Rattus Rattus

Rattus Rattus

We lived on CMC campus for many years in a sprawling bungalow. Rats came in from the garden through the drains, but I never had a problem with rats in the house. We had house dogs ( miniature Pomeranian, Tibetan Terrier) vicious animals who chased rats around the house and cornered them. Sometimes they hit them with their paws. All that racket roused the domestic help. Armed with brooms and mop handles they soon reduced the rat to a bloody mess.

We moved into our own house n a village after retirement . We only had "outside dogs" For the first five years  we did not have a rat problem. Then the gardener decided to plant a small patch of ground nuts. When it came to harvesting the crop we found no ground nuts -- only flourishing foliage. Rats had eaten them all.

My house had mosquito mesh all around, nylon mesh as adviced by our architect. Easy to clean and swaying in the wind. Rats could also bite through.

One night as I returned late from a party and put on the dining room light, I saw the most enormous well-fed rat sitting on he dining table ans staring at me. It had a long wire like tail which swayed in the breeze. It had a ointy face and two buck teeth. I let out a screech, ran into the bedroom and bolted the door. The rat made chirping noised and rn in the opposite direction.

We placed all kinds of traps spring traps, metal ones, I was buying a trap a week. I was scared to come out of my room at night----. No rat got "trapped" but I could hear them scurrying around the kitchen. at night.

Then someone told me about "glue paper" These are cardboard sheets you buy and keep in strategic locations. We tried that.

Viola! two rats were stuck the next morning. They were fixed on the paper.

"Ugh!" I told the domestic " do something".

I did not want to go near the rat . It was still showing me its two front teeth.

The domestic disappeared briefly. He re-appeared with my Silambattam sticks.

"These are the right size to kill the rat--."

I gave such a loud screech that the rat shuddered.

"Those are my training weapons."

Very solemnly before and after class my instructor and I bow to those four sticks. How could I possibly touch them after they were used to kill rats? More important how could ie explain blood splatters to the instructor?

"Respect your weapon" was his constant refrain, "otherwise it will strike you."

After being "struck" a couple of times, and accidentally chopping off some of my hair with a sword I was very respectful.

Finally, after much cajoling  he carried out the cardboard squares with the struggling rats on top.

(I honestly don't know how he had the  courage.)

He took them to the paddy field and dropped rocks on them.

That morning as I drove to work a weasly man was standing on the side of the road. He turned and gave me a peculiar look. He had a small black moustache,  a pointy face and two buck teeth. It looked like the two rats had resurrected themselves into one mousy human  and were waiting for me.

I stepped on the accelerator---.

http://velloretimes.blogspot.in/

training dogs

Training Dogs

I have always had dogs, of different shapes, colours, sizes, and breeds. Each one has been more out of control and uncivilized than the one before.

"Dogs develop the personality of the owner "said one relative to me rudely after a particularly harrowing experience.

We had a miniature pomeranian who looked so cute and tiny that people wanted to pet her. She waited till their face or hands were really close and then she pounced and bit. She held on with tenacity and it was difficult to pry her loose. She refused to obey any commands and disdainfully turned her head and walked away if told to "sit, stand" or "stay". She was however afraid of heights. If we placed her on the window sill, she was too scared to move and stayed there till lifted down again. She also had a habit of hiding behind the fridge and coming out snapping at peoples ankles. She hid in my husband's shoe and destroyed his foot when he tried to put on the shoe (he didn't see her)

She died after 14 years and then we got a Tibetan terrier. He followed me around the house all the time and hated everyone else. He was very possessive and jealous. I was talking to a friend. Out of nowhere he jumped on his hand and tore his watch to shreds. My son's friend all 95 kilos and 6 ft  2 inches of him was chased around the house by the dog. He jumped on the washing machine to escape. The machine collapsed but I managed to grab the dog in time.

Slowly we found it difficult to get electricians or plumbers to repair things. No one wanted to come to our house. I used to send him to my parent's house when I travelled. My mother wondered why people stopped dropping in to their house!

After he died I decided to get a dog that lived outside, a giant black lab. He was very gentle and knew only one command "sit." As he grew older, he didn't bother to sit if he did not think it was important enough. He also indiscriminately jumped up on people (out of love) but very few people understood that. Since I was younger I could handle him.

Once while walking him on a lonely village road, a man stopped his motorbike and made kissing noises at me. As I ignored him he started to sing Tamil love songs. I had no option but to return on the same road. He was waiting. As I neared, he started singing again and making obscene gestures. I dropped the leash. The black lab jumped on him and tried to lick his face. Black dog,  white teeth red tongue, it was too much for the roadside Romeo. He uttered some guttural sounds and fled on the bike.

When the black lab died, I got a fawn coloured lab. He has a cute and friendly face and loves everybody. I wasn't taking any chances. I have poor balance after my accident and the puppy was huge at three months itself.

I hired a trainer. He obeyed the trainers every command "sit ,"stay," heel, down".

He jumped on me every chance he got. He pulled off scarves and lungis. I had to hide from him behind the screen door. He loved my husband. The minute he set eyes on him, he would lie down to have his tummy scratched. He is disobedient four days a week when there is no training.

I guess you always get the pet whose vibes soon match that of the rest of the family!

http://velloretimes.blogspot.in/