Animals

[gradus]

Our neighbour has been feeding a hedgehog for a couple of years now but still hasn't managed to teach it road sense since it decided to sit in the lane (fortunately very little traffic) although I nearly ran over it returning home a few nights ago. Our cats have the same road sitting habit largely because the hedge on the other side of the lane is hunting territory and they can patrol silently along listening for tell-tale rustling. The dead mouse and rat count has been high for the last fortnight or so.

[kernelbogey]

Pretty sure I saw two small young wild boar by the side of the road the other night.

They are rumoured to be in the large woods near us. They were small , dark red/ brown, beautiful creatures.
I guess they could have been escaped rare breed types, but given the location were likely wild.
Fantastic sight.
Wouldn't like to meet a fully grown one at night though.

[Your post of March 2016]

TS - might one of these be the same boar seen by Mrs TS recently - 19 months older?

[teamsaint]

[Your post of March 2016]

TS - might one of these be the same boar seen by Mrs TS recently - 19 months older?

Could be I suppose, KB.
It was a good couple of miles away from where I saw the two young 'uns, though. I Wonder how far they tend to roam ?

[Conchis]

Our neighbour has been feeding a hedgehog for a couple of years now but still hasn't managed to teach it road sense since it decided to sit in the lane (fortunately very little traffic) although I nearly ran over it returning home a few nights ago. Our cats have the same road sitting habit largely because the hedge on the other side of the lane is hunting territory and they can patrol silently along listening for tell-tale rustling. The dead mouse and rat count has been high for the last fortnight or so.

Glad that the rat population is being taken care of by your cats (I HATE rats!) but hopefully they aren't preseenting them to you as tokens of gratitude.

[kernelbogey]

Why do we dislike rats so much? Squirrels, which are merely rats with attitude, tend to be revered and loved.

[Serial_Apologist]

Why do we dislike rats so much? Squirrels, which are merely rats with attitude, tend to be revered and loved.

But squirrels are bright-eyed and bush-tailed! Even the American occupying ones - perhaps especially the American ones: over-fed; over-sexed; and over here. (And I haven't heard of them being disease carriers, unlike the sewer-inhabiting rats: notwithstanding the pretty albino ones that sell as pets, there are probably folk memories associating rats with the plague).

[doversoul1]

Why do we dislike rats so much? Squirrels, which are merely rats with attitude, tend to be revered and loved.

A few years ago, we set a trap (a humane type) in one of the greenhouses and caught a rat every morning for several days in running (two one morning). Every morning, we drove to the edge of the next village along the cliff and let them go. One day earlier this year when we drove past the spot, a rat ran across the road. We were glad to see the descendants of our rats thriving.

Rats are hard working creatures and unlike squirrels who scamper about burying food they`ll never eat (we have sunflowers and hazel nuts bushes growing all over the garden), rats, when they are out in the open, run between their nest and the food. Very focused. I guess country rats don’t carry disease any more than other wild animals do. Only reason I don’t welcome rats in my garden is that they can cause quite extensive damages to the buildings, and they multiply fast. These days, I use poison. I wish I didn’t have to but there you are. That's human beings for you/us.

[gradus]

Glad that the rat population is being taken care of by your cats (I HATE rats!) but hopefully they aren't preseenting them to you as tokens of gratitude.

We regularly receive dead (occasionally live) rodents as tokens of undying feline love and affection - much less often, birds. Largest rat (dead) to date, 15 inches from nose to tip of tail - must have been quite a struggle to have got it through the cat flap.

[Conchis]

Why do we dislike rats so much? Squirrels, which are merely rats with attitude, tend to be revered and loved.

Whenever I see one, I go very cold inside. I hate their hairless tails.

Squirrels get off lightly because of their bushy tails but a squirrel with alopecia is a rat to the naked eye.

[Ferretfancy]

There used to be a mouse farm in Wales run by a lady called Frances Pitt, some may remember that she wrote an animal column in the Evening News. One summer when I was at boarding school I sent off to her farm and ordered a rat. After a couple of days the school matron growled at me and said "There's a parcel for you, I think it's livestock"
My rat was a beautiful animal, piebald in pale orange and white. It was very friendly and fitted nicely into the top pocket of my School blazer. Of course, I had to find a suitable hiding place for its cage, to prevent the authorities from stepping in.

My rat was much admired, more than the grass snake I kept the year before, but sadly when I took it home at the end of term to meet my airedale terrier there were complications and sadly my rat died.

[vinteuil]

.. sadly when I took [my rat] home at the end of term to meet my airedale terrier there were complications and sadly ... my rat died.

... and that, m'lud, concludes the case for the Defence.


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