same venue different weather

[paulk73 151]

went back on the plots this afternoon. after last sunday getting ten. i wasnt expecting a big bag, but i did notice a few escaping last week so my fingers where crossed.

on arrival the weather was in complete contrast to last weeks monsoon. glorious sunshine, and people everywhere.

i unloaded the smoker,spade, stick and eli, and set off on the short walk to the hen shed. i let eli off the lead, and he started casting about scenting. the allotment holder wasnt about this afty so we had no access to the cabin or the run, but there is always plenty of junk about for old ratty to shelter in.

anyway, eli picked up a strong scent coming out of the compost pile, that is shuttered off with scaffold planks. the pile is covered with black plastic sheeting, so i told eli "over" and he jumped the planks in to the pile and i whipped the sheet off. imediatly the rats scattered, about 6 or 7 of them. eli grabbed the first crunched it and moved onto the second. that was that all the other rats had scarpered down holes or through the boards to freedom. eli began taking an interest in 1 of the holes, and started digging. a rat popped out of a hole and escaped through the courrogated sheet metal at the end of the heap, without eli noticing. i blocked that hole, as eli kept digging, eventually he was rewarded with a slightly larger rat. after no more marking in the pile i replaced the sheet, and called eli out, to look around some other promising places. eli went straight over to the most productive place on the plot, and started marking straight away. i wasnt happy about this because i wanted to leave the pile of pallets til last, because i have found that when the rats bolt from here, they bolt back inbetween the sheds and underneath. so what i wanted to do, was smoke the holes on the outside of the shed, and hopefully any that we missed would take refuge under the pallets and junk. and then when we removed the pallets and junk they would, be more reluctant to bolt back into the shed.(that was the theory anyway lol). i called him away from the pallets and began smoking one of the holes that lead inbetween the sheds. out shot a medium sized rat. that was dealt with by eli. 4 rats down in 10 mins. not bad considering we had given this shed and the surroundings a hammering last week.by now we had a bit of an audiance. with a little a little boy and little girl watching the proceedings. the little lad was well into it, telling me which hole to try next and shouting encouragment. i moved the hose to another hole, and a rat flew out and escaped through the spuds in the direction of the compost heap. after a few mins of the smoker in this hole a larger rat emerged from a hole right at elis feet, and was grabbed and dispatched in a split second. number5 accounted for. not long after a small rat ambled out of the fume filled tunnel, and just sat inbetween the 2 sheds, eli was watchin the hole that the previous rat came from, so didnt see it at first, i got his attention as the rat slowly made its way towards us, eli saw it, and darted in to grip the rat. no 6 down.

i realised by the state of this rat, that any that haddent made the break for fresh air, wernt going to get the chance, they would most probably already been asleep in the tunnel. i remembered the rat that ran past me through the spuds towards the compost. i went back tro the compost heap and eli jumped straight in. i lifted the sheet up and right enough the rat was under there. eli struck and that was it for no 7.

we then went over to the pallets, eli again began marking. as i moved the junk and pallets, the kids parents, came over for a look, just then when our concentration was down, a big owd rat slipped away into the spuds. oh bloomin heck. :x the biggest of the day gave us the slip. i carried on moving the junk then tilted a bit of drain pipe up, i could hear and feel somthing inside. i turned it vertical then lifted it up. a rat came out, eli grabbed it, then another fell out, eli dropped the other rat and gave chase, he caught up with it and dispatched it, the previous rat wasnt dead and tried to make its escape but i managed to beg it to stay where it was, with the help of the drainpipe that i was still holding. by now we also had another old fella who had come to feed the chickens. and another new couple who have just taken on an allotment. all spectating. lol. a good hours work and eli really enjoyed it. 19 from around 1 shed in a week. and this years tally up to 81. hopefully get up to 100 by the end of the year. :wink: :wink:

 

 

 

 

[Guest THE BEATNICK]

good stuff paul, well written i feel like one of the spectators

[geoff37 3]

Good mornings work Paul, great looking wee dog.

ATB

[old dog 210]

Well done mate,glad you had a nice day out ,i hate rats,kill as many as you can atb od

[paulk73 151]

thanks for the replies guys

[geoff37 3]

Paul,

 

I've been toying with the idea of a Plummer for rabbiting/ratting but heard mixed reports. Not interested in digging etc, just a companion for me and the wee lad on trips out. What are they like around the house/breaking to ferets/livestock etc?

 

Geoff

[BULLDOUG 199]

Belting wee dog, thanks for the share

 

YIS D

[paulk73 151]

couple of days to house break.picked him up on the thursday, done for sunday.(apart from a couple of accidents). great with stock, hens ducks geese turkeys. took him among them when he was really young. picked it up really quickly what was fair game and what was not.

you do get mixed reports/reviews. but for rats and rabbits, they will take some beating. cant coment fairly on the digging side of things, because i dont use mine for earth work. but have spoken to lads that use thiers week in week out during the winter.but as your not interested in the digging anyway it dosnt matter. only thing he is not steady with is emu. but thats another story. and i dont think your likely to come across many