OF MICE AND CATS

I believe I have mentioned our rodent problem in and earlier epistle. I have lived in many ancient houses in my lifetime and all of them had the occasional visit form the odd mouse,but this place, is in a different league.

Once upon a time our house had a thatched roof,but at some time back in the middle of the last century this was removed and replaced with welsh slate. This would have been done with the intention of giving the house a roof which did not require replacing every twenty five years or so,regrettable ,but understandable.

Even so I would like to get my hands around the throat of the “artisan” who carried out this act of vandalism, for his workmanship while weather proof is , even more regrettably,not mouse proof!

Changing the mature of a house roof is a tricky business of the best of times and changing thatch to tile or slate is fraught with difficulties and gives rise to a range of problems,why folks do it I cannot imagine.

Enough of this frippery.

In short another mouse,or perhaps even a rat has chosen to die somewhere in our loft. This is a very large area and a thorough search of the place a couple of weeks ago when we had the first plague ,revealed nothing but a mass of dead flies.

The flies which are plaguing us at the moment are very much alive and have defied numerous attempts to kill them. I think this is due to the flow of fresh air through the attics ,lets face it ,if a mouse can get in there so can a draught!

From time to time we her the little perishers scuttling about and this drives our cats demented and I have now reached the conclusion that the best remedy would be to put our cats up into the loft for a while and let nature take it's course!

This morning while I was deliberating the merits of this seemingly foolproof plan one of our cats ran in through the cat flap carrying a very large and very angry mouse,which it released as soon as it entered the kitchen,whereupon it promptly vanished behind a heavy monks bench.

The cat searched for its missing trophy for about ten minutes then gave up the chase and went to sleep before the fire!Very tiresome but also typical of our lazy moggies.

Later I observed the cute little mite sitting on the cooker hob washing its whiskers!

I detest the use of poison and I hate traps, so , what remains? My son tells me that there are now electronic gadgets which prevent mice from taking up residence by emitting a sound unpleasant to the mouses ear. I shall embrace technology and purchase one of these in the hope that it will send the little pests running before they have the chance to give up the ghost in our loft.

If this fails I shall purchase a ferret,the most efficient mouse killer known to man,In any event I do not intend to be defeated by these furry interlopers,cute though they be,they will have to go.

I have spoken!!