Rat patrol

Unprovoked, the rats in the attic decided to hack our internet connection in the big house.

Now, I'm an easy-going guy, not rattled by co-existing other species, as long as they cooperate and abide by boundaries based on mutual respect...I even bend over backwards to accomodate them when they ignorantly disregard territorial markers, as long as they don't disrupt day-to-day activities with destructive and disrespectful malfeasance.

The attic rats have.

This is an area where sensitive electronic gear translates esoteric electron streams into and outof meaningful metaphysical messages from the world wide web of interconnected communications, and beams it wirelessly into the laptops, and minds, of the intended recepients. Taking a gnaw of the wiring up here renders centuries of civilized progress and teleological development moot. Rats have chewed clear through the wires connecting these devices. The router switch sitting on top of the battery backup unit had its power adapter chewed right off and two of three access points distributing the wireless signal to different areas of the house have also been vandalized.

The attic and/or basement of a house is, to the habitable spaces of that house, as the internal organ systems and spaces of a human body are to the outward appearance of that body. It's where the plumbing and wiring are visible, where important connections and transitions are made....where disease and invaders can lurk out of sight, opportunistically exploiting resources and habitat to grow and multiply. Every body needs an immune system, and that is my job, kind of an all-purpose T cell, mediating appropriate responses to forces that are in conflict with the mission that this house exists to fulfill.

In the photos above, note the 'catwalks', wide planks across the tops of ceiling joists that facillitate easier movement through the attic space. These catwalks get piled up with insulation and debris by rats for some 'reason'. Each time I go up here, I brush them clear, and then they get piled onto again, as the rats burrow and nest in the fiberglass insulation throughout the attic. And for no apparent reason they enjoy chewing on wiring...a very unendearing habit. They must GO!

In conjunction with previous efforts made to mitigate the problem, we have declared an edict

regarding these charming little furry critters.

The warning below was posted by a previous "T cell" visitor to the attic. For me it no longer holds any power or significance. It now remains for the 'rattus norvegicus', the most successful mammal on the planet after humans, to read and heed.