Rats

We love the turning of the seasons here at Weisshirsch forge. Each season brings with it specific events that we look for.
Spring =the hops come up, Ospreys return to nest.
Summer=The berries ripen, and the hops keep coming up, and up..
Fall= Harvest the hops. Ospreys leave for Mexico, the Norway rats move in.

I was standing at my welding table, preparing to lay in a bead when a movement caught my eye. I turned my head and watched as a rather bold Norway rat sauntered ever so casually across the shop, and ducked behind a pile of sheet metal. Bold as day.
Oh great!Either it's sick, or has been around here so long it's unafraid of humans. Either reality is not good. I walked over to inspect , and could not find the rat.I did see a hole. This means they are moving in for winter, in the walls, between the sheetrock and the metal siding. All that nice, warm pink insulation to burrow in. A lovely cafe/compost pile outback, the odd snack left out on the work bench. Rat heaven. It's like going to a fancy lodge in Aspen for the winter.

A few weeks ago we suspected there were rats moving into our basement.
The cats had begun staking out the cupboard under the kitchen sink, and the compost bucket was looking a bit rifled through.
So Hubby went into the crawlspace/basement and left poison packets. He also blocked off the gap around the sink pipes so any rats could not get back into the compost.
After a few days the cats stopped holding vigil at the cupboard,so we figured the rats were no more. The draw back is that someone has to go into the basement and fish out the bodies.

So they are also setting up home in our shop, and this is not okay.
We can kill them off, but there are a million more out there waiting to take their place. It's more like keeping them at bay.
Time for a good terrier.