Ratatouille

Tooth marks and the tit bit off

No skins in ratatouille

They don't like the peelings. Bet you never knew that. When the little rats (read "big, well-fed with sleek coats"), decided to take on my tomato patch, they taught me a thing or two. No skins, and the Rapreco Paste tomatoes are first choice. Galina, a pretty, little yellow cherry is least preferred. Jeune Flamme', a medium orange lovely, is somewhere in between.

Garden "udder" of juicy goodness

While the furry little critters are "adorable" in a Pixar movie, my fondness for any sort of rat is rapidly slipping away.  But when I think of the food view these rodents have in the garden, I do have to chuckle.  Rapreco Paste tomatoes grow a very pointed end.  From down under, it must look like a giant red udder with dozens of tempting red tits hanging down, begging for a nip from critters with elegant and discerning taste.

Tempting titters

Checking the eggplant was part of the harvesting Things I get to do today.  No tooth marks there or on the garlic, onions, basil, peppers or parsley.  This low-class band of thieves must be working on a one-ingredient version of the dish.

One Year and Two Days

It took just over a year. I should be surprised it was that long. Rats are smart critters, and the local gang finally broken into our "rat-proof" chicken feeder.  The last two days they've been feasting there every time I glance out the window.

24-hour dinner table

With chickens around, rats are like first cousins, except closer.  Since hens are not thorough in getting every morsel of grain or feed set out for them, the frugal rats take care of any that is left behind. For that reason I built a giant bird feeder that rats could not climb up nor jump up into.

Plastic creates a "no-holds" area next the the feeder.  I will probably
need to cover a larger section of the screen soon.  Fast learners.

It took me two days to spot the rats' point of entry and to put the solution in Things I get to do today.  A large piece of plastic is now on the wall of the chicken coop.  The little critters have been climbing up the screen of the coop and jumping down and over into the hens' dinner table. The invitation to dine has been withdrawn.

Squirrel Eggs

I'm expecting.  That's saying a lot, especially considering that it's squirrel eggs I'm looking for. Here's the deal.

I feed my hens all the right things.  Now for a hen, besides sow bugs, earwigs, slugs, worms, flies, grubs and anything else that is small enough and slow enough to be caught in a beak, the right things are water, oyster shells and "layer pellets."  They drink a fair amount of water.  Hens go for the oyster shells on a need-to-eat basis.  Their body just tells them when their calcium is low, and they head on over to the nutritional buffet.  Layer pellets, however, are their staple.  The pellets have the right balance of protein and fat.  Most importantly the pellets have calcium needed for strong shells when the hens are laying eggs.  To make eggs, the girls need "layer" feed or the equivalent.

But back to the squirrels.  I've discovered that if you are feeding large critters (chickens), everything smaller that wants to eat can get to the food as well.  Little fly-by birds, rats and those very large rats with fluffy tails that we call squirrels all get in line for their (not so) fair share.  If the hens can get in, so can all the rest.

Squirrel ran up the near-by tree to avoid a mug shot.

I would never put out a squirrel feeder. These critters multiply based on food supply.  There are enough of them in my neighborhood that they are routinely seen flattened on the road. Not only is my layer feed increasing the numbers, but also we have squirrels that are off-the-charts obese. One of them waddled across the yard the other day, barely able to run. When the hens are not in the feeding buffet, there is usually a squirrel clamped to the edge, stuffing its cheeks, stuffing its belly, stuffing its paws.

It can't possibly be one of the Things I get to do today, but I'd certainly like to find the nest where those squirrels are laying all those eggs they're making from eating what I feed the chickens.