Samuel Whiskers. The Roly - Poly Pudding.
Some decades later I was training for the Diploma in Nursery Nursing, NNEB. (Which I gained with distinction.) Part of the course were various placements. I was a nanny, worked in a Social Services establishment, as a classroom assistant, etc. It was the last mentioned placement when I came across Samuel Whiskers again.
The class had two rats and a large fishtank. I just couldnt do it. I could clean the fish tank out, with my tongue if necessary, but no way could I care for those rats.
Once I had qualified, that together with a previously obtained Legal qualification, led to me being a Childrens Day Care Inspector. Part of this job I had to train and inspect Childrens Day Care providers.
I had no problems with the Childminder who's husband had a locked room in which were snakes, lizards, Tarantulas etc. I was happy to handle them all. Had he had rats it would have been difficult.
More decades and we found ourselves in the North East of Scotland running a b&b.
We had rescued hens and ducks. And rats. One of which the DP despatched by using a bit of 4x4 pushing it back into the loo it had appeared from.
Now here we are in retirement. Feeding the birds. Then, after 6 years here, Samuel Whiskers has found me again.
Right. We do not want to kill the rats.
So - the bird feeders are to be moved and altered. The places where Samuel, and his family, hide will be removed. The log pile is to be relocated.
Rats dont like open spaces.
They have to drink a lot so the water provided for the birds to bath in will go for a while.
On the plus side I have plans for remodelling the garden and providing a new patio, more human presence which rats dont like either.
The feeling is mutual.
7 comments:
I am with you in a dislike for rodents - even squirrels which I call "rats with tails"! We have field mice in the composter and sometimes they end up (drowned) in the pool, but they are quite cute when seen from a distance. Our biggest (in more ways than one) pest are racoons but they are nocturnal so we don't see them too often. Out in the wild they are about the size of a small cat, but with all the rich pickings in the city they grow to a humungous size. I tackled one with a broom as it was trying to claw its way into my attic!
Yuk, yuk, yuk! I too hate rats. It is why I stopped feeding our birds; I didn't seem to be able to get one without the other. Our garden is so small so it meant the rats were too close to the house for comfort. Hopefully you will be able to find a way round it and still feed your lovely birds. Helenx
Rodents don't worry me however my heart will stop for a snake. Where I grew up there is an oft repeated phrase....The only good snake is a dead snake.... and despite living in the UK for some years now, the instinct still runs deep! And as for slugs and snails! Don't get me started! Not a problem until when I was about 13 and changed schools. I made a new friend who was very into her horror genre reading material and lent me a book. The gist of it was a group of ship wreck survivors on a desert island being picked off one by one by huge slugs and snails. The rather graphic description of their silent approach and consumption of the victim gave me nightmares for years! *shudder *
I'm afraid I would kill them, we had to on the smallholding as the damage they can do to chickens and eggs as well as everything else is to much to grin and bear. Even with the ones we killed each winter I'm sure there are still plenty to go round!
Maybe 'Samuel' wants his portrait painting 😉
Neve is also scared of Samuel Whiskers, but still like listening to the story!
I hope the re-location of the food etc works to dissuade him and his friends.
Disgusting. I don't want anything in my house I didn't invite.
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