Exterminator

Today, the pest control people came. Yep, this house has a pest problem: ants, cockroaches, and mice. After months of putting up with our nocturnal guests (and sometimes swiftly sending them to meet their maker - for the cockroaches, of course), we finally decided to call for some professional help.

Ants is a major problem. They are the black ones, and they seem to be coming from outside from the garden. Actually, the black ones are not the only ones. We used to get rather big red ones as well. I notice that they are seasonal: over the course of a few months, the type of ants that we see in the house changes - black ones, big red ones, small red ones, and then it starts over again. But recently, it's these black ones that are a nuisance. You kill them, more come. Kill some more, and even more come.

Cockroaches (eeeuuuuuwww!) are the next thing. Although they don't show themselves pretty often, we know they're there from the droppings that we sometimes see. They are not quite a problem unlike the ants but they're absolutely disgusting! I can't stand the sight of them, and I actually have a slight fear of them (blame it on some forever-scarred childhood experience that involved a certain "brushing" incident with a cockroach's legs....shivers!). But, my hate for them is far greater and so there's always my trusted slipper to swat them putrid creatures.

And finally, mice. This has been a rather recent phenomena. Almost on a daily basis, we hear the sound of scurrying feet above our heads. And if we're lucky, we even get to listen to their excited squeakings. Mice running between the roof and the ceiling above us is not too bad. But, seeing one running about in your kitchen is!

So, control was the only answer. The technicians came, sprayed some stuff along the corners of the whole house, which were to repel and kill ants and cockroaches. They then threw some poisoned pills randomly outside at the back of the house - this was for the mice. They had wanted to leave it at that, but my wife asked whether they could set a trap as well, and they did.

So, the whole of this evening was spent cleaning the whole house hence this late post. I also repositioned the trap. At first it was in one of the kitchen cabinets, but I put it out on the kitchen floor. And as I was writing this post, I head a snap!

My wife and I checked, and there inside the cage was a mouse - rather small, maybe still quite young, and quite scared. The mouse in the cage is now outside the house, perhaps still eating the bait that we put (pumpkin bread, you know!). In the morning, we're going to call the experts to take it away.

Problem's not solved yet though. Just heard some more scurrying in the roof. But, we'll rid them soon enough.

You'll see.