Oh Rats!!

Literally. Rats. Well at least one rat, but if you see one you know there's a good chance that there are more that you don't see. Standing outside this morning I saw movement on the ground over by my car which is a good 80 feet away. Watching it, I was pretty sure it wasn't a chipmunk because it looked to be bigger and it wasn't moving the way a chipmunk usually moves around. I had a sinking feeling that it was a rat. Went inside and got my binoculars and sure enough, a rat. Not a cute little gray mouse with pink ears, not even a not so cute little brown mouse....a rat.

I haven't seen any rats around here for at least 10 years. Not since the guy behind me had a wood pile the size of Texas stacked up on 3 sides of his 3 car garage. Used to see quite a few rats then. But every winter the wood pile would gradually get smaller until finally it was gone, and so were the rats. Don't know where they went but as long as they were gone, I didn't worry about it.

But now.....a rat. A big brown rat. Don't know where it came from. Maybe a kids pet that got loose (do kids have brown rats for pets?) or just a wild rat that happened to show up . I don't know. What I do know is that I don't want that rat here!!!! Nowhere near here!!!! GO AWAY RAT!!!!

P.S. The really weird thing about this is that the sparrows followed this rat where ever he went. Hopping on the ground behind it, they followed it under the hydrangea bush, under the car and even into the next yard when I finally threw rocks at it. What's up with that??