Practising

Today I got in bit of practice in case we ever have to go to rural Nigeria.

All I did was glance out of the window at the hens in the back garden.
A small (actually it was rather large) furry nose was poking out from behind the slide trying to get past the aggrieved poultry in an attempt to steal their food.  IT WAS A RAT!  The hens did a good job keeping it at bay and it was still hiding behind the slide whilst I got on my wellies, picked up the spade and rushed out to do battle, watched from the upstairs window by my male relatives. 
I was all set to inflict GBH on the creature and banged the slide in an attempt to flush it out.  I expected it to shoot out from the side and give me a good shot at it.  I did not expect it to charge at my legs.
I'm afraid I turned rather girly, squealed and jumped back as the rat dashed off towards the neighbour's garden.  Needless to say, Fraser and James were collapsing in gales of laughter as they observed from the safety of the house.  It's a good thing to be able to provide harmless amusement to others.

Now the eglu and hens are up for sale.  (Anyone interested?)  There have probably been rats around for months but I haven't known about it.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss; now I've seen one I can't ignore it.  The hens would have had to go to a new home before we left, they're just having to go a little earlier.