Recently, in the morning inspection of the chickens and coop, I noticed the food bin bare. Not just out of laying pellets, but even the layer of pellets turned to flour was gone. In addition to this, the fly trap had a slit in the side and most of the liquid leaked out.
There could be only two things, varmints or Village Idiot. I could see that to get to the chicken feed, Village Idiot would have difficulty with the fence and the gate, in that he can lumber over things in his klutzy manner but it would be impossible for him to actually scale a barrier of the most rudimentary type. And though I'm sure Village Idiot would like nothing better than to lick the fly trap clean, he would still have the gate and fence to contend with.
That left it to rats. A rat colony has found a source of food and have grown. The food bin is now stored, and Millie left with orders to harass the rats at every opportunity but not to get near them. Great Horned Owl with the camera for a brain is on alert as well.
Once we had a rat problem. Quite a big one actually, after the quake of ninety-four hit, rats of every size came out. At first it was traps, and when over thirty rats were killed, sometimes two in one trap, they got wise and out came the poison. Hated to use it but there was no other choice available to rid them with. They were in the attic, chewing holes in the walls, running along the fence while we sat outside and worse, had killed the birds that nested at night in the bamboo. The rats raided their nests at night and we could hear the chick's cries for mercy while the parents fretted and then finally, abandoned them to a horrible fate.
That isn't going to happen this time, it is war on the terrorist Rats.
Stories from living in Los Angeles
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