Added to which I have rats which can be very painful and make your eyes water. They scratch in the walls at night and leave little long black reminders absolutely everywhere outside. The cats did their best and caught three smaller grey individuals but I lock them inside at night for their safety (and to give the local bird life a chance) so they don't get an opportunity to hunt the larger rodents. Of course this doesn't deter Peaches who currently spends all day in the garage looking at a wall from which she expects a mighty feast to emerge.
Mitre 10 in Hastings (one of my favourite shops) has a great range of poisons. I bought one that resembled a green block of chocolate (and smelt the same) which you break up and hide in various nooks and crannies. Within a couple of days I discovered a large brown rat RIP-ing in the shed plus a terrible stench began to emanate from the wash house wall where obviously one had died looking for water. Then a couple of days ago a small grey rat was floating in a bucket of water outside.
I feel bad about having to kill them but on the other hand the thought of the diseases they carry helps me quash my vegetarian tree huggy tendencies. I know pet rats are terribly intelligent and affectionate but they're one animal I prefer to see with all four paws pointing skywards.
Then there's the heat- last weekend I noticed it was 36oC under the veranda at 9am and I'm sure it crept up to 40oC (100oF) in the sun. I brought Briar nearer the house to eat down some of the grass out the back before it becomes a fire hazzard. She thinks this is wonderful and has been having great fun chasing chickens and staring malevolently through the hen house window just to let them know who's boss.
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