I found the little or I mean big critter while weed wiping our lawn a few days ago. After screaming and running up to the house to hide, i decided to wait for the girls to get home from school to help me get him. I knew we needed to catch him because he was not coming into our house!!!!! Korin decided she was going to be brave and went out with a broom to scare him out of his hiding spot and then smack him when he came out. Well she scared him out, but instead of smacking him, she ran faster then I've even seen her run, whipped and broke the broom, and screamed alot!! Courtney and Syd decided to come help but we were unsuccessful.
We did not catch him that night, but when Steve got home the next day and noticed he had built a nest in Courtneys car and chewed through head light wires, he was determined to get him. And when he did see him under the car hood he decided that maybe he was a little bigger then a field mouse.
We set rat traps under the car(which is now named the ratmobile). The first night nothing except eating our peanut butter and not setting off the trap and making us more mad.
The second night, after Steve leaves of course, Korin decides she wants to check the trap before we went to bed. We were very excited to see him caught!! We were so happy that the rat was dead, but then...
We called Steve to tell him he was caught but not dead. He told us we needed to get a hammer and smash his head, but I knew I could never do that! So he said to get a shovel and stick it between his ears and push down, but I knew i could never do that! He told me to be the adult and kill it! With a little support from my 13 year old daughter, i figured we better do it so he doesn't wiggle himself out of the trap.
So we counted to three and smacked him on the head. It was quite stressful!!!
I didn't trust that this monsterous rat was actually dead so decided to cover him up with something heavy and pray he wouldn't get out and die over night.
I decided to wait for my teammates to get home from school the next day to help me get rid of him. It was still so creepy even though we knew he was certainly dead this time. Korin shoveled him up(I held the bag though!) and we threw him away.
My girls think that I need therapy now. It was definately an expirence we'll never forget and probably have nightmares over.