RIP Mr. Rat

Since it's getting warm, the rats are coming back to the chicken coop for food. Actually, they've been hanging around all winter, since the weather was pretty mild. As I mentioned before, they're too smart for the traps. So Hubby sited in his air rifle this past weekend. He got it pretty accurate. He's the great white hunter in the house. I changed that today. I'm sorry to say that I shot my first four-legged furry mammal. It is not a good thing to kill, but I've been killing with the aid of a rat trap for years. I've reasoned that since I didn't watch the thing die, that it was OK to use a trap. Pretty lame, ain't it? What is really bad is it is faster to use a gun than it is to use a trap. I'm pretty accurate. I've always been pretty accurate since I was a kid. I really didn't expect to hit the little thing, but I did. I am sorry I did it, but I am also glad I did it. This was our second kill recently. There are babies coming in with them to feed. There are two babies which are a pretty good size right now. They're not at big as the parent, but almost there. We really need to keep these things under control this time. I tell you, we had about 30 of them when we had the chickens in the barn. I won't let it happen again.

Now, I'll be moping until tomorrow evening when we have to go after the younger ones.

Take care.