A few years ago, whilst looking out of my back window...I happened to glance up to the bird table, which I kept well stocked with bird food..and stale bread. When I saw something sat with it's back to me, filling it's face with nuts.....so of course I thought to myself...'Aw, there's a nice little grey squirrel helping itself to some food'. On closer inspection, I realised very quickly that it wasn't a squirrel at all...and was in fact a rather fat looking rat! I banged on the window, and off it went...never to be seen again.
Well today, it would seem that the rats have returned to the neighbourhood. The problem is that next doors back yard is overgrown and very unkempt, so the perfect hiding place for a family of rats no doubt.
Now, I leave food out for the birdies on a regular basis, nuts, seeds, bread etc. and it would seem that the rats from next door have realised this and have made their way through the adjoining wall, and into my yard.
So allow me to introduce 'Stumpy'....named because he/she has half a tale...maybe through a fight...maybe through getting caught on something....who knows.....all I know is that Stumpy was going hell for leather, getting as much food as it's little mouth could carry, back into the wall from whence it came.
As long as Stumpy doesn't try and find his/her way into my abode, I'm not that bothered what it does. To be honest, Stumpy will do well to live past the weekend with all the neighbourhood cats that use my kitchen roof as a sun trap. Once one of them spots Stumpy, I think they will be enjoying a 'nut filled rat'!
