I Smell a Rat…

This was not a big problem for me in the past, but of late, I noticed the arrival of a rat in my rabbit barn.  A fat, sassy, sleek rat.  Bold too.  I’m sure his superlative physical condition was due to the excess feed spilled by the rabbits.  So…he’s keeping things neat.  Not a bad thing…but he began to covet the plump, pink newborns.

He didn’t get to them…directly, but nevertheless, a litter was lost.  The doe was the actual killer.  In her stress and confusion at the appearance of the rat, she jumped in the nest and stomped her kits to death.  My son said, “Blame the doe – not the rat.”

I blame the rat…and myself.  In the wild, the doe would have tried to lead the rat away or would have stood guard outside her burrow – stamping her feet in defiance.  We keep our rabbits in cages.  We do the best we can, but it doesn’t replicate natural conditions exactly.  Often kits are stomped as the doe leaps into the box in a protective mode and instinctively stamps her hindfeet.  The rat had to go.

I made a trip to the local feed store and bought a poison-laced treat for the intruder who seemed to have claimed “squatter’s rights”.  The bait remained untouched and the tell-tale droppings continued.  My worry level increased.  I have four does due to kindle in five days.  I had to get more aggressive.

Back to the feed store I went.  I purchased a rat trap.  Very deadly.  The rat’s last supper would be a bit of juicy rib eye steak.  Irrisistible.  Yes indeed. 

With some degree of trepidation I set the trap.  I cringed to think what that spring-loaded metal bar would do to my fingers if I wasn’t careful.  I placed my “offering” where I had noticed the most “activity”, and retired for the night.

This morning – SUCCESS!  My victim lay silent.  Though I’m sure his death had occurred several hours prior, his beady eyes, though lifeless, still carried that glint that I would see when my flashlight beam had played over him on previous evenings.  Was I sorry…a little.  He was a healthy specimen.  I just could not allow the sacrifice of any more newborn rabbit lives.  I hope, if he has relatives nearby, they take the hint.