"Unwelcomed Visitors"

"My Judi has an acute sense of hearing. She can hear a pin drop in the next room. I think this is an innate ability possessed by all women that is only heightened and enhanced once they have children. My window rattling snoring, although aggravating to her, won't stir her from a sound sleep once she signs off for the night. But let the slightest unfamiliar noise emanate from somewhere in our home and she's fully conscience and determined to identify the source of the disturbance. This ability came to the fore once again last night.

"Do you hear that?," Judi was frantically repeating as she finally roused me from what had been a very peaceful and obviously unaware sound sleep.

"Hear what?," I asked groggily.

"Shush!! Listen... There's something scratching in the walls. There it is again!"

"My guess is it's either a squirrel or a fruit rat," I volunteered, knowing full well that it was a fruit rat having spied one scurrying along the outer edge of our attic when I had been up there on Sunday putting away Christmas decorations. But, trust me, I wasn't about to reveal that observation, it now being very early in the a.m. on Wednesday morning.

"Go back to sleep. The cats will stand guard and I'll set out traps tomorrow."

"God, I hate those things!," as Judi returned to a prone position and pulled the bed covers over her head.

This wasn't the first time we'd been visited by these vermin. A number of years back, when we still had several orange trees in our yard, we were infested with them one summer. It took me the better part of a month to eradicate them. The scourge of citrus canker eventually wiped out our orange trees and we hadn't any reoccurring issues with fruit rats...until now.

So, before leaving for work this morning I relocated the rat traps I had stored in the garage and put them aside so that I could set them out later today...after I pick up a couple of Snickers candy bars. They love Snickers candy bars. I tried peanut butter, but they turned their noses up at that offering. I tried cheese. Same result. Snicker Candy bars did the trick. I don't look forward to baiting the traps. They are the largest variety. Large enough to stop a Bull Elephant in full charge. When one of those traps is sprung it best not to have a finger, hand, or arm anywhere in the vicinity.

As I left this morning our two house cats were on full alert, earnestly patrolling back and forth in the area where they last heard curious noises. That seemed to give Judi some comfort, as did my promise to set the traps out before leaving for the evening to attend the USF basketball game. I expect that when I return home later in the evening I'll find the Snickers have again done their dastardly duty and I'll get to dispose of the evidence. That's another task that ranks right up there on the list of things I'd prefer to avoid. But it will be worth it if Judi can sleep through the night and, therefore, me too.