May 11, 2004
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The Old Mill in Lower Slaughter, England Photo and enhancement by Chris Duffy
My blog tonight has nothing to do with the picture above . . . well, maybe just a little. My sis and I grew up in a river town on the mighty Mississippi and spent many a Sunday afternoon after church on the river, so we are always drawn to water. I love this picture of the Old Mill which I took in Lower Slaughter. It has a building of Cotswold stone, a stone wall, and water. There were actually sheep about 30 feet to the left of this frame, but I couldn’t coax them to step over into the picture. Imagine that.
My sister created a web site for me for my birthday using a lot of my pictures from England. Here is the URL: http://www.woodrome.com/England/Index.html Thanks a million, Alice.
Now here’s my real blog for tonight. We put up a bird feeder in our meditation garden, which is that narrow strip of ground between two houses – ours and our neighbor’s house – with the fence running down the middle dividing their property from our property. Well, I was standing in the breakfast room watching 6 little birds feeding at the feeder, when out of the fence (you have to imagine my lip trembling here) came 3 rats. A mommy, a daddy and a toddler rat. As soon as they saw me they retreated back into the fence. I guess the posts are hollow. I spent the next hour and a half rapping on the window each time they dared to peak their heads out. Now I’m afraid to go out into my own garden. My husband is out of town or I’d send him out with a ball bat or something. I even called the neighbors who share the fence hoping that I could get HIM to do something about the rats, but they weren’t home. I can’t touch a mouse trap, let alone a rat trap, and I’m afraid that I’ll kill the birds or squirrels if I put out poison. What am I to do? I HATE the thought of rats running around in my garden.
Comments (9)
:eprop: :eprop: :eprop: :eprop: :eprop:
Christine, I think this is the most beautiful photo I’ve seen of your trip! It’s absolutely gorgeous! Too bad you didn’t have a wide angle lens so you could have gotten the sheep in too. It’s so pretty I would love to see a painting of it by your sister. I love landscapes and pastoral scenes. :goodjob:
As far as the *eccccckkkkkkk* creatures, I would suggest borrowing a mouser cat but it would probably like the birds as well. I wouldn’t put out any more feed until you get rid of the things though because it’s probably attracting them don’t you think. Wonder if flypaper would work? I have heard that hot things like black, white or red pepper and hot peppers deter critters of most types, perhaps a wide line of something strong along the fence line would deter them? Or something like powdered borax ( we use that against bugs in Florida) or vinegar? Other than that since you ARE in Texas I would say get your firearm out and shoot the daylights out of them the next time they stick their eckky heads out! ROFLOL :lol: (I used to live in Texas too!) LOL GOOD LUCK!!! :lookaround:
I’m suggesting yer site to my wife, who’s an Anglophile desperately missing the Old Country. (Unfortunately, our funds are more desperate than she is…so we won’t be going for some time…)
Perhaps she can slake her wanderlust vicariously with some of your photos…. :goodjob:
Awww…poor little ratties! Actually my mom had a pet rat in college (I think he was named Narcissus) and she said he was the best pet–very smart and well behaved. I’m just taking her word for it… NO suggestions on how to get rid of ‘em, naturally. :lol:
First… that photo and your skillful enhancement is the BEST. I love it.
Next, you are very welcome for the webpage — and let me wish you an early Happy Birthday! I really enjoyed doing it for you. It’s fun when you have such great images to work with.
Lastly… the rats. Like I told you on the phone last night, we had rats living in the tie walls that terraced my old garden. I would see one every once in a while — but not often, so I never worried about them. They never got in the house and I just thought of them as another critter out there. However, I can see why if you are seeing them three at a time, you might want to exterminate them. Traps, I think, are the most effective way. But there are other less extreme options. You may have to quit feeding the birds for a time. If you feed the rats, they will stay. Did you know that there are electronic pest repellers? I’ve read that they are effective for mice, so why not rats? There is also repellents sprays and powders on the market. They smell like the natural enemies of the various critters you are trying to get rid of… like rodent repellent smells like bobcats.
Good luck, Chris.
Here kitty kitty kitty.
Rats (ewwwwww)
Pete
i love this picture. i don’t like rats much…and i have no experience in the extermination of them…good luck! :spinning:
You might try the phone book and look up the nearest Critter Ridder. They will bait and get rid of what they trap. I would give that a big hearty thought.
Well if you can laugh at my sticking to the seat I can grin at your rats.
Seriously it was funny after the fact.
Once you get the critters out of the fence, fill the hole with steel wool. And yes the bird seed is their lunch.
I love this. I love the almost super-real light and stillness of the water. You have an amazing eye. I’ve been looking through your blog tonight and really enjoying my visit. Thank you.