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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A.I.B.U. to Complain?

56 replies

RainboweBrite · 16/07/2011 22:14

Hi,
Newbie posting here, so please be gentle!

I tried to go camping today with my DH and DS(8), staying in a pod with decking rather than a tent. I was just saying to DH that I would never have decking in our garden, as it could be a nesting place for rats or mice. I am TOTALLY phobic of rats (to the point where I actually used to scribble out the word if I came across it in books when I was a child!) and not much better with mice.

Anyway, just as I'd uttered the fateful words, something scurried across the decking! DH later admitted he'd seen it go under the decking before I even started talking about it. I was really scared, as it was only about 2 p.m., but I convinced myself it was probably a mouse. Then a few minutes later, the creature scurried across the decking again, very close to the door, and there was no doubt, folks, it was indeed a rat :O. I was absolutely petrified. Luckily, we were all inside already, so DH locked the door and pulled down the blinds, while I paced up and down,trembling and sweating. Eventually, I calmed down enough to play a few games of cards with DH and DS, but I knew there was just no way I could stay there after that.

So, after a couple of hours, I gathered enough courage to RUN for the car and DH and DS drove me home, about an hour's drive away. They have gone back there to spend the night, as they don't share my extreme phobia. I feel much safer, but still rather anxious, and I doubt I will sleep that well tonight.

Finally, I get to the point: AIBU to complain about seeing rats in broad daylight practically in my accommodation in a woodland setting? DH feels the site owner should be made aware of this, so s/he can take steps to deal with the situation.
Please advise.
Thanks, Rainbow Brite.

OP posts:
glassescase · 16/07/2011 22:16

Urghhhh, my stomach is churning... YANBU, I could not have stayed there.

glassescase · 16/07/2011 22:17

Had to smile at DH LOCKING the door, though:)

emsyj · 16/07/2011 22:17

Rats are HUGE. It was probably a mouse. Or some other creature. You don't even know what it was! And it was outside!

Yes you would BU to complain in my view.

I am utterly phobic about birds and was horrified when we went to Cuba as all the restaurants were open air at the sides (roof but no walls IYSWIM) and birds would fly past. I didn't eat before dusk the whole fortnight . But I couldn't complain really as it was my own little 'thing'.

TidyDancer · 16/07/2011 22:18

YABU to approach the manager to complain, but YANBU to bring it to his/her attention.

I feel for you though, phobias can be debilitating.

feedthegoat · 16/07/2011 22:19

Maybe I am in the minority but for me the woodland setting kind of indicates that there might be woodland critters about also. It wouldn't bother me enough to complain as long as they weren't inside.

Deesus · 16/07/2011 22:20

Sorry to hear you had a bad time.

YABU to complain I think....I'd possible let the owner know but tbh probably wouldn't even bother with that. But then my back garden backs directly onto some woods - I've seen rats run under the decking, feck all you can do really.

It'd be different if they were actually in the accommodation.

mercibucket · 16/07/2011 22:22

it will probably make them Smile
bet they get loads of townies complaining about things like that, and the noisy cows or such like
if you think it was living under the decking, might be worth their while trying to get rid, but otherwise, it's in the countryside, animal critters abound

BornInAfrica · 16/07/2011 22:22

Last I heard rats were not in the 'man eating' class of hideous horned predator! Sorry you have a phobia but if it's affecting you this badly don't you owe it to yourself to get some help?

snippywoo2 · 16/07/2011 22:23

Maybe I am in the minority but for me the woodland setting kind of indicates that there might be woodland critters about also.

woodland critters yes rats no. Rats are vermin and carry diseases, complain yuk

mousesma · 16/07/2011 22:23

I think you should make the site owner aware of it in case they are nesting in the decking. However I also think that if you're outside in the country then you probably should expect to come across more wild animals.

I really sympathise with you though, I also have a phobia of rats and can't even look at a picture of a rat without feeling sick and shaky. In the same situation you wouldn't have seen me for dust :)

whackamole · 16/07/2011 22:23

I wouldn't. You were camping in a woodland setting...there are animals about y'know. And I agree with emsyj - it probably wasn't a rat.

Is there something you can try - hypnotism or something - to get over your phobia?

Pandemoniaa · 16/07/2011 22:24

It's the countryside. Rats, mice, weasels, stoats (weasilly distinguishable because they are stoatally different), foxes, snails, slugs, grass snakes, owls and all manner of indigenous clawed, tailed, toothed creatures are out there. Other than a liberal application of napalm or the discharge of a small thermo-nuclear device in the area surrounding the camping pods, it is difficult to see what you can reasonably expect the site owner to do about this pesky wildlife.

Tchootnika · 16/07/2011 22:26

Last I heard rats were not in the 'man eating' class of hideous horned predator!

  • er, no, they just carry and spread stuff like Weils disease, which is a killer.

YADNBU to alert site manager, OP, in fact I think you'd be U not to do so.

Fear of rats? Rational and healthy survival instinct, IMO. No way would I have stayed there.

thisisyesterday · 16/07/2011 22:28

um, i think you're being pretty unreasonable actually!

you were camping in woodland. of course there are going to be animals about (including rats and mice)

i would tell you you're being ridiculous, however, as you have a phobia then you can't really help it. but it is way OTT to complain abhout it to the owners

reminds me of when I worked for the National Trust. a lady had a massive hissy fit and complained because there were wasps flying around. in summer. outside.
Hmm

BornInAfrica · 16/07/2011 22:28

Lots of wild animals carry disease in case you thought it was only rats ffs - ticks are neither large nor hairy but you can get a nasty dose of Lyme disease from them. Danger lurks everywhere you know!

Pandemoniaa · 16/07/2011 22:28

Rats do carry diseases but for sure, you will not get Pest Controllers out in the countryside attempting to cull the natural population of rats. That's why we have terriers.

Peachy · 16/07/2011 22:33

Severe phobias are awful I know- ic an;t even type what it is I am scared of but it ahs no legs and nah that's enough!

But it was outside. I camp a lot and if I came into contact with a thing then I;d hate it but it isn;t their fault and nothing anyone can do.

I don;t think YABU to return home though, I probably would too.

nojustificationneeded · 16/07/2011 22:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sidge · 16/07/2011 22:36

Apparently you're never more than 10 feet from a rat.

Or summat.

Not helped by people leaving food waste around.

Original poster
RainboweBrite · 16/07/2011 22:38

Thanks for all your responses. Interesting how there is such a broad range of opinions, which is what I'm enjoying about mumsnet.

I am pretty sure it was a rat, as it was much bigger than a mouse I saw running through our back garden last year. TBH, I was scared when I thought it was a mouse anyway, but I could have dealt with that (I think!).

If it had been anything other than a rat, I wouldn't be so scared, Pandemoniaa: foxes; stoats; weasels; snakes etc.- bring 'em on! I have a life-long terror of rats, and to me they're just as scary dead as alive!

On reflection, 'bring it to his/her attention' rather than 'complain', is what I meant. I suppose 'complain' in a heading is a bit more eye-catching! I don't feel I'm entitled to a refund or anything similar, especially as DH and DS have returned to the accommodation.

OP posts:
Tchootnika · 16/07/2011 22:38

Hmmmm...
IME, it's not that usual to see a rat wandering around in the English countryside (I'm assuming that that's where you were, OP...?)
... and if you're talking about a camping area, then certainly you should report. (And I'm sure that if, for example, manager is bothered every other day by silly townsfolk distressed by the site of a resident weasel or dormouse or whatever, then (s)he'll act accordingly.)

Of course danger lurks everywhere - in fact maybe we should just accept it and encourage smoking at petrol stations...

I'd certainly want to know if there were (or might be) rats on any piece of land i was responsible for.

Maryz · 16/07/2011 22:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GeraldineAubergine · 16/07/2011 22:41

You have my sympathies op. Once dp 'let' our indoor cat in from the patio. I reminded him our cat is in the front room, so who did he let in? He said he wasn't sure but it had run into the hole in the side of our divan bed (rented flat with dodgy furniture). Using a pen torch I looked in the hole and the biggest rat you have ever seen was screeching back at me. I shit you not. I nearly died.

nojustificationneeded · 16/07/2011 22:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tchootnika · 16/07/2011 22:43

The last time we went camping we woke to a pheasant in our tent, it could just as easily have been a rat/mouse/furry creature.

Pheasants these days are farmed, and exceptionally unintelligent... they wander everywhere.

As far as I'm aware, pheasants don't spread any diseases threatening to human life. Rats do, though.

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