That’s One Way To Kill A Rat!

A Day In The Life...

Here’s a crazy story submitted by a property manager in Fort Worth about one of her residents who decided to perform his own method of pest control.  

That’s One Way To Kill A Rat!

One night I got a call from a middle-aged man residing in one of our apartments.

“I need a repairman. There’s a hole in my shower,” he said and proceeded to ramble on about needing someone to come over and fix it right away.

“Sir,” I finally interrupted him. “A hole in your shower is not a maintenance emergency, so I can’t send maintenance over right this minute.  However, I...“

“You don’t understand,” he groaned.  “There was a rat in my shower, so I had to kill it.”

I scratched my head in confusion.  I understood the part about a rat in the guy’s shower—which was disturbing enough to to hear—what I didn’t get was how rat extermination could lead to tile damage.

You Won’t Like The Details-

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  “Okay, I need more details, please.”

“Well, there was a rat in there and I had to kill it,” the man explained, as if that made all the sense in the world.

“I understand that, but...“

He ignored me and kept on talking.  “ ...so, I shot it.”

“You what?!” I shrieked.

It took a couple of beats to regain my composure as what he’d said completely registered:  He had used a gun...in his bathroom...as pest control!

I immediately explained to him the problem with discharging a weapon inside his apartment.  Apparently the man couldn’t think of an alternative, less severe weapon. Now there was a bullet hole in the bathroom tile to show for his poor judgement.

Thankfully, the bullet did not travel far or hit anything living other than the poor rat.  All that was left from the experience was a bill for tile repair and a (hopefully) unique anecdote!

‍

From the book "I Have a Complex, but I'm Managing It!"  Stories from property managers compiled by Monica E. Simmons.

‍