Something you never want to find in a bathroom.
So, I've been house-sitting for my Aunt Kate this past week. Feeding the big dog, the cat, and the turtle; making sure they don't destroy the house or die unexpectedly; etc. I haven't had any big problems or crises to worry about, besides this morning.
It was thundering earlier this morning, which upset Catcher the giant dog a little bit. He went upstairs, got one of my cousin's stuffed animals, and then snuggled on the bed next to me while I tried to sleep. Later, I took the stuffed animal back upstairs.
Now, I hadn't been upstairs much this past week, just once or twice. There's hasn't been a need for me to go up there, it's just my cousins' bedrooms and an extra bathroom. One of my other cousins, Jack, spent the night up there when I had to pull a night shift at work, but otherwise it's been untouched.
So that's probably why I never noticed the smell.
It was a very distinct, pungent smell. I wondered if Catcher had had an accident upstairs (he's an older dog, and I wouldn't blame him), but when I looked in the hallway and the bedrooms, I didn't see anything.
That left the bathroom.
The smell was much stronger in there. 'Must be the plumbing, or maybe Jack didn't flush very well if he used this bathroom the other night,' I thought. So, without turning on the lights, I lifted the lid of the toilet and looked in.
... huh, well, there's something in there alright, but it's ... too big to be poop ... and it's shaped funny ...
Now, when I was a little girl, my mother found a rat in the toilet. It was alive, and it ducked away just as quickly as it appeared, so I know that the damn things are capable of making their way through the pipes if they want to. 'Good God,' I thought. 'There's a dead rat in the toilet.'
I turned on the light, to reveal that it wasn't in fact, a dead rat.
...
It was a DEAD SQUIRREL.
How the fuck any squirrel, live or dead, got into a toilet, is beyond me. I would have seen Catcher or the cat bring it in, and why they would put it a toilet and then close the lid is ridiculous. Neither I nor the cousins that spent the night while I was gone know a thing about it either.
In lieu of any good idea of what to do with it, I have put a little dish of baking soda on the sink, closed the door to the bathroom and stuffed a towel under it, and opened all the windows to air out the place.
My mom wants to fish it out and bury it - taking pictures of it, of course, as evidence for when my aunt and uncle come home, lest they not believe the story.
Did I mention my aunt and uncle were coming home tonight?
FML.
EDIT, 20 June: Uncle Curits took care of the squirrel. Last I saw of it, it was leaving the house in a bucket. Let us all take a moment of silence for the poor little thing.
... Okay, now you can start cringing again.
It was thundering earlier this morning, which upset Catcher the giant dog a little bit. He went upstairs, got one of my cousin's stuffed animals, and then snuggled on the bed next to me while I tried to sleep. Later, I took the stuffed animal back upstairs.
Now, I hadn't been upstairs much this past week, just once or twice. There's hasn't been a need for me to go up there, it's just my cousins' bedrooms and an extra bathroom. One of my other cousins, Jack, spent the night up there when I had to pull a night shift at work, but otherwise it's been untouched.
So that's probably why I never noticed the smell.
It was a very distinct, pungent smell. I wondered if Catcher had had an accident upstairs (he's an older dog, and I wouldn't blame him), but when I looked in the hallway and the bedrooms, I didn't see anything.
That left the bathroom.
The smell was much stronger in there. 'Must be the plumbing, or maybe Jack didn't flush very well if he used this bathroom the other night,' I thought. So, without turning on the lights, I lifted the lid of the toilet and looked in.
... huh, well, there's something in there alright, but it's ... too big to be poop ... and it's shaped funny ...
Now, when I was a little girl, my mother found a rat in the toilet. It was alive, and it ducked away just as quickly as it appeared, so I know that the damn things are capable of making their way through the pipes if they want to. 'Good God,' I thought. 'There's a dead rat in the toilet.'
I turned on the light, to reveal that it wasn't in fact, a dead rat.
...
It was a DEAD SQUIRREL.
How the fuck any squirrel, live or dead, got into a toilet, is beyond me. I would have seen Catcher or the cat bring it in, and why they would put it a toilet and then close the lid is ridiculous. Neither I nor the cousins that spent the night while I was gone know a thing about it either.
In lieu of any good idea of what to do with it, I have put a little dish of baking soda on the sink, closed the door to the bathroom and stuffed a towel under it, and opened all the windows to air out the place.
My mom wants to fish it out and bury it - taking pictures of it, of course, as evidence for when my aunt and uncle come home, lest they not believe the story.
Did I mention my aunt and uncle were coming home tonight?
FML.
EDIT, 20 June: Uncle Curits took care of the squirrel. Last I saw of it, it was leaving the house in a bucket. Let us all take a moment of silence for the poor little thing.
... Okay, now you can start cringing again.