Thu 12 Mar 2009
I found Josh sitting on the floor, computer on his lap, the horizontal door leading to the unfinished attic lying wide open. My cat was pacing back and forth, not allowed to enter the attic for reasons we couldn’t really identify. The attic was strewn with pulled out insulation, rat turds lining the floor. Josh was trying some camera software and it was failing. A few days later he found a way to set it all up: the twinkling light of our old touch lamp illuminated the attic with a soft light, cheese littered the attic floor, and the the rat cam sat poised and ready to record. You could check the rat cam at any time during the day via internet. Then Josh figured out how to make the camera take a picture whenever it sensed movement. It’s an old house, and the camera went off fairly frequently with the ebbs and floes of the creaky attic. Almost a week went by and the camera remained empty of action.
Until a few days ago:
And most incriminate:
Bam. Multiple pictures of rats scampering around, running up the sides of the wall, eating food, and probably defecating. My Mom saw these pictures and commented on the really nice restaurant atmosphere of the attic: chandelier lighting, food, the only thing missing was some soft music. Now it ends…now we know there are indeed rats (not squirrels or any other live animal) and their cute little lives must tragically end. That’s right…now that we’ve gained their trust, it’s time to switch on the Rat Zapper.
Arrivederci, mio piccolo ratto amico…
March 12th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Oh, YUCK! I think I would die if I was invaded by those…..THINGS! I shudder at the thought of rodents. Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.
March 12th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Oh my god! This is my favorite entry of yours. EVER! Just imagining Josh plotting this whole things out, then obsessed with watching the “livecam” (which I would have totally been watching as well if I had known and had access), to actually getting the shots of the rat! How beautiful! I agree with your mom. It is very Ratatouille-esque and I almost don’t want you do kill them but instead set up some mazes and games and watch what they do on camera. Let’s turn this into a fun webcam site where people can send you ideas of what obstacles to put in the rat’s way next and see what happens? You could post ads and make money! Could be the next craze! I would watch it.