I thought that the last update was the final, definitive epistle on rats, but no.  I haven’t seen or heard from the rats in my neighborhood for almost three months now.  You can search the www.tourguizhou.net site for “Trouble with Rats” for the whole story. The response from readers has been very interesting.  It seems that rats are a universal issue.  Most women especially don’t like rats, seeing rats, hearing about rats, reading about rats or anything else about rats. Even changing out the picture with a picture of Mickey Mouse didn’t help.

Yet I am continuously tweaked by this subject.  Bobdisqus on the Traverse City Record Eagle Blog (http://blogs.record-eagle.com/?p=10760)  gave some great links that deserve more publicity:

Cuddly Kitty
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/science/that-cuddly-kitty-of-yours-is-a-killer.html?_r=1&
and
Rat Hunting Dogs . . .
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/rat-hunting-dogs-bite-new-york-city-vermin-problem-article-1.1331191

Both of these links provide lifesaving information that is really worth knowing. The upshot of the articles is that you need to keep your pet’s shots up to date and keep them clean. If you take your dog out in the neighborhood to hunt rats, you shouldn’t let him lick your face: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fflfJP9Q3EM).

Thank you Bob !

As for me, I haven’t seen or heard of rats in my house for a long time, but the subject is never far away.  I was experimenting with a banana bread recipe, breaking walnuts in my spare time.  I had a half cup just sitting on the kitchen counter a few days ago. I got up one morning with the idea that I would make some banana bread, but the walnuts were gone!  I live alone (I hope) and I don’t remember getting up in the middle of the night and eating those walnuts. At age 62, I may be losing my memory. Alternately, I may have unwanted houseguests. I’m not sure which idea I prefer . . .