Misty the Exterminator

Two-year-old, Misty, the gray tabby, had graduated from CAT-U a few weeks ago.  Now, she was excited to start her job with Pest Trackers.  This was her dream job.  She was so excited; she could hardly sleep Sunday night.  

The next morning, she bounced into the kitchen full of energy despite the early hour.  Her brothers staggered into the kitchen and they each started getting breakfast. 

Misty chattered excitedly to her three brothers about her job.  They too were starting jobs today, but they seemed much more relaxed.

Misty finished breakfast first and raced out the door calling, “See you tonight.”

She got to Pest Trackers 10 minutes before 8 a.m.  She didn’t mind being the first one there.  It was much better than being late.

A few minutes later, her boss, Mr. Tux arrived along with some other employees.  Mr. Tux introduced Misty to the other workers, before sending the others to their first job. 

“Now, Misty, you will have your own job list today.  I will be going with you this week, just to make sure you are comfortable,” Mr. Tux explained. 

Misty nodded.

“Do you have any questions before we get going?”

“No, thank you.”

With that, Mr. Tux handed Misty her job list for the day.  She scanned it quickly seeing that there were 5 appointments set up for her.

“Let’s go,” Misty said.

She and Mr. Tux gathered the equipment she would need and walked to the first appointment. 

A delicately build calico answered Misty’s knock on the cat condo door.

Misty and Mr. Tux were ushered inside as Cally explained, “I have ants in the condo and I cannot get rid of them no matter how much I clean.  I have no idea how they are getting in.  I don’t want my kittens getting bitten, though.”

As if on cue four tiny kittens scampered through the room around the corner and back down the hall.

Misty smiled as she replied, “Show me where the ants are, please.  I will figure out where they are coming from.”

Cally smiled and led Misty and Mr. Tux to the utility room at the back of the condo.  Cally pointed to the back corner of the room, where Misty saw the line of ants marching across the floor.

“I will look into this, and let you know what I find,” Misty replied.

Cally nodded, “Thank you.”  She then left the room to find her kittens.

Misty checked the room thoroughly.  Next she checked the kitchen along the same wall.  Mr. Tux stood back and observed Misty’s work.

Misty then went outside and around the condo.  She searched along the back wall of the condo where the utility room was.  It didn’t take Misty long to find a large ant mound several feet from the wall of the condo.  Misty sat still as she watched the line of ants marching from their mound to the condo.  The ants showed her how they could slip between a tiny crack in the siding.

“I found where they are getting in.  Look,” Misty called to Mr. Tux.

She pointed where the ants were filing into the small opening.

“Good job, Misty.  You figured that out fast.”

Misty beamed at the praise, before going inside and asking Cally to come out to the back of the house.

“The ants are getting in through this small opening in the wall.  This is the back wall of your utility room.  I am going to put Ant-X on the mound.  The chemical will not harm you or your kittens.  I am also going to spray a little along the inner wall of the utility room.  You will need to get the siding hole patched as well,” Misty explained.

Cally nodded. “Thank you, Misty.  I can’t believe how quickly you figured out where they were coming from.”

Misty smiled. “Let me finish up here, and we will get out of your way.”

Cally retreated back inside the condo.

Misty sprayed the mound and then the exterior of the condo.  Mr. Tux followed her back inside, where she sprayed the utility room wall.

Once she was finished, and had placed the canister of spray out on the porch, she handed Cally the invoice.

Cally said, “Thank you, Misty.  I will definitely call you again.”  Cally handed Misty a check and held the front door for her and Mr. Tux.

Once Misty and Mr. Tux were down the block, Mr. Tux praised, “You were so poised with the customer, and finished your work efficiently.  I am very impressed.”

“Thank you.”

Misty and Mr. Tux arrived at the next job on the schedule.  Misty’s next three jobs were routine maintain spraying of the yard and home.  While Misty still enjoyed this work, she was delighted that her last job of the day was tracking where the cockroaches were coming from.  Tracking and finding bugs was her favorite.

By the end of the day, Mr. Tux was so impressed with Misty, that he told her, “You obviously don’t need me tagging along with you.  You will be on your own tomorrow to complete the jobs.  You can always call me if you run into a problem.”

“Thank you, Mr. Tux, this has been the best day.”

Misty waved bye and headed home to tell her brothers of her success. 

The end

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *