Saturday January 13

Our garden mammal list stood at three species seen in the garden, plus two seen from the house. They were: Grey Squirrel, Wood Mouse, and Hedgehog plus Fox and Bat sp.

This morning a fourth species made it onto the garden list.

Brown Rat

I had been checking the bird feeders and noticed that the peanuts had gone mouldy. Fearing for the health of our local birds I emptied its contents onto the patio and swept most of them up before placing them in the bin like the good tidy householder I tell my wife I am.

Clearly I missed a few, and for Rattus norvegicus christmas had come at last. Normally I would be thrilled to add a new species to the garden list, but this one could be problematical. Think of the neighbours etc.

I suspect I will come under pressure to take action, but for now I will simply rely on the mouldy peanuts finishing it off. It already has a scabby tail.

A scabby, disease ridden rat, great.