Feral Friends

I'm pleased to be able to report that pest companies have become far more "green" and animal friendly.

We've got some issues at the moment with furry visitors.

There are some critters with small scratchy feet living above our bedroom - probably rats, possibly some possums as well. The pest control guy came round the other day, and put in a very fast working rat poison - not very nice for the rats, but hey, at least it goes fast. He also told us what to do to keep the creatures out and prevent the problem. So I'm clearing the weedy mess at the side of the house, and the builder is coming round to give the roof the once over and seal any gaps. Thing is, the poison hasn't done a thing, which makes me wonder if it isn't some other animal in there - a possum, or possibly the water dragon? I don't know if they go into roof spaces, but I can't see why not.

We're also installing a termite prevention system that sets a circle of baits around the house and traps the termites before they get into the building. That way, we can hopefully prevent having to use nasty chemicals to keep the house free of white ants.

But the biggest improvement seems to be in catching snakes.

This is one of those "be careful what you wish for" stories.

When the rodent catcher came round on Wednesday, I half-jokingly asked him if he didn't have a nice Diamond Python for us to re-locate into our roof. You see, they are native snakes, they are not poisonous, and just love eating rodents. They are the absolutely best way to rat and mice proof your house. Unfortunately, they are a protected species, and you can't just go and pick one up from somewhere. Mind you, if he had to catch one as part of his job and re-locate one, I'd volunteer to house it. Still, Buckley's chance.

So on Thursday morning, I'm scooping some leaves out of the pool, and spot a shedded snake skin on the wood chips by the side of the pool. I figure I'd better pick it up to try and find out what type of snake it is - and off course my youngest son wants to take the skin to preschool for "Show and Tell". As I grab it, the bottom part breaks off and slides under the pool. Right.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a glimpse of the colour of the snake - and this is quite important. Had it been black, we would have a Red Bellied Black Snake, which is fine. But if it's brown, we could have a Whip Snake, which is OK, or a Brown Snake, which is definitely not OK- it's the most dangerous and aggressive snake in our area. They don't like woody areas very much, so the chances are small, but still. With my kids running around that area, I'm not going to take any chances.

So I got the pest control guy to tell me how to best catch a snake. In the olden days (and probably still so on many a property out in the bush, you put some milk in a half opened tin can (with the lid pushed it). The snake will crawl in the tin, but not manage to get out. Problem is, no one else will get it out either (not without cutting it) and you have to kill the animal. That's not quite what I had in mind. So the pest control guy send round the feral animal catcher, who set a nice, full body snake trap next to my pool today. He'll be back in about three days from now to come and check on the mouse, and see if we've caught a snake. We can then have a good look for identification, and then decide if it's safe to keep or not. But the best thing is, the mouse is perfectly fine. The snake can't actually get to it. The mouse has a cage within the cage. It's got bedding, water, food - and even a some rolled up piece of linoleum over it to keep it dry. The mouse will get replaced with another one in three days - it's like an indoor and outdoor play time schedule for mice. They look after their mice, these feral animal catchers. They need them again. Isn't that nice to know?

Here is to animal-friendly snake catching!

So here is a pic of the snake skin (it broke into 3 pieces) and the New! Improved! view from our bedroom window - towards the snake trap.