It started with a a hole in my underwear. And then it was the missing sock.
Dave and I, along with the other Americans, were away from our training village for a week. When we got back home, our room was littered with dead bugs and a row of droppings. My immediate suspicion was a mouse. A few weeks earlier, I had found a hole chewed out of my underwear. A week earlier, one of my socks had went missing. Dave assured me that a mouse could not poop that much.
The next evening, we left our room clean and poop-free to eat dinner with our family. The door was closed. An hour later when we returned to our room, there was fresh poop on the floor! We cleaned it up and tried not to think about it more.
Traditional Cambodian beds are queen-sized, raised, wooden platforms. The Cambodians put a mat on the bed to lay on. Our American backs would not be comfortable on the hard platform, so Peace Corps gave us two thin, fold-up mattresses and sheets to use. The mattresses couldn’t fit side by side on the platform so we had a thin section overlapping each other.
The next afternoon, I was in our room when I saw our bed move! I called for Dave saying that the mouse was in the room. He came in disbelieving. But sure enough, when he jostled the mattresses, a RAT came scurrying out! By then our family heard the commotion (to be specific, my screaming and panicking) and came over armed with a net. The rat tried to escape through the door, but it met the net, our father’s bare heel, and more of my screaming!
With us gone for a week and the room vacant, the rat had taken our space. And apparently, the mattress’ overlapping created a tunnel for the rat to travel through. So we had been sleeping with a rat for a few days. Thankfully, it was nice enough to come out from under our “bed” to do its business!
I threw away my chewed up underwear. Eventually I found that missing sock that I, not the mouse, misplaced.
For more rat-related stories, read this.
2 Comments
Julie and David,
Please, don’t make them(the RATS) upset. I am afraid they might bite you. Find all the wholes from outside to your room and close them. Don’t leave your door open … So many tips, but this is the best way, “Ask God keep us safe” Love, KYUNG
I was doing my laundry and found mouse poop and a hole through my underwear. I started laughing and being disturbed, so I googled ‘mouse pooped in my underwear’ and found your post.
Is this normal? Our kitchen has not been under any mouse attacks, so why my bedroom? I do not keep food in my bedroom. Is there something about underwear that attracts mice? Also why only one pair and (thankfully) not the others.