A Total Victory for "Just a Few Hundred Yen"!! ~A One-Week Struggle Against 'The Guy' Who Attacked My Home~

I live in an old house built in the heart of nature.
Because it's at the foot of a mountain, it's nice to be able to feel the changing of the seasons up close, but
old houses come with their own set of problems.

One night, the trash bag I had gathered in the kitchen in preparation for the next morning's trash pickup was torn for some reason, and that marked the beginning of a long, one-week battle against an unidentified"guy".

A midnight disturbance and the footprints left behind

For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night that day.
I suddenly realized I was thirsty and headed to the kitchen, and...
what I saw there was a shocking scene of scattered trash.

(Huh? What happened...?)

While confused, I cleaned it up and managed to fall asleep that day, but—

The next night, I couldn't fall asleep easily, so I was watching TV by myself.
Then, from the kitchen, there was a"clatter-clatter" sound!

Wondering what was going on, I turned on the light to check, and
the sink strainer had been ransacked, and there were some kind of footprints in the sink.

(Is it a mouse...?)

My house has a layout where you enter the kitchen immediately upon opening the front door.
And the footprints left behind were heading toward the entrance.
It seems it had invaded through a slight gap under the threshold.

A battle of wits with "the guy"

The next day, I immediately bought commercially available mouse repellent and set it up in two places.
Even so,"the guy" just scattered the medicine around, and it had no effect at all.

If I left the lights on, it seemed like it wouldn't come in, so I left them on for two or three days, but it's a waste of electricity to do that every day...

While wondering what to do,
I left the lights on that night too— but,

unbelievably, "the guy""the guy" invaded without a care.

"Clatter-clatter"

I rushed to the kitchen, but it was already too late.

I was had—

Tomorrow is trash day.
Once again, the trash bag was attacked.

(Damn it!)

I held an ineffective insecticide in one hand,
turned off the kitchen light, and waited while holding my breath.
"the guy" would definitely come back, I was sure of it.

A little while later, my prediction was spot on!
Without noticing me waiting there,"The thing" appeared.

The moment I heard a rustling sound,
I flipped the light switch ON!💡

I witnessed "the thing" running away!!!

(Huh? ...It's long. It's not a mouse!?)

Anyway, I don't care if it works or not, I need insecticide! Just as I thought that and went to peek at the gap in the entrance where it was escaping,
surprisingly,
"the thing" poked its head out to try again.

“We were both startled!”

Of course, "the thing" ran away, but my heart was pounding and wouldn't stop.

But this time, I saw its face completely.

Finally, its identity is revealed! And now, the comeback begins.

I hurriedly searched on my smartphone and finally tracked it down.

The identity of "the thing" is a "masked palm civet".

Masked palm civets have a strong homing instinct, and once they settle in, they won't leave on their own.
If they stay here like this, it's unbearable.

There are also risks like them chewing on power cords causing a fire, or if they defecate and urinate in the attic, the ceiling could rot and fall down.

And the troublesome part is that they are protected by the Wildlife Protection and Management Act, so you can't just exterminate them on your own.
The only option is to hire a professional, which costs tens of thousands of yen.

Is there any way to get "the thing" to leave on its own?

When I looked into it further, I found a surprising weakness.

It is "the smell of soap".

Convinced that "this is it!", I ran to the drugstore the next day and bought a few hundred yen worth of stationary air freshener (soap scent). I set it at the entry point with the scent fully open!!

Conclusion: The moment wisdom won.

That night—
Sure enough, "the thing" came.
However, the moment it tried to enter as usual,
it suddenly encountered the intense smell of soap.
"Yelp!" it let out a scream-like sound and scrambled away.

Since then, "the thing" has never shown itself again.

I was worried about high extermination costs, but
driving it away with just a few hundred yen worth of air freshener is my total victory!

And so,'they'the battle against
came to an end after a week had passed.

There is no end to the worries unique to an old house, but
overcoming them with wisdom and ingenuity like this
might just be the real thrill of country living.

Thank you for reading until the end.

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To everyone who read it, thank you so much.