Strolling along the boulevards of Plumstead, minding my own business and taking my baby daughter for a sleep, I paused by some wasteland to admire the view (I could almost see the back of our house).
I lowered my gaze and made a mental tut noise at the various bits of old junk, rubbish and, oddly, slices of white bread that had been left strewn around this informal wildlife reserve.
Then I saw the rat. Quite a big one, shouldering its way through the undergrowth. It stopped and caught me in its beady gaze before we both ambled off on our own separate ways.
Talus and the Frozen King – 10th Anniversary
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2 comments:
I recall a walk around the Ravine pond with a friend a couple of years ago. A grandfather and his grandson were throwing chunks of bread into the water for the ducks, and complained to us about the number of rats spotted thereabouts. When my friend (a wildlife expert) politely commented that bread (i) can be harmful to ducks and (ii) attracts rats. The grandfather let loose a string of expletives that led us to believe that he was not too enamoured with the advice given. I wonder what his grandson made of it.
It's unfortunately quite common to see people feeding the ducks at the Slade Ponds. It's hard to tell people with young children but when we do see them we try very politely to suggest that the rats really love the bread and that the ducks have plenty of natural food. We've seen less rats lately and rather hope that someone hasn't tried to poison them - which would be bad for other wild life. Funny how some people throw whole slices in and then just leave the loaf wrapper behind!
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