Estaban, the Banana Tree and the Rat

We have a banana tree and just don't know how to care for it.  Esteban came to fumigate our house and while here we asked if he knows how to care for banana trees.  Not only did he know how to care for banana trees but he asked for a shovel so he could work on our tree.

We thought we had an insect loving lizard in our house....

It wasn't a lizard in our house...it was a rat.

Esteban returned and promised not to leave until the rat was dead.  He left with one very large dead rat wrapped in plastic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We know someone who loves rats and used to keep them as pets.  However, the word "rat" has come to mean many negative things as well.

We learned the following about "rat" from the internet:

"If you call someone a rat, you mean that you are angry with them or dislike them, often because they have cheated you or betrayed you"

"If someone rats on you, they tell someone in authority about things that you have done, especially bad things."

"If someone rats on an agreement, they do not do what they said they would do."

"If you smell a rat, you begin to suspect or realize that something is wrong in a particular situation, for example that someone is trying to deceive you or harm you."

"Mall rats are young people who spend a lot of time hanging around in shopping malls with their friends."

"You use rat-a-tat to represent a series of sharp, repeated sounds, for example the sound of someone knocking at a door."

"People sometimes refer to the group of journalists and photographers who follow famous people around as the rat pack, especially when they think that their behaviour is unacceptable".

"If you talk about getting out of the rat race, you mean leaving a job or way of life in which people compete aggressively with each other to be success."

"A rat run is a small street which drivers use during busy times in order to avoid heavy traffic on the main roads."

"To dress (hair) with a rat or by teasing"

"The lowest form of human being. a backstabbing snitch".

A remote access Trojan (RAT) is a program used by the intruders to take complete control of the victim's computer for the purpose of performing various malicious activities. Unlike viruses and worms, RATs can exist well before detection and even remain after removal. They operate in a stealth mode and are usually rather small so as to avoid detection.