Did you know a corgi can go on point? And will, enthusiastically!
It’s the weirdest silly thing you ever saw: A tiny, furry, little pointy-eared dog standing on point outside the shrubbery that Ratty just ran into. She also knows when Ratty is residing in the marjoram bed and occasionally will go on point without a chase.
In fact, the corgi apparently was bred specifically as a ratter: to harry the incidental wildlife that would take up residence on sailing ships.
She will not enter the shrubbery, though she probably would if I encouraged it. When Ratty decides to make a run for it, she chases the little gal like a rocket across the yard and into the cat’s claw vines.
It’s not clear that Ratty’s first instinct is to run or to hide. Roof rats are spectacular climbers. They will go right straight up a vertical wall at a dead run, without even slowing down. And that would be why the attic needs to be sealed thoroughly, or why poison baits should be scattered around the attic.
I’m not at all comfortable putting out poison, because…well, frankly, I’m afraid if Ruby finds a Ratty corpse and decides to chew on it, that will be the end of Ruby. Guess I’d druther have Ratty in the shrubbery than have no Ruby around the house.
One wonders, though… Why do we think birds and chipmunks and squirrels are so cute around the backyard, but have such a phobia about roof rats? I mean…the critters really are just another species of wildlife. If they’re not chewing on the electric wiring (hey! seal up that attic, f’r hevvinsake), who cares if they’re ambling around the back yard, stealing birdseed and eating the cat food?