Posted on 05/25/2006 3:43:27 PM PDT by MissAmericanPie
Tuesday, May 16, I was wakened from a deep sleep at 5:30 am by something biting me, I leapt out of bed and turned on the closet light to see a large rat run under the covers. I was later informed by a lady two streets over that we are under a sudden rat invasion. I had never seen a trace of a rat in my home.
I took my bloody thumb to the sink and washed the wound throughly and put alchol on it, then repeated about ten mins later.
I called my physician who told me to go to the emergency room of a loal hospital. There I received a tetnus shot and the reassurnce that rats don't carry rabies and if it had it would have been so sick that after biting me it wouldn't have been able to run more than a few feet away before dropping dead.
The hospital asked me to call the local Health Dept. and make a report, they also reassured me that rats don't carry rabies.
I was too chicken to sleep in my room so I set a trap and baited it with yummy peanut butter and checked the trap every day. The rat never took the bait.
Deciding to reclaim my territory and stop sleeping on the couch I began to yank the sheets off the bed to wash them and there mr rat was, dead under the sheet where it tucks under the matress. He had bitten me, ran to the end of the bed and died there.
The next day I called my physician and the local Health Dept and related the story to them. My physician wanted me on a series of rabies shots asap. I got a call from the Administrator of the local Health Dept. he said the circumstances were so odd that it warranted a test on the animal and I should ship it to Austin right away. I had put mr rat in a zip lock bag and placed him in an ice chest full of ice.
I called the US Postal Service and they said they could not accept the package unless it met certain conditions and a sticker .Class 6, that can only be supplied by Austin, Texas.
So I called Austin and spoke to a Mr. Ron Cornealous, who reassred me that the rat was fine, that my house was air conditioned the poor animal was sick, (with something), or old, and wanted to cozy up to warm lil me, and when I moved he bit me and ran. When I asked him what the animal could possibly be sick with his reply that it was most likely posioned. But if I was worried that I could take it to a vet for proper packing and ship it to Austin for testing.
So I called my Vet, who informed me that Austin charges them $200.00 to $300.00 to test the animal, where as if I took it to the local Animal Control Service they could get it done free. So I did, I was told I had to be interviewed by the animal bite person, "Ray", giving the details and then Ray would have to get permission to send the animal to Austin for testing.
In the mean time, following my physicians orders I called the local health dept and told them I needed a series of rabies shots. The lady informed me that only my physician was able to order the series from the manufacturer. I called my physician who was so shocked because he had never had that happen before, I gave him the ladies number at the health dept, and the number of the rabies drug manufactuer.
My physician called me back in shock and said they refused to sell him the series until and unless the test results on the animal had come back from Austin. Remember the rat is still sitting in an ice chest at Animal Control waiting for permission from Austin to accept it for testing.
So I called to find out if the rat had been mailed to Austin and Ray informed me that he had spoken to Mr. Ron Cornealous who said he had already spoken to me and reassured me and that despite the desire of my physician for me to begin the series and the suspecions of the administrator of the Health Dept in my area he saw no reason to accept the rat for testing.
Ray has agreed to keep the rat for a couple of days until I can ask my physician and the local administrator to call Mr. Cornealous and try to change his mind. "We are your government, we are here to help you".
Mr. Cornealous may be perfectly right, we should know in a few weeks if I fall over foaming at the mouth or not. I just found the entire thing a very telling example of what the present holds as far as your physician want's vs the State's control over every aspect of our lives. If it's this bad now the future really gives me the chills.
Sounds like he found himself a nice gig since he left Soul Train.
Was this particular rat a legal citizen ?
It is a remarkable story about bureaucracy! Well told, and I hope your thumb is, at least, on the mend.
As I understand it, rabies is fatal. So don't mess around.
Ugh!
Monday night 4 bears showed up in my back yard and demolished part of my fence and ripped up my trash cans. I scared 'em off the first time, but when they came back 30 minutes later, I had to peg them with my BB gun.
Holy cow. Unbelieveable.
WOW.
A good example of how it just creeps up on us..a little bit here and there.
Well you know how it is.
A rat's gotta do those jobs Americans won't.
My, that's an interesting story. We'll be pulling our covers up tight tonight!
I'm sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time with this. I don't blame you for being upset about it. I'd be giving the agencies hell over the phone.
Best of luck on this...
I don't rightly know if the moose was under the covers, but see my tagline.
I would take the rat and the story to a local TV station and get on the news. You'll get some results. Be sure and have names, times and dates of who you spoke with during this episode. If you contract rabies, you will not survive.
WOW....what a story....I feel so sorry for you....I can only imagine how you must feel wondering wtf the gov't bureaucrats are doing.....I'm wondering....are there any more rats in your neighborhood? And children?.....If there are, wouldn't that be an incentive to have this one tested? You need to give them a better reason....evidently, you being a nice lady doesn't count (I know not your race, age, etc.)
Oh man...I hope that's not some Congressional omen or something.
Maybe watching "old Yeller" is not the best thing
for you right now.
When I was in Vietnam, I went to freshen up my sleeping cot
which was covered with some sheets of plywood and there between the sheets was a petrified squirrel, yeah a squirrel
that is what it was , sure.
Will hope and pray you are ok.
tet.
And, take DocRock's advice.....go to the MSM...they're good for SOMETHINGS!
Have you contacted FEMA?
I understand they have several hundred thousand trailers you can pick from.
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