Rat #15

In the last 30 years here at Cobblestone Farm, I can only recall one rat infiltrating the horse barn. That particular rat ran into the tack room, where Floyd and Peggy lived and was promptly cornered. It was at that point, I gave the rat a swat with the broom, grabbed it by the tail and took him outside.

Y.C. was an outside cat back in the day and he eagerly watched as I walked the rat out to the fence row. "Hey Puddy" I hollered. "Look at what mom has for you."
Thinking our large yellow cat might take the bait, the rat was placed clearly where could pounce without much effort. Not. "Yeow", he looked as me as though I were crazy. Oh well, the rat was free at last and on his way to another barn.

In 2010, it was a different story. There were buildings torn down at a neighboring farm, resulting in a sudden jump in the rat population here. Over the past few months, I have LIVE trapped 15 rats and taken them up the road to a local wetland park. Put them in the rat ride (1990 Plym Acclaim) and take them down the road.

In November, I was seated in the barn petting BOB the whistlepig, when he and I both observed rat #14 come out, stroll over to Bob's dish and remove a peanut. That was the last straw. Out came the Nilla waffers and peanut butter for super bait. Rat #14 was on his way!

Rat #15 was a memorable guy. The trap was sitting next to the hydrant when he became captive. I felt sorry for #15, as he was the only rat who squealed! He squealed so loud, I thought he might have been hurt. I picked up the trap, consoled him for a minute and he actually stopped squealing. He calmly rode to his new home in the park, where he joined the rest of his rat family.