Written by: Adrian Chia
Edited by: Celine Yeap
Disclaimer: Viewer discretion is advised. The following article contains some disturbing images of rats.
Recently, a new and unwelcomed resident has been spotted in E Block. This hungry, crafty, furry little beast has been seen lurking around in various places – along the corridors, in the pantries and even in some of the residents’ rooms! It runs on all fours and has the ability to seek out food from miles away. Its latest residential address has been found to be:
Fire Hose Reel, Block E Level 8, KEVII Hall, 1A Kent Ridge Road S119224
Apparently, besides the resident fellows and students, this little creature wants to call KEVII Hall its home too. Perhaps more than just providing it with a shelter, this place has also proven to be a fertile hunting ground where it will never be starved. Just look at this:
Why should it be hungry at all?
Adding to the secret stash of food that almost every resident keeps in his or her room, it is essentially assured of an endless supply of food. Now, let’s hear some recounts from victims of this uninvited guest.
Case 1: Reuben, The Mouse Hunter
The Mouse Hunter with his trap
The greedy vermin took a few munches on his newly-bought NTUC FairPrice Wholemeal Bread.
Not a person who simply lets food go to waste, he was all out to seek revenge. The next day, he got a sticky-glue trap from the office, baited it with bread and left it near the E8 rubbish bin. The next morning when he checked his trap again, voila! The horrible little thief was struggling to free itself from the sticky pool of glue!
Caught you! It was 17cm long excluding its tail!
It was a truly remarkable success – a catch on his first attempt! The secret, according to this victim-turned-hero, lay in the strategic positioning of the bait. He placed small crumbs of bread along the periphery which led to a single large piece of bait in the middle. Obviously, this time the rat was up against a formidable opponent who fully understood its mentality and defeated it hands down.
To all you aspiring mouse-hunters out there, he also offered a valuable insight to his success: hone your skills in the virtual world before trying to catch a real mouse. Check out this Facebook game called MouseHunt, where he is a veteran mouse-hunter. He has caught all sorts of mice with various combinations of traps and baits before. No wonder he was so successful in his first real-life attempt!
Case 2: Nah nah nah nah nah, you cannot catch me
Just as everyone thought that the menace was over, sightings of another member of the same species were soon reported, sparking fear among the residents all over again. A report was quickly lodged on the KEVII Intranet by an irate E7 resident, who became a victim when the filthy pest sneaked into her room. (Editor’s note: An unidentified rat was also sighted scurrying up the stairs to E5 and along its corridor, possibly making its way up to E7 and E8!)
Attention: unhygienic rat spotted
As seen in the screenshot, the office responded by setting up more sticky-glue traps. According to Mr Zainal, the staff in-charge of maintenance issues, these traps do not require bait because they emit a scent that attracts mice. Hopes were high that these high-tech traps could quickly put an end to the residents’ misery.
Failure #1:
After several days, the traps remained untouched, except one, which caught an unfortunate mynah.
Failure #2:
Finally one night, just as the writer of this very article walked past the E8 bin, he heard some noise coming from the corner and voila, the fella was caught! But to his surprise at 6.30am the next morning, when he walked past the trap, the fella was gone!
Failure #3:
On 1st October, at around 11pm, the same writer spotted the same rat being caught in the same type of trap again!
You cunning fella!
The writer happily went to bed after that. After a stormy night, he woke up to a cool, breezy Sunday morning only to discover that the rat had disappeared and there were bite marks all over the trap!
The trap being PWNED
Twice it was caught, and twice it managed to free itself. The rat has proven too smart for the trap to handle.
While the rat remains out at large, here are some simple things you can do to stop feeding pests like it:
- Keep the black rubbish bins closed properly
- Throw any organic waste into the black bins instead of the waste paper basket outside your room
- Keep the pantries clean and do not leave any leftover food lying around
- Maintain good hygiene of your own room
If you have any creative solutions to help bring this menace to an end, feel free to reply to this post. Your suggestions are urgently needed and certainly most welcomed!
Photo credits: Reuben Lim, Adrian Chia
KE7 News 
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