Second Helpings

Ratty

Despite rummaging around in the wardrobe and drawers in search of a more amenable head to wear I'm afraid to report none of them have been without some degree of grumpiness. I put it down to the still very raw and mixed emotions, the inefficiency of people dealing with formalities, the insensitivity of some folk, the approach of my favourite time of year and my inability to motivate myself to do much of anything.

So I continue to be ratty and out of sorts, but promise I am trying to improve on several fronts. Hubby has continued to be a source of irritation on several occasions, though again I am attempting to be more pleasant and tolerant. I'm not always succeeding however. Alongside the obsession with meals, the rude behaviour witnessed when friends visited and his continuous space invasion and interrogations, there's been another incident I could have well done without.

On the morning of my Dad's funeral I answered a phone call and was confused and irritated to discover it was a pest control company returning a call reporting a rat problem in our garden. Not only did I know nothing about it, but was most annoyed to think hubby would make such a call on such a sad day. He had previously told me he'd seen a rat in the garden, but failed to consult me over what we should do about it or inform me he'd contacted pest control. If I took action over something without telling him or seeking approval for my actions he'd go ballistic, but again a case of double standards.

Rightly or wrongly I'm a soft hearted soul and would never kill or destroy anything intentionally if there were other options. I told hubby I thought it insensitive he'd called the company on the day of my Dad's funeral and also I was not pleased he seemed intent on getting rid of the rat by cruel means without discussion. Later in the week while I was out the rat man visited the house and confirmed there was indeed one solitary rat living under the shed. It had obviously been disturbed by local building site activity and was attracted by the bird food I put out every day. His advice was to stop feeding the birds for a while and see what happened.

In my low emotional state this really upset me. I don't have many small pleasures in life, but my garden birds are one of them and I hated to think of them going without the food I put out, particularly at this time of year. I sarcastically asked hubby if the rat would leave a card when it vacated the premises, but as usual it went over his head. But rather than have the rat poisoned or trapped I had to comply, though sad and angry at having to do things hubby's way or no way. Agreed, I didn't want a rat in the garden, but if he'd boarded up the gaps at the bottom of the shed as asked in summer, it may not have arrived in the first place. I do tend to have a funny way of sticking up for the creatures most people hate and admire their capacity to survive against all odds. In my humble opinion rats would stay underground if people didn't disturb them or leave heaps of rubbish around.

Days passed and as suspected we didn't hear back from the pest control people as to what steps to take next. I think hubby sat and thought things through slowly as is his way and decided he didn't want me upset any longer. He acquired a friendly rat cage and set it up in the garden with a jaffa cake as bait inside. Sure enough the next day, Mr Rat was well and truly trapped inside the cage but totally unharmed. That was when hubby had to decide on what to do next.

Ever since he suffered so much during his phase of failed hip replacement operations over a decade ago, he's been unable to walk any great distances (except on the golf course) and walks with a slight gait, rather like John Wayne in the old western movies. Watching him limp down the lane holding a long window pole with a hook on the end attached to a metal cage containing a squealing, wriggling rat I had to smile and also admit that sometimes he's a hero. After a lot of false starts and fiddling around with the catch he managed to open the cage and Mr Rat scuttled off into the fields and hopefully won't be returning. I'm not sure how many men would do that to spare their partner's oversensitive feelings, but it certainly lifted my spirits and the atmosphere a bit.

So now I can feed my beautiful birds again and despite still not feeling very bright am not quite as ratty as before.