I Hate Rats

My Dad always used to say that one should never hate anything in this world.  He was, of course, correct.   I used to pass this sage advice on to vehemently vegetarian surrogate step-daughter.  Her response was to affect mock annoyance, stamp her foot and say "OK, Graham, I don't like it a very lot then."  I think that might not have been my response in the middle of the night from which I've just woken.  At 0245 I woke to a noise in the roof space.  I'd woken to it on the previous two nights but much later and thought it was birds on the roof.  It wasn't.  Last night it was louder and more persistent and 5 hours later is still going on.  If I had had a shotgun there would be several holes in the ceiling!  As it was I put my iPod headphones on and tried to block out the noise.  It's a family of rats scurrying, scratching, feeding, and partying.  It's a good job we are not staying here tonight!  The house ain't big enough for us all!

Wild Goats

When we went walking at Tangoio a few days ago we saw a herd of wild goats up on the hillside. Yesterday I saw a hare at fairly close quarters - a wonderful view with its long hind legs which made me realise just how large a hare can be.  Unfortunately I had no opportunity to get the camera open before it went.  Likewise when I was chatting to Sue on the phone yesterday morning a large female brown rat walked past my study window and was gone before the camera would switch on.  There was an advantage in the old mechanical cameras.