O J wrote:
snip
(deep and humble bow)! Now, on with the new tale:

I have never seen a rat, alive or dead, in any of the places I've
worked underground. BUT, I've seen one that was neither alive nor
dead. Bwah-hah-hah-hah!

When you see a telephone truck parked by a manhole, the splicer or
lineman is down in a little, or occasionally huge, concrete room with
cables that come in one side and leave by the other. Most are fairly
clean and a few, where there is laser equipment to extend circuits to
the field, have lights, tiled floors, and air conditioning.

We used to use what was essentially a modeling clay known as 'duct
seal' to keep water and gasses from seeping along the cable paths
between locations in the underground. It was grayish in appearance
and would hold its shape, without ever getting permanently hard. One
could either use it for its intended purpose, or for self-amusement,
constructing little models and figures.

Some of the figures I used to like to make were rats! You could make
the basic shape out of the duct seal, use little wire connectors for
the eyes, and find some scraps of wire for whiskers to complete the
creepy critter. It became an amusement of mine to construct these
little statues and leave them in the various locations I had visited
so as to spook whoever was next to come down the ladder.

One day I had constructed a truly masterful example and left it
sitting on a cable where, as soon as one had come down through the
round 'chimney', it would be visible and sitting about a foot and a
half from the face of the unlucky visitor. Chortling to myself, I
wondered who my victim might be. We finished the job over the next
several weeks and everything tested good except for one circuit.
Someone needed to go down and find where the trouble might be. That
someone was me -- the hole I needed to check was the one with my
masterpiece. As soon as I cleared the chimney I looked to the right!

Aaakkk!!!

I nearly had a heart attack. Caught like a rat by my own trap! After
that I gave up my little hobby.

Regards and Purrs,
O J

Thanks for posting, that's a keeper. :-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
A house is not a home, without a cat.