Rats

[melv16]

I've just seen one int back garden.... Do I tell the Mrs?

[Khandro]

No, not until you see the whites (or blacks) of their eyes.

[Cloverjo]

No, unless she will bash it on the head with a spade.

[Jahulaye]

Of course, if she’s unaware she might leave the back open and the next thing you you have an infestation of giant rats in your home.

[melv16]

Not much chance of that, Jo. She once took the lid off the compost bin and there was a rat looking at her. The screams could be heard in Rotherham :-)

[New Judge]

You're never more than 6 feet away from a rat (or 50 metres, depending on whose statistics you go by):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20716625

[EDDIE51]

Rats have a bad press. They are nowhere near as bad as is made out.
They make great pets. The bad reputation was almost entirely due to the Black Rats that spread Bubonic plague 400 years ago. The Rats we see now are grey rats a different species.

[Jahulaye]

Well I wouldn’t want caress and stroke this monster, would you?

https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&;channel=iphone_bm&dcr=0&source=hp&ei=c_UfWvvBFMyegAbZhpiQBg&q=giant+rat+in+uk&;oq=giant+rat+in+uk&gs_l=mobile-gws-hp.12..0j0i22i30k1l4.2118.9944.0.10778.16.16.0.8.8.0.167.1904.2j13.16.0....0...1c.1.64.mobile-gws-hp..0.16.1236.3..41j0i131k1.112.JT3Eb-5pZDo#imgrc=NkI1ehKkf9xvQM:

[EDDIE51]

This could be one answer
https://bertc.com/subfive/recipes/cookingrats.htm
Apparently they taste like partridge or pork!

[ladybirder]

EDDIE you said "the rats we see now are grey rats a different species". No they're not, according to the BBC. There are two species in the UK, Black and Grey.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z82mmp3

[emmie]

no way..

[Khandro]

I don't think you can make a pet out of a black rat - ratus ratus.
Did you ever hear David Attenborough tell the hilarious story of him interviewing a rat-catcher?
He said he pulled a black rat out of a sack and swung it round his head by the tail and saying, "Now you may think this is a bit cruel sir, but the fact is, if I don't make 'im a bit dizzy like, the ***'ll bite me".

[Khandro]

b*gg*r'll

[nailit]

//They make great pets//
Certainly do EDDIE. I kept rats for years, lovely creatures. They used to have the run of the living room at night and would sit on my tea tray sharing my food with me. Thought about getting some more recently.

[Barmaid]

My cat would LOVE a pet rat. Save him having to go out into the cold garden to kill them.......

[Khandro]

nailit //They make great pets//
I once sat behind a young woman in a Berlin cinema and she had one in her hair! That may say more about Berlin than rats though :0)

[melv16]

How sensitive is a cat's sense of smell? I've been watching one sniffing round where the rat has been. Hopefully, it will catch it.

[ladybirder]

Melv, you do know that it won't be just one rat don't you? If the cat is sniffing around a certain spot then I would be very suspicious. There is something in your back garden that is attracting them. It could be a source of food (bird feeders?), a source of water for them to drink and/or a nesting site. Or all three! I think you might need some help. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. x

[hereIam]

melv if you can see the hole it came through, just pour a load of bleach down it, got rid of a rat for me recently ...

[melv16]

Ladybirder. I've got feeders, a bird bath, a compost bin and a shed for them to hide/breed under. BTW, I've told the Mrs and it's now my job to top up the compost bin :-(

[sapelesam]

In America they say you are never more than 50ft from a lawyer.