A Rat In The Woodpile


Albert brought home a youngish rat this morning.
It managed to escape, into the woodpile, squeaking very very loudly as it did so.
Squeaking rodents are like illegal drugs to canines
That was well over two hours ago

Subsequently I've not needed to walk the dogs today.
The hot spell continues, so I've washed windows, cut the lawn, cooked a ham, made ice cream, dug out the valerian from the wall and cut back the honeysuckle.  I've weeded the front garden and cut roses, changed and washed bedding to dry in the afternoon warmth and oh and bleached the bog

And all four dogs were still at the woodpile digging for the rat when I had finished


94 comments:

  1. Ha! That Albert, always bringing excitement and drama into the home! I love how Winnie has taken the lead in digging for the rat. It's hilarious, because I can understand terriers were bred and raised to hunt rodents. But bulldogs were bred as war dogs and to fight bulls!

    Hanging around Albert must've brought out the hunter in Winnie! I don't like rats. When I see them, I wish that I had a killer pig like 21 to exterminate the pesky, disease carrying rodents!

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  2. one bonus to having a rat around...but the only one, despite them being such intelligent creatures

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    Replies
    1. Not that bright....Albert caught him

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    2. ah, so his name wasn't Stanley then......

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  3. How funny. Who needs a cat with those four rat catchers around.

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    1. Dogs are dim creatures the rat is probably miles away

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  4. You have had a very productive morning! I feel sorry for the rat. My cat Gizmo was throwing something up in the air at the back of the garden yesterday. When I went to investigate(bracing myself for what I might find) it was a stag beetle! Ewww! I managed to save it and put it among some dead leaves to recover from its ordeal. I love animals but they can be so cruel. That's nature for you.

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    Replies
    1. They have no concept of cruelty mores the pity

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  5. Cheap entertainment.

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  6. Well I don't like rats either, but somehow I hope the young rat escapes tonight.

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  7. If you want a respite from the heat and like long plane rides, it's 31f (roughly 0C) as I write at 8am.

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  8. Chris Pratt, John Gray... Winnie... Rats and dinos be very afraid!

    LX

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  9. Poor little mouse. I hope he wins and runs far, far away!
    Your flowers are beautiful! The roses and honeysuckle must smell wonderful!

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  10. Something pretty similar going on here at the moment. It's too hot to walk Suky, as Pugs like Bulldogs don't 'do' hot weather. Normally this would leave me in a bit of a quandary as Mavis still enjoys a walk no matter what the weather ... but we have chicks ... squeaking, fast moving chicks and Mavis has appointed herself chief guard and is virtually living in Chicken World every minute we are here. Chasing off squirrels, large hens and anything that dares comes near the little broody house that is their home. A day of fresh air means a knackered Jack Russell ... I'm happy 😉

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    Replies
    1. I've just checked and only Mary remains on guard. The others are all asleep in the sh
      Hade

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  11. Tess would spend her life in the little shrubbery opposite - there are cats in there somewhere and she knows it!

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  12. There should be a rat every day...think of how much you could accomplish.

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  13. Can't say I ever saw dog so commintetd to find a rat. But you know the cat would have had it already.

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  14. I love rats, the dogs are hilarious and I am amazed at what you can get done in a couple of hours!

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  15. I always feel sorry for the underdog, which in this case is a rat .. :)

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    Replies
    1. Today we are all watching the little raccoon coming out of the woods up to my house and.......

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  16. My sympathy is for the 'poor' rat too. I'm ever touched when witnessing an animal in a fix and its survival instinct kicking in. It just wants to live, just as we'd be feeling in the circumstances. Get out safely, Ratty!

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    1. Raymondo I think he was long gone

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    2. Assuming that by 'gone' you mean he escaped, -
      for this relief much thanks. Phew!

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    3. Yes......even Winnie couldn't swallow a rat Raymondo

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  17. May the thought of rat keep them distracted for days to come.

    I find what you do during a hot spell fascinating. If I started a paragraph with "This hot spell continues..." I would finish the paragraph with, "So I did nothing but drink gin and tonic all day."

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  18. We've got an old wooden dog kennel outside - the rabbits and rats burrow underneath, it gives our dogs hours of entertainment circling it, trying to crawl underneath and generally getting over-excited and filthy. Brilliant.

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  19. Your roses are beautiful! And as much as I dislike rodents, I do hope the rat escapes. And either way, think of all the cheap entertainment for the dogs!

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  20. Other than the poor rat, it sounds lovely. Very beautiful roses!

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  21. How lovely to have them all so well occupied. Rats don't last long in our garden, if Pearl sees one, they're dead in a flash.

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  22. I love those pale pink roses!
    Winnie looks small and much thinner here.
    Greetings Maria x

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    Replies
    1. They're from our best rose bush in the front garden

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  23. I wish my dogs were that easy to entertain. Olga won't even look up when a mouse runs across our floor! (As has happened recently...)

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    1. (I don't know why I said "dogs." I only have one. LOL)

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    2. Terriers! They love their small furry prey

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  24. It's surprising that supermarkets don't sell cans of rat flavoured dog food.

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  25. And now you have me singing UB40s " There's a rat in mi kitchen "

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  26. Love you, John. I'd swap you for all my three brothers any day x

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  27. They're certainly determined to get that rat. The poor rat must be terrified at the combined canine assault! Did they get their prey?

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  28. Ah, I see Albert got him....

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    Replies
    1. No I think he got away. Albert brought him in

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  29. Bleached the bog? Be careful when sitting on the seat! Sadly, we all know why.

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    Replies
    1. I was thinking the same thing, be careful about ring around the - - - - !

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  30. Our daft mutt has been stalking flies. Sadly they're in the garden and he's in the lounge. If he bangs his nose much more on the french doors, we will have an English Springer Pug. Gotta love him x

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  31. I hope the rat escaped. Cassie cat brought one into the house once and it hid underneath the fridge freezer. I had to make a ratrun out to the back door so that it could leave safely.

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  32. We have two cats to help keep the rodents at bay, the smaller one is a mighty rat huntress... We daren't touch her after she's eaten one in case she, you know, tosses her cookies! That picture of the happy gang at the woodpile is gold.

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    Replies
    1. George used to be the ratter..one toss of his head...and back broken

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  33. Welcome to my world. rats are catnip to my dogs. They wont stop till they get it and if you shut the door they stand there stamping their paws, clawing the door and whining. then when you let them out they go back to the exact spot.

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  34. How exciting for the pups. We had a rather large mouse in our home once and as we were all screaming and trying to capture/kill it, it ran under a piece of furniture. My dog happened to see it run under there and stood staring at the floor around the curio for an age. Of course it had darted out and we had already captured it, but he took no notice of that. I am sure that rat escaped ages ago, too

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  35. I have read three blogs that had roses in them. Your vase of flowers look lovely.
    I miss having roses in my yard. They would be eaten in a second.
    But I might try to plant one and see if the packrats eat it or leave it alone to grow.

    cheers, parsnip

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  36. Would the rat bite if one of your dogs caught it? I often had to run & grab my top dogs back when he had his head down a badger hole that I hadn't noticed x

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  37. It would take me a month to do what you did in the morning.

    I have been fortunate to have never been in the presence of a four legged rat. I have, though, met some two legged ones.

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  38. Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe is so right about your accomplishments. At least a month. Love your roses.
    And, sadly, the two legged rats are in plague proportions.

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  39. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    Replies
    1. There was no implied invitation to comment

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    2. No roots,
      Thank you for your concern. Please the subject is not for discussion. One day it might be. I was just acknowledging that right now I've been somewhat upset xxx

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  40. What temperature do you consider hot? It’s 29C here and I’m melting. but I did walk the dog as I had no yard work luckily. ��

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  41. I have known of dogs to see one mouse and still be looking for it months later.
    We had a cat pass through our yard about 9pm one time and Harry was out there at 9pm looking for it for the next three weeks. He's more punctual than some people

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  42. Yes........as I write this ( some 8 hours later) Mary is lying by the back door with her head near the cat flap
    She is watching the log pile

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  43. Cats and dogs are so entertaining John. I get pure enjoyment from your stories of your furr babies! We’ve already had two chipmunks brought in from the senior ginger’s. Only mishap, one lost a tail. Gabs

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  44. What stuck with me from this post was home made ice cream - yum!

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  45. Are the roses "David Austin's?"

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  46. Beautiful Roses. Bok seems to have a sudden hatred of snakes, and tries to catch them. We don't see many, but I wish him luck.

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  47. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  48. Divine roses & honeysuckle... the last of watermelon wine and roses for us here it is getting so cold and snow in the hills tonight. The ewes with lambys are in their lambing shed and of course I found a mouse in their water trough this morning... thank goodness for small mercies, no rats!
    Windows are on my list for the next sunnier day - good effort for you today, well deserving of a movie and a wine :)

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  49. Put those dogs on a plane to Australia ... I have bloody rats in the roof !!!
    I do have a dog but ... she is a Pekingese and that is just beneath her!! LOL
    Wish I had my old cairn terrier Toby right now.
    How is my dear George going? I could use that boy for the rats right now.

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  50. Oh those dogs! There's never a dull moment - what would we do without them! Our Daisy kills groundhogs, and we can't prevent her from doing it, once she latches on.

    I'm trying to figure out what "bleach the bog" means - the privy, maybe??? (I wish I had your energy!)

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  51. I could do with a dog right now - the cold has brought mice into our place. Now I am a live and let live kind of person, and if putting some food out for them would work to keep us living in harmony I would. But the other day I saw one on my kitchen bench dragging potato crisp out of the open bag I had left there and that was the living end as far as I am concerned. So now we have traps with peanut butter on them and we caught two. I feel quite mean about it really.

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  52. Rat....1
    Dogs...0

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  54. I'm very sorry.
    I totally misjudged the heading and never meant to cause any upset.

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  55. I'm very sorry.
    I totally misjudged the heading and never intended to cause upset.

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  56. I really likes your blog! You have shared the whole concept really well and very beautifully soulful read!Thanks for sharing.
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  57. I would be praying they don't find it.

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