With the weather changing, we have been visited by one of the locals from the rodent population.  Sara, being a rat person–it is her desire to own a rat and teach it to speak (sort of a like the rat whisperer or Jane Goodall for rats),–was a little leery about setting traps; she also was concerned our literally retarded dog–he had meningitis, real bad–might try to catch his tongue in a trap.*  Finally it was too much for me so I set my traps with a little peanut butter last night.  I thought to myself, “self, what kind of rat eats during a snow storm?”  Apparently this guy:

 

Goodbye Rat King or Queen

While I am not a fan of killing things, it is satisfying to get rid of something that could bring harm to your family–rats, after all, were the species that transmitted the bubonic plague to humans through their proxies fleas.  In fact I think that the Department of Health owes me a medal or ribbon for stemming the tide of a potential plague outbreak.  In a world where everyone gets a trophy or medal simply for existing and having parents that can afford to pay for you to play sports, I do not think it is too much to ask from the DoH;)

My real point to this post, circuitously as it has turned out, was to inform Todd that I have joined the ranks of the rat catchers.  While Lake Stevens rats may not measure up to China rats, you have to start somewhere.

*I was trying to get as many punctuation marks into one sentence that I could; is there an order of operations for punctuation?