Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Rat in cat litter bag

28 replies

NewName54321 · 27/04/2020 11:24

Well, it might be a mouse - or it could be a nest of them! Or even a snake...

I bought a 20kg bag of paper pellet cat litter online that was delivered a week or so ago. It's in a thick paper bag in a cardboard delivery box. It's been sitting in the utility room since it arrived and I only unpacked it from the cardboard box today.

As I put the bag down, I heard the contents settle then very definite scuffling noises. There's something alive in the sealed bag!

The bag is currently at the end of the garden. I have successfully refrained from ringing the bomb squad to detonate it, but apart from that I really don't know what to do next for the best. I guess I should consider burning the house down but I've got nowhere else to go.

I did think about snipping a hole in the bag with long-handled shears (then running away) so whatever it is can escape, but
a) I don't want it in my garden
b) It might move faster than me and get in the house
c) It might bite

I presume the litter will be unusable by the cat now anyway.

Suggestions please...

OP posts:
eyeblob · 27/04/2020 11:25

Cut a hole in the bag then leave it

gatsbylove · 27/04/2020 11:27

Shut the house doors (not that it'll go in the house, anyway). Put wellies on to make yourself feel safer. Tip the bag upside down and empty the contents, including rodent, onto the floor.

It won't bite, it'll run. It'll probably be a mouse.

It won't stay in the garden, it'll disappear off and you'll almost certainly never see it again.

RatherBeRiding · 27/04/2020 11:29

If it's a rat or a mouse it could surely have made its way out by now - are you sure there isn't a small hole in the bag to indicate that something has got in?

I'd cut a hole in it and leave it.

SoupDragon · 27/04/2020 11:30

How could there be something still alive after well over a week with no food or water?

SuperficialSuzie · 27/04/2020 11:30

I'd cut a hole, retreat to a safe distance and watch to see what comes out.

EngagedAgain · 27/04/2020 12:21

I'd get fully dressed, tie trousers up at the bottom, put on thick gloves and goggles, and with long handled shears if you got any, cut a whole and see what comes out. Hopefully it will just be mouse/mice. Then the cat can take care of that problem!

MorrisZapp · 27/04/2020 12:25

I'd put my house on the market. Change my name by deed poll. Possibly a radical hair colour to go with it. Then I'd vanish off the face of the earth.

That or I'd hide under a duvet, tucked very firmly all round me.

Thighmageddon · 27/04/2020 12:25

I need to know what's in the bag now!

I'm not afraid of mice or rats but when I saw a mouse gaily scurrying across my living room, I shrieked the bloody house down and couldn't stop shaking.

Open the bag, we need to know "what's in the bag"

Thisismytimetoshine · 27/04/2020 12:27

Are you sure the sound isn't just the contents settling?

Ratbagcatbag · 27/04/2020 12:27

I'm also now invested in what's in the bag.
Are you absolutely sure it's sealed and it wasn't in your house and made a cosy nest?

NoMorePoliticsPlease · 27/04/2020 12:28

Open the bag, get it out and use the cat litter

RedRed9 · 27/04/2020 12:30

Definitely stay and watch whatever it is run out.

You’ll feel better watching a mouse run off into the garden than leaving the bag alone and coming back to it later not knowing if whatever it is has gone or is still there.

Thighmageddon · 27/04/2020 12:32

Actually can you film the entire event?

I'm really bored, have no motivation and would gladly watch an escaping snake with a mouse in its mouth right now Grin

GiveMeAllTheGin8 · 27/04/2020 12:33

Oh god Shock can you get someone else to sort it?!!

YetAnotherSpartacus · 27/04/2020 12:33

Do whatever - just do it quickly - the suspense is killing me! It might just be a cockroach?

Fluffycloudland77 · 27/04/2020 12:35

Sometimes litter makes odd noises. A rodent would have chewed his way out by now.

If there was something tasty in their your cat would be all over it.

AvoidingRealHumans · 27/04/2020 12:43

Also have a need to know what was in the bag...

YetAnotherSpartacus · 27/04/2020 12:44

Yeah, woman up OP - tip it up carefully so we all know!

TinySleepThief · 27/04/2020 12:52

It wont be something alive logically it makes no sense unless the bag has a hole in already. Otherwise you're suggesting its been trapped in there since they sealed it at the factory and it survived transit to your house and being stored in a bag inside a sealed box for another week all with no food??

ArseholesOnToast · 27/04/2020 21:59

What happened op? Are you still psyching yourself up to open the bag?

PaintedBottom · 28/04/2020 23:18

Any news OP?

Deathraystare · 29/04/2020 08:14

Your cat needs to open it F**ks sake make use of the feline!!

ScreamingKid · 29/04/2020 09:18

Take the cat out to the bag, open bag and let cat deal with the guest.

RedRed9 · 07/05/2020 10:24

So... do you think the OP got eaten by whatever was rustling around in her litter bag?

Hedgehog44 · 07/05/2020 10:37

I am intrigued now! Come back and tell us what it was!!!!