i smell a rat...

no really. this isn't some figurative pun on an experience i've had here in Belize. Actually, its just what it says it is...please join me in reliving one of the most disgusting experiences I've ever had in my life.

It's no surprise that I have rats living in my ceiling.  Its quite common here and once you get used to the scamper of their feet above your head, its really not so bad.  In fact, i was more or less okay with this...until they started leaving little presents under my sink in my kitchen cabinets.  Not okay...plus it was an unfriendly smell.

So, like any responsible tenant, I went in search of a rat trap.  No luck...apparently the only option here is good ol rat poison.  Since it's the only option, I happily purchased two blocks...It was me against rat turds and I was determined to prevail.

This was about 2 weeks ago...one brick disappeared from under the cabinet, and the next one was slowly being nibbled.  I was stoked...any day, the pattering of rat feet would surely stop and I'd have a clean cabinet yet again.  Was I worried about dealing with a dead rat...no, I knew there was a chance of it, but I had a friend tell me they went outside to die. Therefore...this process was perfect.

How gullible am I?!?!

Needless to say, the poison did its job.  On Sunday, I woke up to a funky smell coming from my kitchen.  I chalked it up to rat poop, cleaned out my cabinet yet again and went to my hammock to read a book.  It was during my relaxing swing session that large flies started to drive me nuts. After about 20 min. I got up to see where they could have possibly entered my house from (after all, I have screen doors and windows..this should not have been happening).  I walked into my kitchen and to my horror, there were about 20 large flies swarming about!  I immediately went to work shoo-ing them out.  Successful after a few tries, I went to work attempting to locate what I thought was attracting the flies - coke bottles.  Again, REALLY, what was I thinking?!

After this task was done, I went out swimming for the day.  I came home late after enjoying friendly company, pizza and wine and headed straight for bed, completely missing the nastiness of what was happening in my kitchen.  No worries, Monday morning it hit me like a ton of bricks.

I attempted to fan out the kitchen and couldnt believe the potent smell, not to mention, the annoying flies were back!  I decided that there must be a dead animal somewhere because it was really the only explanation for such foul odors.  After a quick swipe of the house, I came up with nothing.  In a hurry, I just left to head to the school for the morning and figured I'd deal with it when I got home.

Big mistake, by the time I walked home for lunch, I could barely walk through my house. I immediately went on a search for the animal...looking under the cabinets, behind the frige, under the stove...I even tried to glance up in the roof thinking maybe it was on an edge.  My neighbor came home around this time and told me her house smelled the same way...

Great, we now had a dead, decomposing rat stuck somewhere between our walls where no one could reach it.  All I could think was that I really didnt think I would make it that much more with the smell. I resolved that after I returned home from working at GCPS in the afternoon, I would call the landlord and demand him to take care of the situation.

Opening my door in the evening nearly brought me to tears...rotting flesh is not a welcome home scent!  I decided to try one more time to locate the smell and save myself...I got out my flashlight and started hunting.  10min. in to my 3rd and final hunt...success.  This horrid, stupid, dead rat had managed to die in the smallest crevice of my house.  I could see its body, but couldnt figure out how to reach it.  I ended up tearing off a corner of a cardboard box I'd been mailed and fished the animal out.

To my complete horror, the rat wasn't the only thing I ended up pulling out.  That sneaky carcass that took me so long to find came complete with a large stash of developed maggots...crawling in and out of where the animals abdomen should have been.  Revolting. I disposed of it as fast as I could....telling myself I couldnt get sick because then it'd be an even more disgusting mess to clean up. May it rest in pieces at the bottom of the trash barrel at the end of my street.

In the mean time, I'm enjoying a rat free house and am airing it out continuously.  I can finally breathe upon entry!  But, this whole experience has made me think:  which really is worse -a few rat turds or a decomposing rat full of maggots???  I haven't yet made up my mind.

Your thoughts?