if I could have the toy chest back, “no” she replied a tad too quickly for my
liking.
Several days later they rang to confirm
that the rat had no diseases.
My good deed cost me a toy chest but peace
of mind.
Are rats always on their own?
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