Rats!

 

Rats!

If rats give you the shivers, look away now.

Top view

While gardening this morning, I came across the upper jaw of a rat. I have no idea where the rest of the skeleton is.

Underside of top jaw

Though rarely seen or heard, we know there are brown rats in our garden. When the dogs or cats become particularly interested in one area we suspect they have tracked a rat and when that area is investigated, we find traces – a narrow, well-worn track, a hollow leading to a hole and into a tunnel.

Close-up of molars

We have seen rats appear from underneath the waterfall and swim across the pond. We have watched them climbing a metal pole to reach a bird feeder. These intelligent, opportunistic rodents are fascinating to observe, beautiful, sleek, agile, but we know they must be controlled, sadly. As much as it goes against the grain to kill them, it has to be done.

Close-up of incisors, which continue to grow throughout a rat's life

 Though they look fit and healthy, there is no way of knowing whether or not they are carrying Weil’s disease (leptospirosis) which is spread in rats’ urine, or other diseases, such as salmonella and toxoplasmosis. The bacteria infect people through cuts and grazes. Rats have no control over their bladders and urinate as they move. However, Weil’s disease is rare in the UK.

 Notwithstanding that, rats can cause a lot of damage – to electric cables, wooden outbuildings, crops, not to mention the nerves of susceptible humans.

The brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) originated in Asia, appearing in the UK in the 1700s. It travelled on ships throughout the world and is found on every continent, apart from Antarctica. It is extremely adaptable and will make its home anywhere there is shelter and food.

Rats are truly omnivorous and eat a huge variety of foods, from birds to underwater molluscs, from cereal crops to insects. The reason for their great success lies in their adaptability and phenomenal ability to breed rapidly. They reproduce all year round, the females starting at three to four months of age and bearing litters of around six, though one litter of 22 has been recorded. A female may become pregnant immediately after giving birth and can raise an average of five litters a year. In cases of rarity of food, a pregnancy may be extended by two weeks from the usual 21 to 24 days.

Rats are not territorial but live in colonies in burrows they dig. They favour compost heaps, because they are easy to burrow into. The compost they have nested in can be used in the garden but it’s probably wise not to use it for growing fruit and vegetables that may be eaten raw, like celery or cucumbers.

The world is not overrun by rats because they make a tasty morsel for many mammals and birds. Owls, foxes, stoats, cats, even herons, will deplete the population. Most rats will not live beyond their first year in the wild.

Pet rats are a different case altogether. We have kept mice and gerbils and hamsters, but never graduated to rats. It seemed wrong to keep a relatively large mammal in a cage – and far too tantalising for our cats and dogs.

House-training

House-training

House-training is defined in dictionaries as, among other things, Taming, Training, Disciplining, Domesticating, Schooling. I am immersed in the process and have been for some while as there are two young animals in the house. They are both at similar stages but I would suggest that the younger of the two is generally more reliable though still prone to occasional ‘accidents’.

‘Two young animals?’ I imagine you asking. ‘Why, yes,’ I reply, ‘Frankie and Roxy.’

Frankie with a favourite 'rocket' ice lolly

Roxy

Roxy, Lolly (Bethan's dog) and Frankie last week

They are two young animals, just not of the same species. Frankie is a human animal and we will be celebrating his third birthday in three weeks’ time. Roxy is a chocolate Labrador and she will be eight months old in two weeks’ time.

There are advantages and disadvantages in the training of each of these animals. A young puppy, a ‘baby’ puppy, must be taken out to relieve itself after every meal and every time it wakes from its frequent sleeps. This includes the wee, small hours, a particularly inviting time to stumble from the comfort of one’s bed in the chilly pre-dawn or post-midnight to carry the warm, cuddly, licking, squeaky bundle of soft fur downstairs and outside. Small puppies need reassurance, encouragement and company and must be accompanied in all weathers. It is advisable to have them safely secured by a slip lead in case they disappear into the usually damp gloom of a shrubbery or a dark corner in an inaccessible part of the garden.

Even if you opt to confine your puppy to the ground floor, usually the kitchen, you will still have to get up in the middle of the night to let it out. If you don’t you will be greeted in the morning with a task that cannot be delayed, especially if the puppy has, shall we say, spread it around a bit . . .

When Roxy was a baby, not so very long ago, her night-time ventures coincided with the nocturnal visitations of our local rat population. These rodents, sleek, bold and well-fed (on fish food and bird cake), orchestrated the evening air with shrill squeaks and squeals. Our adult dogs would have had no truck with them but Roxy was simply curious, her head tilting from side to side as she attempted to catch sight of the creatures making such interesting noises.

However, a human baby is rather easier in that it can be enfolded in a nappy, at least the bits that leak so haphazardly. Certainly it must be kept as dry and comfortable as possible and when very new it requires food at irregular intervals throughout the day and predominantly, or so it seems to the sleep-deprived parents, through the night, As it grows, the intervals between feeds and nappy changes lengthen and parental dreams of periods of sleep longer than two hours may be realised. When it has entered toddlerhood the challenge of ‘potty-training’ arises. Talk at toddler groups centres on the relative success or failure of these still young and innocent human animals to master the whole messy business – and it can be very messy. Gone are the days of lifting your charge into the air to sniff its behind to ascertain whether a change is optional (wet) or essential (more than wet). Now the focus is on the manner of the toddler’s fidgeting punctuated with, ‘Do you want a pee/ poo? Oh, too late, never mind,’ as the third or fourth set of clothes of the morning are removed and replaced.

Now, there are certain problems that arise when toddlers and animals live together that may not present themselves in solely human homes. Roxy piddles on the floor, an accident that would have been avoided if we had only been paying attention. Frankie piddles on the floor – another accident that would have been avoided et cetera, et cetera.

It is not just in the matter of ‘hygiene training’ (how euphemistic can you get?) that toddlers copy pets. Frankie kneels on the floor and drinks from the cats’ and dogs’ communal two-gallon bucket of water – it’s fun and he enjoys it and the water is clean . . . isn’t it? On other occasions he climbs into Roxy’s indoor kennel (crate) to lie down on her bedding. It’s cosy, it’s comfortable and it’s got some really interesting toys in it and he can carry them in his mouth, just like she does. Out for a walk in the forest he copies Roxy and picks up a stick - and puts it in his mouth.

More worryingly, and this is why toddlers and animals should never be left unsupervised together, he gets down on all fours and pushes his head against hers. She’s a puppy, she loves it and responds like a puppy but puppies play roughly and have sharp teeth and so we intervene, Frankie is learning – and so is Roxy.

So, in the matter of house-training, Roxy and Frankie are making progress but it’s easier with puppies than humans, I think.  Nonetheless, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before I sit Roxy on the loo and put Frankie outside to relieve himself.

Cats and Rats

This decade is being hailed as the Age of the Brain. Viruses can alter brain activity. A recent example is the discovery that cats carry a virus that can affect rats and make the rodents cat-tolerant. In an experiment, rats were placed in a pen that had the scent of cats in one corner. The rats with the virus went towards the corner, while those unaffected stayed away.

A cat-loving rat is destined for a short feline-rodent relationship!

The virus can also affect humans but is entirely harmless unless the person has HIV, in which case it is fatal.

The Killing Field

Warning: this post is not suitable for those of a sensitive disposition. Indeed, I'm finding it quite difficult to compose between shudders!
Our garden is full of life and busyness, most of which we welcome, though some visitors are less than pleasing -hornets, slugs and aphids to name just a few. We're happy to see yellow-necked mice and field mice but sadly we are unlikely to encounter them at the moment for they are prey to rats. The annual rat fest has begun! Barry has shot half a dozen in the last few days but still they come, scurrying along with great purpose, anxious to reach the food so generously scattered by the throngs of birds. There is a good deal of plant cover in the garden and the first indication that a rat or two are in the vicinity is a shaking and a shivering of leaves far too noticeable to be caused by any bird. To begin with, they are wary but soon hunger or greed overcomes them and out they bounce to partake of the feast.
Last year we were puzzled because the corpses disappeared (How now! a rat?) and then we saw a crow tucking into a small body (A rat a day) and voilà the mystery was solved or so we thought.
Yesterday Barry shot another one and its remains disappeared overnight. We didn't hear the creaking of wheels as a cart was trundled through the garden with a man ringing a bell and intoning, 'Bring out your dead' so assumed a crow had helped himself – or herself, they're not choosy. Yet another little life came to an end this afternoon (or was it morning? I've been up such a long time that it feels like bed-time and it's only 4:45 – not even time for tea let alone supper!) There were actually two rats out feeding, of differing sizes, rather worryingly, so obviously from different litters. We haven't seen the mamas and the papas and the full-grown siblings but Barry didn't take kindly to my suggestion that a little night shooting might be in order! He dispatched one and then went out to ensure it was completely dead, firing a few more rounds into it to make absolutely sure. The tiny carcase was well hidden under the dock leaves that grow so willingly to complement the nettles and yet a short while later it was revealed in all its gory glory. Neither of us had moved it and the dogs – fortunately – ignore such horrors. 'It was a crow,' we confidently told each other. Not so! About an hour after this I spotted a magpie having a royal banquet. He – or she – was feeding to allay hunger, not to collect titbits to take to a youngster.

See how it's holding its meal down - just in case it should run off?

There are young magpies around – they are easily recognised by their shorter tails – but this magpie was not feeling magnanimous to its offspring. I suppose we were right in a sense, as magpies are corvids just like carrion crows. So you see, we feed a rich and varied diet to the birds that visit us, sometimes unintentionally, in the matter of herons and sparrowhawks. I wondered idly if the red kite that soars overhead most days might deign to come and dine in our little plot but I think its five-foot wingspan might make it difficult for it to land where the once-upon-a-time rat is lying. I live in the hope of being proved wrong!