Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Adventures in Composting

For years we have composted. I have seen the oddest bugs in the bins. Never has the compost moved. This Sunday as we were emptying the bins to use the finished compost in my raised bed. As I was pushing the compost which was slipping off of the main pile back into the middle of the pile for Jeff to shovel it into the wheelbarrow, the pile started to move.

I asked Jeff if he saw the movement. He had not. It moved again. As I was mentioning this phenomenon for the second time the middle of the pile erupted and a grey rat appeared. This was not one of my old pet rats. This was a wild rat which of course immediately ran.

Who did it run at? Jeff? Of course not. It ran in my direction. I screamed. This of course brought the dogs at a run. With an instant circle of it's natural enemies, the rat immediately ran for the nearest climbable object. My leg! This time my scream was accompanied by a dance. The dogs having seen me dance before retreated. This left a clear path for the rat to the wood pile.

Gidgett, my prissy, gorgeous, show girl, spent the rest of the day circling the wood pile. She may look like she is not a real dog but she becomes a Jack Russell when she sees or smells a rat.

What a day.

Side note: There were four more rats in the pile.

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