[Naytikos]

I have just returned indoors from disposing of the fourth rat caught in the house in the past 24 hours. These were all young animals, perhaps two months old; it often happens that a family of youngsters with or without the mother will stick together for some time after weaning and so if one gets in the whole family usually follows.

This leads to an intensive trapping campaign. If one is able to catch a rat within 24 hours of it gaining ingress that is ideal; after that time-period the rat becomes accustomed to its surroundings and more wily.

Adults are much more difficult to deal with. They are smart animals, and will often go into pseudo-hibernation for as much as a week after gaining entry before manifesting their presence by knocking spice jars off the shelf or gnawing at cardboard food containers.

Some 20-odd years ago I carried out an amateur survey and determined there to be around 12 rats per acre on this island. The terrain is very rough with sharp rocks, numerous cavities and the whole covered by dense vegetation. Nevertheless Barn owls, who hunt in pairs, are able to derive a ready supply of protein from this source.

We have both Rattus rattus and Rattus norvegicus; a fully grown male Rattus norvegicus is fearsome to behold and beyond the capability of the standard spring-type rat-trap. Fortunately males are far less common than females.