The way that the rat "sweeties" were disappearing made me pretty sure that relatives of the rats that I had killed off with poison last summer, were making a comeback at the hovel. And so I have laid down more and more sweeties in the gap between one of the windows and a shutter which is their favoured run. The rats can't enter the hovel but can just look in through the glass.
My pal Dave Paxton grew up in Zim and said that the best way to get rid of rats is to get more snakes on your land. No doubt if he was here, Dave would be wandering around the hills collecting vipers in a bag to release at the hovel. For obvious reasons that is not my approach. I'm happy with poison.
And so I returned tonight from supper in the village (Greek salad no booze, as I am on a strict regime) and although the main light was on, casually shone my torch at the rat run.
There sat a rat nibbling at the sweeties. I banged the window with my torch and tried shining it straight into its eyes. The rat blinked and then just carried on munching away at a blue sweetie. Heck, it can stay there all night for all I care, just as long as it carries on eating and takes some back to its nest for the little rats.
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