life in the ark

My house is becoming either a domesticated animal shelter.... or we are working toward a re-enactment of Noah's Ark, I'm not sure which......
We have 2 cats
2 dogs ( three now with the addition of mr puppy)
and 2 rats

yes... rats.... I did not want the rats.... but my daughter pledged I would never have to feed them or clean up after them. She has been very true to her word.... until she left for Tennessee last week. She placed our 7yr old in charge of feeding aforementioned beasts... and showed him how to clean the cage. Dutifully he has trudged down to feed them every morning.... last week he assisted me in cleaning out their cage. (yes I had to touch them.) Today around lunch time I reminded him that he needed to go and feed the dogs, cats, and rats. He went downstairs..... and came up rather quickly.......

"MOM!!! I don't know how this happened ( the sentence that strike fear in every mothers heart ) but I shut the door to the cage last night.... and somehow they opened it and got out!!!!"

Not believing for a SECOND he closed the cage tightly.....
I sent him down to look for them, while I tried to remove from my mind, visions of them residing in my walls and never ever finding them.... he came up saying he looked EVERYWHERE.... and he didn't see them...
Not finding this even REMOTELY acceptable.......
I went and found a box to aid me in the capture.... and headed down to catch the varmints....

Rats, while given a reputation for stealth... are really quite noisy when you listen for them... so that is what I did... into her room... and stood still... true to form... I heard rustling... and began to gently pick up things in the area of noise.
I found the first one fairly quickly... it was under some clothes on her bed.... and it nearly gave me a heart attack because I almost set my hand on it.... I snatched it up and put it in the cage....

Now for number 2... the squeeker... this one actually sqeeks when you try to pick it up.....

I continued in the general direction where I found Number 1.... and was soon staring at it. This one was faster tho... under the bed... down the wall and to the closet... so I chase it back the other direction... it pops out under her nightstand... and on top of a sleeping bag there.... hunter who is now helping me, and finding this portion of his day wonderfully fabulous.... moves to one side of the stand... I stay in the middle and use my box to block the retreat back under the bed... Hunter moves in.... rat freaks out... and smacks into the sideways box... lift box up.. grab rat.. rat wiggles... and jumps... and is under the bed before I could even process the transaction.
Ok... I will not let the rat win... I will not let the rat win... is becoming a mantra....
Hunter is on the bed.... poised to catch it if it runs back near him... it has retreated to the safety of the closet. I slowly remove the basket it is hiding behind.... and plug up the space under her door should it get past me... at least I can keep it in the room!... so as I move the basket it retreats under the dresser.... then heads for the bed... I hear.. "ooo darn"...from hunter.... he missed. He is asking me to scare it back... he is almost fully wedged behind the dresser and can almost reach the varmint. we take turns shoo-ing it to each other, missing more than we want to...
I finally cornered it in the closet, and just slowly moved in for the grab. Took me two tries, but I got it.
They are both back in their happy metal home... as we were walking back upstairs.. Hunter was telling me how much fun that was......I told Hunter if he let them out again I was going to cook him and eat HIM for breakfast. Suddenly he was seeing the great rat chase my way...

Tay.........I love you, but, you owe me.