A surprise in my humane rat trap

So you know that rat problem I was having with the chickens? And that I caught 2 rodents in it - one mouse and one small rat?

Well, I hadn't caught anything for weeks (nor had I seen any rodents around) except for a Sunday a couple of weeks ago, where the kids started yelling "Mum, mum there's something in the rat trap!"

Oh great, I thought. Now I have to drown another rat. Depressing.

But, when I went outside, that's not what was in the trap at all!

Hard to see in this picture, but it's a small black kitten with white paws!

Anyway, I was worried that it was going to be unwell as I had no idea how long it had been in there, so I took it straight to the RSPCA who said that they were full on kittens but they took it in anyway. I had a few of them saying "I've never seen a kitten in a rat trap before..."

Mind you, the trap was unbaited. The kitten must just have been exploring.

I put the trap back in its spot and a few hours later, there was ANOTHER thing in the trap!

It looked so cute when I took it out!

So I was going to take this one to the RSPCA the next day as it was too late in the day to go. However, that evening I saw a mother cat with another kitten prowling around  my garden, who was a long haired tabby of some sort with a pale coloured kitten. Oh dear, I thought to myself, poor mother cat.

But as the night went on, I found myself wanting to let the kitten go back to it's mother. What if it wasn't weaned? What if it was cold? I had put water and fish out for it but I don't know what kittens eat! And to top it all off, the poor kitten was crying non stop. I felt bad and at 9pm I went out and let it out. I even managed to pick it up, and it felt solid, not starving. Maybe someone was looking after them. However, it's very irresponsible to let kittens walk around with their mother!

I thought that was the end of my story. But, 3 days later, the final kitten walked into the trap (also unbaited!)

And it was SOO CUTE!

I was going to home this one, but because I only saw it 5 mins before I went to work, and I quickly put it in the hutch, I forgot to lock it properly and the kitten escaped. I had even found it a home on Gumtree and then had to tell them I had lost the kitty. Awww.

Now here was my dilemma - do I let these cats roam around? I really wanted those kittens homed and the mother desexed. I tried contacting various agencies and nobody was willing to come and trap stray animals - not the RSPCA, not the pound, not the council. The Cat protection society recommended I hire a trap from Kennards - which I thought was a good idea. But they were $60 for 3 days! And it was less than that to buy one. So I bought one and thought about how I could catch the mother and have her desexed then release her back, because maybe the reason I had no mice problems was because of the cats.

But, the cats did not visit anymore. Hopefully they found a good home somewhere, or their owner decided to be more pro-active in looking after them. Whatever happened, the next time I catch kittens, I'm rehoming them!

Sydney Royal Easter Show 2011

It may sound corny but I really like going to the Easter show.  As usual, it always rains at the Easter show and Saturday was no exception.

I wanted to go this year especially because it is the last year that Erika can enter the Easter show for free.  Though technically she is so small she could probably get in for free again next year.  Julian was still a little small to appreciate the show, but Erika still liked it.

I parked the car at the station and caught the train there.  The kids love catching the train.

We started off at the Woolworths Pavillion, sampling various tidbits and as usual me spending money on ridiculous food showbags full of snacks which served as lunch for me and the kids.  I got Jalna yoghurt and also a honey bag which had 2 types of honey in it and a honey guarana drink (zing!).

Then we made our way to the home and arts pavillion where I bought the silicon food covers for my sister in laws.  Also K&J were there with their kids and I dragged J to the stall and she bought some too!  The Demonstartor dude gave me a knowing smile as he launched into a demo for J (as I had just told him I was buying 2 for my relatives).

A quick stop through the showbags where I decided not to load up on junk (though in hindsight I thought perhaps I should get the Dora showbag because there was an umbrella in it and Erika was insisting on carrying an adult umbrella which was swiping everyone's knees around her as she wielded it).

Then we slowly made our way through the animal pavillions, starting with the dogs, then onto the chickens, pigs, cows, sheep and goats and finally the Farmyard Nursery where Erika and Julian both touched goats and sheep, looked at chickens and dragged their feet through the sawdust.  Lucky I decided to put gumboots on both of them or I'd have some horrible shoes to clean!  Erika really liked the pigs.  She cried because she wanted to go back and see the pigs again.  There were a lot of piglets there and she was absolutely fascinated by them.

Julian did have a sleep in between but was awake for the Farmyard Nursery so at least that was some fun for him.

Then it was raining again, so we bolted back to the train station.  The kids were tired and so was I!  But it was a good day out.

Trying to help critters

I dropped the kids off at Nanny M's and the cat had a little bird in its mouth.  Nanny M and I were trying to grab the cat to get the bird out but he kept running away.  I think the bird was alive to start but after the cat put it down a few times and picked it up it was looking floppy and lifeless.  I managed to corner the cat next to the garage and grab it by the scruff of its neck and Nanny M pried the baby bird out of its mouth, but the bird was dead, so we put it in the trash.  Poor hatchling.  I'm just glad it wasn't an endangered bird.

Then I was at hospital and I was walking along the corridor near the inner courtyard and I saw a lizard scampering around near the edges - it must have wandered inside and gotten trapped.  It was about 15cm long and I tried to encourage him to run towards the door but he kept hiding behind a pole.  I knelt down to try to catch him so I could take him outside, but he ran away again and then I stood up and banged my head on the railing - ow!  After that I lost interest in trying to rescue the poor trapped lizard!