Good day pack,
It was the perfect summer warm late evening and I judged it time to take Male staff for his last walk of the day as he had been glancing at the sherry bottle with increasing regularity. We strolled down Los Garcias main street enjoying the scents of jasmine. As we return to our close I usually let him off the lead as even for him it seems unlikely he would get lost in 50 metres. I raced ahead, up the drive and slid to a halt.
There was an interloper on my estate, I raced around the building and caught a glimpse of a scaly tail as Roland Rattus (please note my command of latin), ran towards the log pile.
As Male staff trudged up the driveway I tried to make him aware of our visitor but two paws are not the brightest of beings...
Later that evening Female staff went into our summer room where all the glass panels had been slid back and there was Roland, bold as brass, perched on the window sill watching our TV through the window. “ It's a rat “, shouted Female staff and Male staff shot out of his chair, only hesitating to down the cooking sherry. I was restrained with cries of “ Don't let Skye out she could get bitten". Bitten, me ? I know who would come off worse and it wouldn't be me ! The door to the sun room was closed before I could deal with Roland.
Male staff had rushed through, closed the glass panels and was now lifting the furniture in pursuit of the rodent, “open the glass", I shouted at him, “the rat will escape and we can deal with it in the morning after a good night’s sleep.” Eventually staff did this and off the rat went.
Now my lovely neighbour has a wonderful grape vine of which he is rightfully proud. This year had promised a bumper crop. The following morning, after admiring the grapes, staff and myself went out to get the car out from the carport over which the vine had trailed and there on the drive behind the car was a gorgeous ripe grape. Good crop this year said Male to Female staff, better deal with the rat when we return from shopping.
A little later in the day our lovely neighbour came round to say “Your rat has eaten all of my grapes, every one and this was to be a bumper year, I am going to get some rat poison”. It's not MY rat I thought. Well now if I had been let out in the first place with my fighting heritage a quick nip on the neck and - Roland Rattus R.I.P. Now my staff are an odd bunch, really they are. Female staff observed the rat had a nice round nose? Male staff disappeared into the garage for four hours!
Yes, four hours later Male staff returned from the garage with three large water bottles and a contraption which had obviously caught him a few times during construction by the scars on his hand and arm. Male staff stated that he did not want to kill it, just catch it and release it in the countryside. For crying out loud, it’s a rat not a tourist!
I wont take the log pile apart said Male staff, Skye says that is where it lurks. I will set the trap by it. Off he goes with his device and a piece of cheese. After a few expletives and the sound of breaking plastic he returns to the garage to rebuild the humane trap which has caught him but stood no chance of catching Roland. A long while later staff emerged from the garage with humane trap mark 4 complete with cheese on the trigger and he sets it down by the log pile.
Roland had emerged at night and had a leisurely supper of cheese without tripping the device much to Male staff’s frustration and more expletives!
Male staff returned to the garage with stronger elastic for the device and replaced it by the log pile with a piece of sausage tied to the trigger. Not sure that's going to work I observed dryly, I think Roland is a vegetarian what with the grapes and cheese, very healthy.
True to my word the device was left unmolested for several days whilst Male staff turned it this way and that to make his sausage bait more attractive.
Finally one morning Male staff returned from checking his trap he was shamefaced to tell that the trap had been sprung, the sausage had gone and Roland had chewed a hole in the trap and escaped.
Now Roland has not been seen or heard of since, whether he had moved on to new ripe fruit or had succumbed to poison and gone over the Rattus Rainbow Bridge we shall never know. However the following day Male staff took the log pile apart and moved it to another area and in the process found the beginnings of Roland’s home, obviously a fastidious rat because among other items a pink flannel, one of those disposable glove intact, and a carefully woven mattress of waterproof fibres.
Keep safe pack and don’t let your guard down against the Covid virus. We live in a great place here in Arboleas and must look out for ourselves and each other.
Skye dogs rule, OK? 🐾🐾
