A Rat in the Well

The rope and washer pump on the well in our garage.

On January 27th we tried pumping water from our well in the garage but it was obvious the rope wasn’t traveling through the pvc pipe the way it needed to in order to bring water gushing out the spout and into the bucket. We soon discovered that the pvc had separated a couple of places along the way down the 30 ft. well and back up the tube to the surface.


Andrew and I knew we were faced with the unpleasant task of raising the tubing along with pulley mechanism at the bottom and make the necessary repairs. Fortunately, Jonathan Miller was there to join us. He and his wife, Annette, had just arrived from the U.S. the previous day.

When we lifted the 30 ft. tube and bottom block from the well we discovered the fiberglass rope supporting the entire mechanism had frayed and broken. That is why the tubing had separated. But how did the rope fray like that, 30 ft. down and submerged underwater? That was the mystery. So we fixed the rope, put the tubing back together and again the pumping wheel at the top turned easily and water flowed from the spout. Once again we could water our garden, have plenty of water to wash up with and use for cooking. We normally didn’t drink from that well because it has an open top at it was possible for debris and other things to fall into the well.

The mystery continued. That same evening as I was pumping water for my plants the water that normally drips back into the well from the rope was doing tunk-tunk rather than the usual splish-splash. Not only that I could detect a faintly putrid odor coming off the water. Still, that evening we all took baths in the water (Andrew even drank some of it!). But before going to bed his curiosity got the best of him and he shined his Obama flashlight down the well and made the gruesome discovery of a large, bloated rat floating on the surface 30 ft. down. These are not your usual barnyard rat, although we have plenty of those. This is a ‘jukindor’, a woodchuck size animal. When the guys are able to catch them live they immediately prepare and cook them as a snack.

The next morning we knew we had to get that thing out of there before it began to disintegrate and make the water unusable for months. The problem was how to lift the creature out. It was floating on the surface nearly 30 ft. down a 30 inch diameter well shaft. Andrew tried the hook at the end of a rope that is used to retrieve lost well buckets. That didn’t work. Many other potential solutions were whirling around in our heads, all of which had their shortcomings.

Jonathan Miller creating the rat retriever

Then Jonathan’s creativity got the best of him and we started discussing the possibilities of a basket being lowered down into the water that would allow the rat gracefully to float into it, then to be lifted to the surface. That is when he began assembling what is may be the world’s first rat retrieving basket, complete with flashlight. (See photo). After a couple of tries and a tweaking, to our astonishment the bloated body floated into the basket and he began slowly and gingerly raising everything to the well top.

Because of the pump mechanism in the way there was no choice but to manually lift the rat from the basket, past the wheel assembly and safely out of the well shaft. Jonathan gritted his teeth and wrapped his fingers around the slimy, now hairless body. He held it long enough for Annette and me to grab our cameras and record this historic moment. (See photo). Then he flung it over the fence into the garden where we gave it a proper, but unceremonious, burial.

Jonathan with a firm grip on the rat. One sensed a bit of marital displeasure when Annette emphatically said, "Jonathan, don't touch me".

Now we are chloroxing the water every couple of days. Some of us will eventually use it to shower with again but I doubt that Andrew will be drinking from that well any time soon. BJF- 1/30/11