There is a fucking rat in my garden

[Wonderdogdoris]

Obviously you can't burn down a garden...or can you?

What should I do? The fucker just looked at me and then scuttled through my garden to the neighbours. The neighbour has foxes and that is bad enough but now rats I'm horrified.

-BlueJamSandwich · Today 20:30
Get a Jack Russell.

Our Parson Russel’s best friend was our Guinea pig. Was beautiful to behold. She pined when GP died.

@Wonderdogdoris I'm more worried about not an animal lover 😮tell me one you love. Just one?

Used to have a couple of pet rats. They were the sweetest little things and so intelligent.
They are actually really clean animals and always grooming themselves.

"Just to be clear no rats are a-fucking"

I'm sorry to tell you, @Wonderdogdoris , that they are. Probably right this minute.

Our local council provide a free service for rats. Had a few in the garden last year, neighbour was feeding birds. They put the bait in boxes. They were gone in days.

@Wonderdogdoris ps I wouldn't want a rat in my garden either. Or wasps. Anything else is ok.

@hjrl do birds count? I'd love a parrot if I had time for one. They require so much attention I don't have time sadly.

Well if the neighbour has foxes, then the rat isn't going to last long.

You’re right to be concerned, many years ago we had them in our garden and then they came in our ground floor flat.

Wanna borrow my JRT 😂 that will sort it

Think yourself lucky. My cat catches rats and brings them. Into the house to run around.

@Wonderdogdoris yes absolutely. Although my lovely friend has one and it tells her to fuck off constantly. She never swears. He heard this on telly. It mortifies her a hundred times a day

Oh for gods sake don’t have a parrot, Birds in cages are cruel beyond belief, especially parrots they’re extremely intelligent and suffer from mental health issues when they’re confined.

Anyone with a JRT (had to Google!) feel free to pop over together for a cuppa/beer if you're central south coast!

@MrsSkylerWhite I wouldn't have a caged parrot. As I said I don't have time or space for that matter to have a parrot. I love them but I'm not cruel. Hence not having one.

I saw a reel on YouTube that showed a little American girl repeatedly asking her grown up whether she could pet the dog in their garden. It was a grizzly bear!

Unless you've got hundreds, I wouldn't worry. Isn't there a statistic that you're never more than six feet away from a rat? I see the odd one in my garden, I just ignore them; the cats get excited though!

And @Wonderdogdoris I was a solicitor, married a farmer very young. My current kitchen

Five butterflies the children have grown from caterpillars
Three parson terriers, plus a parson pup here on holiday
Two cats
Two lambs infront of the fire which really need to be taken back out
A bearded dragon for dino mad child and a daddy who can't say no.
Ponies
Cows
Goats
Pigs
Chickens
Last week I had two turkeys in my garden and I DONT HAVE TURKEYS. This is important because I don't have neighbours

I'm ignoring the spiders unless the look at me, the daddy dancers and the slaters. I don't mind mice but not in house. Oh and we have a back sink full of tadpoles.

So actually one rat sounds quite pleasant 🤨🤣

https://youtube.com/shorts/IVwnAyw6m0Y?si=m84OsmhQeO1fB1Bx

Makes me laugh every time.

Oh. Yes, biggest rats on the planet, I think? Maybe not though. But they can get up to 2 feet long and weight as much as a one year old (1.5 stone). So I think they’d be slightly smaller than your small DS, but I don’t know by how much!

@hjrl I feel that we could be friends. I was a legal exec. Although I have no such animals but my child would probably benefit from someone who would show him the animals without worrying about an impending e-coli infection.

@Wonderdogdoris absolutely 😍 I might be country but I'm all about avoiding cryptosporidium at all times!!!

In all seriousness always happy to show children farm life, been married a long time but gave up law to be a mum. Now in school nursery. Have a holiday cottage. Multiple animals and farm equipment

If you saw your garden at night, you would see rats. They are actually very intelligent, sociable, playful, family orientated creatures. As long as you are not feeding birds, they will just pass through the garden. No need for drama.

@hjrl I can imagine you are! I find going to "farms" stressful. My son is autistic so no amount of "hands out of your mouth" is enough.

Whereabouts are you? I can't imagine rural and solicitor would ever mix too well. I also gave it up but for a government job. The flexibility is my lifeline.

Rural Scottish Borders