Ratty Rat...

It’s been a long time since I saw one of these in the villlage and not sure how it has died but will have to dispose of it as I can’t leave it where it has died.Quiet a few people in the village have chooks or perhaps it came from the harvested fields but they are one pest I do so hate

 

Their urine on grass actually causes dogs to have kennel cough the vet told we and my dog used to love his canal walks so he had a yearly booster for it but I never see any here but they have been seen in the canal dead

 

@Marley Farley lots of the youngsters in our village who keep chooks because of getting the eggs fresh have know idea on how to look after them as they are too busy trying to raise families which is hard work in itself without having chooks and pets to care for which the kids soon get bored with.

This one was quiet big as well and so I got on my marigolds and picked it up by the tip of its tail and couldn’t believe how heavy it was so it is having a good living somewhere along the line.I have seen no sign of any droppings round where the hedgehog gets fed so it doesn’t seem to be eating their food but then again the half wild cat that seems to want to live with us might have caught and killed it elsewhere and then brought it home although there was no sign of blood on it so it might have been poisoned by a chook keeper

Looking at the photo of the rat in your link Marley it must be a relation of the one in my photo

@Gail_68 That is an interesting bit of info about the Kennel Cough in dogs,had never heard of that before but as we no longer have a dog don’t have to worry about that sort of thing any more...

 

Rats are so clever, wish Roland was still about.

 

I can very well understand peoples likes and dislikes, tolerance and hatred.

Foxes usually start the controversay. Pests, vermin, kill the lot of them. WHY? Look back at the natural history of Britain. We have destroyed acres and miles of forest land. Not only that. We have hunted down, not always for food,but sheer sport, so much of our native wildlife. Deer, Boar, Bear,Fox, Badger. You name it. WE have destroyed it. Even now, despite Badger bating etc being illegal. Visist the New Forest and to fond a dead badger in the road is routine. NO not road-kill but ruthless ones digging them out and throwing the bodies on to the road so as to make it look like road-kill.

The fox. Hunted just for the fun of it. This really offends me. Farmers and country folk often do a lot to conserve our countryside and wildlife,yet they dress up and ride out to hunt the fox. Rubbish. All this about laying a false trail. What love for the wildlife and countryside can be supported by the savagry of a single wild, free animal, being chased by hounds until caught and then to be ripped to shreds by the hounds.

Rats. URGHHHHHH! Horrible critters. Yes their urine can cause serious health problems to mankind. So might I ask this question. Why do we have to put up with these critters.

The odd one out is the Badger. Poor old Brock is seldom seen yet is blamed for Bovine TB. Hells Bells the title says it all. Bovine TB. Science is divided here, but stop and think. Bovine is munching away and as always, what goes in,given time comes out. So at night, Brock come out and searches for food, beetles are great. Hey says Brock. I see a giant cow pat yummy, no not the pat, but the beetles that have set up home under it. So Brock partakes. Once again. What goes in, eventually comes out. Brock's waste remains in the open. Bovine munching away digests contaminated grass, and so it goes on and on.

We so often forget that in the natural world every living thing depends upon another. Give the countryside back to the wildlife. Humans, the supossed most intelligent of all species. STOP! loving such dirty filthy and wasteful lifestyles. The you may find a change. Foxes will return to their lifesyle. Rats will decline. These creatures are cleaning up behind us.