Sunday, February 26, 2012

Kestrel 1 Rat O

This morning, my husband spotted a kestrel in the garden. I missed it the first time. My husband looked out  again and watched as the female kestrel dove down from on high and neatly caught a large rat.
The kestrel was absolutely goregous as she sat on her wriggling prey. It  was one large rat. When disturbed by the ducks, she flew with the rat hanging from her talons to a far corner of the garden where she could enjoy it in peace.
I hate rats!  And I did discover evidence of the same in the compost pile. The compost has now been scattered on the garden.
However because we have tawny owls nesting the owl box, I had not put poison out. Thankfully the kestrel decided to do its job. Hopefully the owls will join in.
Fingers crossed that it nests nearby. I would like the rat population cleared out.
We already do protect any ducklings which happen along, until they are large enough, so I am not worried about the ducks or the hens.


3 comments:

LP King said...

The Snap-E rat trap can be surprisingly effective, if you don't like poison. (Neither do I.) I once caught five rats in six days (nesting female and four juveniles) by placing one along the edge of my deck, where it meets the house -- which was the "run" between the rat's nest in the roof, and the way down to the garden.

You place them along the rats' run, which you pick out by the proliferation of rat droppings. It takes a couple of weeks for the rats to grow accustomed to the trap, then they take the bait. Peanut butter works well.

Caroline said...

Ewww! I hate rats. Horrible creatures - but very adaptable and versatile as a species unfortunately. Caroline x

Amalie Berlin said...

That must have been a sight! Rats terrify me. Mice do too, but it's like being petrified by a Disney character -- I feel kind of ridiculous by getting so wound up by them.

We have a wee little brown field mouse that's been lurking in the house during the colder winter spells.. and the little sucker is so gutsy now that he stalks people through the house to see what they're doing. Just trails along behind... and stops a good distance away to watch. My cat decides(every now and then) that wants it, just not badly enough to actually stop sleeping and chase it. So, it gets to stay. Hoping it will move back out when Spring comes.