The joys of country living.....EEEEEEEEK !

DH was recounting my tale to a pal of his who said his wife had found a dead bird in their shower trap.

Eh?

Apparently the guard at the top of the stench pipe had blown off in a gale and a fledgling blackbird had fallen down into the drain.

I'm going to be armed with a cricket bat every time I clean the shower now

We had far more visits from wildlife - rats, bats, sp....s (can't even write the word down) and very bold foxes in London than we have here in Devon.

The eight legged things hate anything citrus, especially lemons, so I liberally spray anywhere I think they might to break in, window and door frames. I keep a small lemon in each corner of the living room. And if I ever see one, rare, I'm glad to say, it gets killed, no messing about putting it outside from where it comes straight back in. If it's not helping with the mortgage it doesn't belong in my house.

I found a mouse had been eating some seed remains in an old bird feeder in my greenhouse. I caught 2 mice in 2 days and put them on the bird table - still soft! Local jackdaws had a super surprise breakfast for a couple of days. I think that's called ultimate recycling! Mice ate bird seed. Birds ate mice!!!!

I was told years ago by someone who worked for a vermin control company that the rise in popularity of bird feeders has helped to increase the number of rats in our urban gardens-ugh!

A couple of years ago I noticed a very big rat in the garden. Whilst watching him he came right up to the patio doors and peered through the window. As I had a cat flap, though no longer any cats, I was terrified I would come down in the morning and see him in the sitting room, complete with the rest of his family. Luckilly my lovely neigbour blocked the flap for that night and nailed it shut the next day.

My eldest son had a worse experience. He and his wife were going to a Western evening at his uncle's school and all the way there they could smell this dreadful smell in the car. They got to his uncle's house and Paul went into the bathroom to change and put his cowboy boots on. His wife heard him scream but at least he'd found the smell - a decomposed frog which the cat had put in the boot!

oh & birds with hobnail boots doing an irish jig - yes we get that, I live in a Park Home so not a lot between me & roof except insulation - blackbirds are the worst, most definitely not mice in loft as I don't have one

Mice are my problem I have a cat but I think it's him bringing them in alive to play with !!!!! I have had a few live mice but if I see them I get my little dustpan & brush, corner them & put them out. My fault for leaving door open for fresh air & so I don't have to keep getting up to let cat in & out!!! Thank goodness I haven't got a cat flap. I haven't seen any rats but neighbours have.

Good job I don't mind mice as I'm on my own - corpses found on my path outdoors are bagged & binned - no funerals for them!!

no one - town country or city is more than 30 feet from a rat.
Whole counties infested with the little beggars
Go round the back of any fast food outlet at night and watch them in their droves
Mind you they do say that if it want for the creatures we call vermin we'd be up to our pretty little eyeballs in shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... you know who!
and then we have politicianas but don't get me started on that one

yukkkk!!! Annodomini, I couldn't think of anything worse. We had mice in our loft once, they sounded like they had hobnail boots on and were doing an irish jig. Thank goodness we never had a cold water tank up there too as they could have quite easily fell in and drowned especially as we too used poison to get rid of them!

entertaining rats, well, my o my....... just wanted to put my pennyworth in, obviously I am NOT serious, entertaining Rats indeed !!!!

Ugh can't think of anything worse than finding that in the drain. I periodically have to lift the trap on our shower and clean it out - I will never look at it in the same way again!! Over the years I've had dozens of mice brought in by my cats - mostly they're dead but occasionally one's got away and we've only realised because said cat is sitting patiently waiting for it to reappear - thankfully he's always finally caught them. I do know my sister in law had problems with rats in their previous house - they were living under the toilet and also in the loft - she was a nervous wreck by the time they'd finally got rid of them!

Don't they say that you are never more than a metre from a rat wherever you are? - whoever 'they' are! Highly intelligent and adaptable animals, we all create so much waste they thrive alongside humans, we would probably have a far greater problem if they weren't cleaning up after us! Having said that I would NOT want to stick my hand down a drain and pull one out or anything else dead for that matter

Oh my goodness hats off to you I honestly think I'd be traumatised and in need of counselling I can't think of anything more terrifying

Years ago, our cat caught a rat and dumped it alive and kicking on the kitchen floor where it shot off and disappeared somewhere. We slammed all the doors shut and started hunting --and hunting----and hunting. We'd just about given up hope of finding it when OH had an idea, and upended the spin dryer. There it was. clinging to the motor. I honestly can't remember what happened next, but I think the fire irons were probably involved.

OH!!! Annodomini..bits of rat from the tap is worse than finding one in the shower drain UGH

Small rats used to live in our roofs in Kenya. They rarely came down into the house but one holiday I had sent the cats to the cattery and when I returned, the whole house was infested. I opened a drawer and a rat leapt out. Everything had to be disinfected or disposed of. I decamped for the night to my fiancé's house and, the next day, fetched the cats from the cattery. On one occasion, a colleague had put down rat poison which was the kind that makes the creatures thirsty. She didn't realise how successful this had been until bits of rat started to come out of her cold taps. It had gone into the tank in her roof to drink.

Aurelia - I think you're right. It did have a tail like that, and the huge eyes. And there are some around here.

I smelt a horrible smell in my kitchen for ages. Kept putting dissenfectant down plug hole but it persisted. Found remains of two packets of biscuits in kitchen drawer and blamed kids. Smell got worse and i traced it to the drawers. Opened them one by one and in the third one was the most enormous dead rat. Ashamed to say i ran, screaming, into the living room. Had to have pest control out and turned out they were in the drains of the chemist shop next door! I was very wary of opening drawers and cupboards for weeks after!

I saw a rat in our garden having a feasting on a fallen fat ball under the bird feeder. DH was blithely mowing the lawn at the time totally ignoring my frantic gesticulations. He got nearer and nearer to the rat who was having far too good a time to leave the party. To my horror he got within 6 foot of it and still hadn't scared it off, when suddenly DH noticed it and let the mower continue on without him - I am not saying he's a coward and yes, you've guessed it, the rat continued to gorge. It was not a pretty sight and I still shudder years later!

I once made the mistake of rescuing a wriggling ferret / pole cat (not sure which is the correct term for the wild variety) from my cat's jaws. It was a beautiful, with a thick dark cream and brown coat. I hated to think this cat would just slowly torture it to death. In order to show its gratitude the ferret sank its very long and sharp teeth deep into my thumb. I had to rinse the wound out with neat bleach then get a tetanus shot. Ok, so I know it was a daft thing to do but I was younger then, and still had good intentions toward everything.

ladybird.... sorry to scare you but there are rats everywhere: in towns, villages, gardens, etc. Luckily we are usually unaware of them. I don't know what I admire most Merlotgran: cleaning out the trap, dealing with the rat or ever being able to take a shower in here again without keeping one eye on my toes for fear of nibbling.....

Thanks for sharing that with us merlotgran!

DH is terrified of rats, hates them! We get them in the back yard from time to time, and had tried, unsuccessfully, to trap them. I couldn't resist putting a soft toy rat in the trap one day ?. It was worth it - first to see hDH's face when he saw it in the trap, then to watch him very slowly realize that it wasn't real. Luckily he was amused once he got over the shock

When the beetroot I was growing in the garden last year started to disappear, it took a while for us to work out that rats were the culprit. They were dragging them away whole to eat at their leisure in the overgrown garden next door. Some of the leaves got stuck in the chain link fence, which is how we solved the mystery. We quickly set a trap and within an hour had two of the blighters. They were only youngsters, but must have been the only ones in the family with a taste for beetroot, as we haven't had a problem since!

I'd love to put a plastic one under the trap cover for someone to find on Four in a Bed!

I had a pet rat as a child. She was lovely. Cats were teriffed of her.
One of our cats brings in occasional rat- usually dead. As I worked for a time for Environmental Health I know the health risks.