![]() The blue plastic came down in a heap, along with the rats that had been nesting in it. Feed was stored in the next-door shed (which had an elevated floor).Īll went well, as far as we knew, until the following summer when my husband reached to the upper shelves of the shed and pulled down last year’s nylon swimming pool. While they grew inside of a puppy pen in the house, my husband and 8-year-old son labored to build a raccoon-proof coop in the backyard. Our first order of chickens on my son’s birthday arrived in a cheeping little cardboard box from the Murray McMurray hatchery. It was only after I acquired chickens (about eight years ago at the age of 43) that the loathing began. I had the pet white variety as a child and saw them occasionally in my practice as a veterinarian. Indeed, when I told Rob I was going to write this article, his first words were: “I hope it’s going to be anonymous!” I didn’t always hate rats. (The last thing I want the neighbors to know is that the cute little backyard farm next door might be less than perfect, let alone a potential reservoir of disease.) My son, Rob, has been well-trained never to say the word in public. The one thing we hate to discuss or admit to (like having fleas on your dog or cockroaches in your house) acknowledging that you have seen a rat in your barn is like saying you are a bad person - one with really crummy hygiene. I feel like rodents are the dirty little secret of the poultry world. My hatred of rats and their presence on my property lead me to search for solutions on how to get rid of rats. I hate their furry little brown disease-carrying bodies that make me feel like my backyard chickens are a menace to all the neighborhood and like, any minute, the next Black Death will descend upon the world and all because I just had to raise poultry. I hate the sick feeling I get when I see a rat whisk past my feet as I open the barns in the morning. I hate the squishy way the floor feels when there’s a rat tunnel underneath it. I hate the way they dig dirty holes in my nice clean barns. By Cynthia Smith (Veterinarian in Washington) – I hate rats.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |