Battling the hidden enemy inside my car

The past few days have been a nightmare. I’ve been battling rodents in the car of the all the places.

It was the first time that rats intruded my car since I bought it four years ago. I detest rats and they had trespassed into my domain! I imagined them moving around stealthily. Though they were out of sight, I knew they were lurking around when I detected droppings on the driver’s seat just as I was about to wash the vehicle one fine morning.

It didn’t take long for the two long-tailed rodents to skitter out from under the driver’s seat to the dash board. Their brief appearance made me nervy. That day as I worked in office, my thoughts were with them. I was thinking of nothing but how to drive them out of the car. I searched the net and spent an hour reading about ways to catch rats and watching a couple of related videos but couldn’t zero in on one solid and feasible way out.

A friend suggested I place a wooden trap with a piece of bread laced with mustard oil attached to the hook inside. I immediately bought a trap and followed the friend’s advice.

I rubbed my hands in glee as the trap was laid for the enemy. My friend told me to be patient and said I should replace the piece of bread twice a day lest the foul smell keep the rat away. It proved to be a futile exercise on the first day as the enemy did not bite the bait. To add insult to injury, the rats not only left their droppings behind but also inflicted visible damage.

I took off the bait and assessed the damage inflicted overnight. A big portion of the foot mat had been nibbled, the main wire of the music system cut and some documents in the boot reduced to shreds.

As I was struggling to cope, my daughter arrived on the scene and saw the trap in the car. She refused to go to school in the car. No amount of pleading or cajoling helped for the little girl who screams at the mere sight of smaller creatures such as cockroaches, frogs and lizards. I had no choice but to drop her to school on the motorcycle in the winter chill.

I was upset as it had been three days since the intrusion. I was about to change my strategy when I received good tidings. One of the rats was in the trap. I left it in the trap for the day and released it at a distance in the evening. However, the hunt was on for the rest of the members of the gang.

Meanwhile, we were to attend a wedding but my wife and daughter simply refused to go in the car. My repeated pleas fell on deaf ears. Finally, we hired a taxi to reach the destination.

The next day, we found the most wanted enemy was waiting for me to get him out of the trap. There was joy on our faces and fear of death in our enemy’s eyes. We heaved a sigh of relief. At last, it was in the trap! The enemy has been captured and released but the intrusion has made me paranoid. I’ve developed the habit of checking the car for rat droppings before I take the driver’s seat.

THERE WAS JOY ON OUR FACES AND FEAR OF DEATH IN OUR ENEMY’S EYES. WE HEAVED A SIGH OF RELIEF. AT LAST, IT WAS IN THE TRAP!