It's a Samoan pub.

October 9, 2006: The beginning of my adventure in the Peace Corps. I've been invited to serve as an Information and Communication Techonology volunteer to teach computer skills in Samoa. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are mine and do not in any way reflect the views of the Peace Corps, the US government, or the country of Samoa.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A Note About Rat Poison (or A Nonsensical Entry That I Created At 1:30 In The Morning When I Found Myself Alone In The Office And The Internet Was On)

The price of rat poison has gone up. There are times when it disappears off the market all together. I have, in the past, waited over a month for the next shipment of rat poison, calling or visiting all the major suppliers in the capital once or twice a week to check if it had arrived yet. I like to regularly disperse rat poison in my house as it keeps them at bay.

There are those that say rat poison is cruel. I'm not exactly sure who they are but there are definitely those out there who make big deals about animals and there must be plenty that stand up for the rat. However, I contest that rat poison is a necessity.

Rat poison basically breaks down a rats organs and tissues so that they eventually collapse and bleed to death internally. A rat cannot vomit. Therefore, once the poison is ingested, there really is no turning back. As I do not have pets or babies wandering around my house and since it is highly unlikely that I will accidentally eat a pellet of rat poison, all of my animosity is assuredly vented on only rats.

The rats that inhabit my general vicinity are, as I believe I have mentioned before, rather large and once they find a place they believe is a solid source of food, they tend to stay. Now, faced with kitten-sized rodents who steal my soap (yes, my soap), sneak on top of my kitchen table at night, or waltz straight through the house at midday completely oblivious to anything thrown at their head, I am compelled to act. I tried traps. Many traps. My rats are not stupid. The geckos, yes, they are quite dim but not the rats. They see all around my attempted trickery and turn the traps upside down.

Therefore, I resort to good old-fashioned, cold-blooded poison and hope against hope that the final resting place of my victims is not somewhere within my walls or inside my roof.