Rats and Squirrels
This was written long time ago and Indians have taken a cue and showing our lads how to play cricket away from home.
If I don’t say something about rats having hated cats for their killing spree, the spirit of this blog site is not complete.
Before that, I must talk about the squirrels.
They are very intelligent and watchful (scientific in many ways) and social animals.
They are the first to alert of any danger and Pol Kittcha is the other guy.
They work in tandem when cats and snakes are around.
I have looked after many orphaned squirrels as a kid and gave it up after two major incidents.
1. The cat (killing one of my favorite squirrels)
2. When they are uprooted from their environment they become dependent and vulnerable to infections and one day I found in it’s nest thousands of tiny flea like creatures to which I did not have any remedy.
With advancing age, I realized that they deserve to go back and since then every squirrel or animals saved were nursed back to nature.
If you do not have cats at home one can get them (squirrels) to feed from your hand like pigeons and they love cheese like any cat.
Furthermore, do not have bird table if you have cats at home.
We have decimated our house sparrows and I am still wondering why they (house sparrows) disappeared in little over 20 years.
We cannot improve nature but we can make “live and let live” a simple principle.
Never ever try to improve nature knowing man is the biggest polluter and destructor of all living beings including man himself.
There is a house nearby where there is a bird table and I have often seen when the house is empty the cats from the neighborhood (including the cats of the same house catch birds).
They are not Buddhists but I often wonder this is one way to feed the hungry cats when they are away?
I never talk to them at the same breath as here but warn them and report them I have seen cats catching the birds and don’t leave food when they are away on the bird table.
This is where I want to write about wastage of food (the haves) in a lighter vein but perhaps not, except that my house is a classic example (I have been trying to make them understand for ages).
Now that coconut is fifty and tea is double the price and sugar and milk are up, going up by the wind (political), I make sure one article at home is in short supply, when asked to do the shopping!
Slowly but surely I am getting the message across through necessity.
Before I forget, I must state that India loses 40% of its grain to rats every year.
It is far better for the Indians, not to send their children to America for further study and corrupt them more but get them to do some ongoing research to minimize this waste and invest some I.P.L money to have this trend arrested and bring food prices down for the down trodden people who do not watch I.P.L. cricket.
They have done wonders for us and our team now even cannot make even 100 in test cricket.
Please kill our cricket in full then we won’t have corrupt politicians pulling strings behind the scene.
I wish English to white wash them in the coming series and (even without that we are going down precipitously) nobody can arrest the corrupt practices of politicians and their stooges at all levels which has ruined our cricket.
I was one of those who believed only way to arrest these corrupt practises (certainly not the ICC which is made corrupt by the IPL already) for us to lose and lose and then only few who love the game will play (like England County Cricket- Good example is Thescovisk of England) and without much crowd watching except the friends who join at the pub after the game.
In that case we can also go and watch cricket without a ticket like good old days with plenty of beer money saved (to purchase the ticket).
I am in the minority but sports should be for fun (not to destroy one physically) and not to make one fabulously rich and then lose touch with common sense.
I am way off the title but that was done deliberately (I am not going to write on cricket any more than what I have stated above and I have totally lost interest due to how it has become so corrupt) since what I am going to say from now onwards is not very appealing for a healthy being.
There are people on this earth who eat bats, squirrels and rats too.
There are rats bigger than some cats in India and some cats fear them.
We have of course big political rats of all shades.
I must mention here if anybody find a remedy for rat population he will get the next Nobel Prize.
I have seen rats in London Underground and now I believe they have made connections through the channel tunnel with rats from France who do not speak English but only French.
This was a big achievement of Mrs.Thatcher (Dame) and the idea was to get the message across through underground rats who will tell the French that English language originated from French.
Very clever political ploy or deal!
I am one who believes that rats fly through Trans Atlantic Airways to America from France and have made some good connection with American diplomatic rats without WiKiLeak tapes.
If not passenger flights, they are flying to America on cargo planes without having to get Visa from America or tickets for the flight.
They will have their head quarters near those hotels where IMF bosses play Pick a Boo.
I am told that the next IMF boss’s, one of the first priority jobs is to meet the rats alliance to discuss food storage in USA.
There is a grand world alliance of rats and they have a party every time the new candidate for Republican party is declared.
They (rats) now know that Americans are the best food wasters of the world.
I will list some cardinal facts about rats and then and finish with, how I used squirrels to complete with the rats.
1. I had to dissect rats with bare hands in school (please do not take this as a rag. Now present undergraduates need spoon feeding about leadership roles, which they will never get an opportunity with the present constitution which is being amended for third round or more).
2. It was uphill task to find one from the Municipality (there were rat catchers employed and some of them are now candidate for local elections after retiring fro their of posts and many of them are in the ruling party).
3. I once killed a rat in my rage for damaging a plastic top of a tin of baby milk powder imported during 1989 dark days.
4. His companion I could not kill but escaped.
I never so that rat who was terrified with my temper tantrum.
5. I was angry that I missed the other one.
6. Then when the anger subsided, I asked myself why have you done that?
7. Plastic Micky Mouse Picture hanging on the wall told me a different story.
8. What is the different from a squirrel?
They almost look alike except the ugly long tail.
9. There should be a method to control not to kill.
10. Make the house rat friendly or is it not friendly?
Now I am a Mickey Mouse convert and my daughter was less than six months then and I am able to tell her that I kill a rat because of a tin of milk with plastic top?
Shall I make my children animal friendly?
Not due to religion but to simple logic that tells me that I have no right to kill or destroy any life.
Will I make them vegetarian?
In ten minutes of contemplation, I was a different person.
The next stage was to use my observation habits.
I looked for all the dwelling places of rats.
My rat research started, then and there.
It is based on rat friendly theme.
1. Baby Food were stored in either fridge or in steel cupboard.
2. Rat poison was banned from the house on the pretext of and lest the children be poisoned.
3. No rat traps
4. Store less food
5. Clean regularly and meticulously
6. Do not leave food out in the open, be that it may be, a bin, a table or the kitchen.
7. Cats were prohibited but one landed (black kitten) on a rainy day.
8. There were lot of opposition but I was the master of ceremony in charge little cat escaped from Kala Wadda.
9. After many months of perseverance and observation, I finally realized that rats never have their nests where squirrels were nesting.
There was healthy competition and squirrels made sure that rats are chased especially when the young are nursed.
10. Rats make nest in total darkness, whereas squirrels need lot of day light.
Final conclusion no food no rats and if you have food put them in tight plastic or steel compartments.
90% of our problem will be solved.
Never ever keep your house / rooms not occupied a single day.
Every time you are out they know you are out they have a party late at night, like after the declaration of candidacy for next American Presidency.
There is a misconception that cats can see in total darkness and catch rats.
The reason that rats prefer nocturnal activity is due to the fact that cats cannot see in total darkness. Cats have dark adaptation and the ability reflect light (photons) that had not impinge upon rods.
Similar reflecting mechanism is used in roads to reflect light and that is why they are called cat’s eyes.
In addition cats have long whiskers to guide them in dim light.
So not feeding cats at night expecting them to catch rats is a total misconception.
However, Ceylon Civet (now Famous Kala Waddas are better at hunting rats at dim light than cats.
So it is better to have a Kala Wadda instead of cat at home but they are very secretive animals and avoid humans at all cost!
In Sri-Lanka rats come for a party only on President’s House where food is thrown at lib.
In our houses food is becoming scarce and most of our rats are hitchhiking to America.
The best way (Sri-Lankan way) to control rats is for us to eat less bread and rice.
We are on that pathway anyway, now.
India can follow without feeding their rats with stored grain.
Or else they should eat them without sending them across the Palk Straight for our consumption and make poor Indian strong enough to play IPL cricket (not test cricket).
