something is burning...

First, a little back story. The one thing that I do not tolerate well is rodents, even the kind of pets that are similar to rodents. It's been a life long struggle, but is a pretty well known fact for anyone that has to deal with me for much time. My work colleagues, family members, neighbors, and other random people know the one thing that will have me running pretty quickly.

From the very first mission trip I ever took, I had to pray about situations that might involve rodents. They are a pretty significant problem in most places, especially places with high poverty rates. Moving to Uganda was no exception. I knew that rats would be a problem. I 've even read and heard a few horror stories over the years that still make me cringe.

Now, to what's burning...

Early in the month I noticed that we had a slight problem in the pantry. Every morning I would find some form of produce that had been nibbled. We knew it wasn't the dogs because they'd have just devoured whatever they were after. This was clearly something somehow small. We couldn't quite figure out where or what the culprit was because the house is made of concrete. There are no interoir parts of the walls and no random holes that can be entered into. It is solid concrete. Whatever it was had to come in through the door when no one was watching.

So, Floyd was up late one night because the welders were working well into the night and he was keeping an eye on the progress. He suddenly heard some rustling in the pantry so he went to check it out. He did finally see our furry guest, but just quickly as it ran between his feet to escape the entrapment that Floyd had created. He set up a good row of sticky traps around the counters, as it had crawled to the back of them. Somehow, he the thing managed to avoid his serious maze of traps.

Fast forward to dinner time the next day. I've got the overn warming up and one burner going on the stove. I'm standing near the dining table trying to pull up a recipe on my phone. The dogs were laying in the kitchen floor. Suddenly, I hear some serious banging and clanging in the kitchen area. I look up and am pondering what it could be...of course, it only took a few seconds for me to realize what it must be. Just at the moment I realized it must be the rodent, the dogs errupted into barking. I did what any sane person would do...I ran immediately out the back door, calling out to Floyd who was sitting on the verandah with Lawrence.

I remained outside while Floyd and Lawrence went in to find it. Of course, they found nothing. After coming back out and asking a few questions, they went back in for another check. This time they saw the rodent running but couldn't catch it. They did catch a tiny a baby on one of the sticky traps. I had no choice but to go back in and finish cooking dinner.

As I cooked, there became an aweful smell. I could not determine what it was, but it was bad. Toxic, really. I told Floyd a few times that something was wrong. I finished cooking and turned everything off. After dinner, Floyd decided to check behind the stove because the smell was still really bad.

What he found was a bit scarey. The rat had made a nest inside my stove. Actually, it made one at the top between the burners and the over, and another at the bottom under the oven. It had used a lot of the insulation, but it also had brought in many items from around the kitchen - sponges, wash clothes, and other random scraps. During the cooking, that stuff had caught on fire.

When Floyd started pullling it out, pieces were still burning. We are so grateful that the fire did not move outside the stove (I remind you, this is a propane stove with the propane tank just under the cabinet). It could have been disastrous. By the time it was said and done, I had to have a new stove. The insulation was completely destroyed and some wiring got jerked out when the lid fell (that's to hard to explain, so I won't try). Floyd did find 4 more baby mice that had cooked in the fire. But no momma. Here are some pics of the stove. I did not take pics of the mice for obvious reasons (to load them, I'd have to look at them and I'd rather not). If you're really curious, message Tyler. He took some pics.

Taking a look.

Much of the removed insulation and pieces.

A close up of the remaning wiring.

Some of the other burned nesting articles.

Laoding my new stove in the car (it's daytime, but we're in a parking garage).

Floyd did finally catch the momma. He was shocked at how big she was. I'm just grateful for a hubby that doesn't torture me in my weakness. He had set the sticky traps and went to check them first thing in the morning. He came back to the bedroom and said, "I've caught it, so stay in here until I can deal with it." He also stopped by Raegan's room and gave her the same message. It was still alive, so it took a little time. Then he came back and gave the all clear. :) Love him!