Bulgarian Cat And Rat Saga

Bulgarian Cat And Rat SagaThe rats are still having it all their own way after the new trap system was installed. It just didn’t work. The rats just aren’t interested in circus acts before being drowned in the sunflower seed covered water so it was back with another plan and another trap.

There are many types of trap they use here including the conventional spring loaded baited plate, but a favourite is the sprung door which is snapped shut when the bait is tampered with inside the metal cage. We set up one each of these traps for a few nights to see if we could any success. The bait I feel it the secret so every day we change the food that lures them.

Chicken, salami, sirene, chocolate, sunflower seeds, cake where some of the food we tried and then success! Some Bulgarian salami on the bait the metal cage did the trick and got its first rat. We were at the farmhouse at the time so it was left for Baba to do the business of drowning it in a bucket of water.

Bulgarian Cat And Rat SagaWhen we arrived Baba had saved the drowned rat for us to see. Not a pretty sight and brought about more worries on assessment. This was not the rats we had seen scampering in and out of the garage, but a baby rat! Rats don’t just have a single ratlet but a litter, there must be many other and the parents still have the run of the place. This rat was so to speak a drop in the ocean!

We decided there and then that enough was enough we should use poison. Galia and Baba were against this as they argued that there would be the smell of rotting rats that they would have to put up with through the warm weather we are having right now. What was the alternative? Well there wasn’t a case to answer really for not putting down poison now. Me being the man of the house was asked to make the decision even though they weren’t that keen on the answer.

Bulgarian Cat And Rat SagaThe poison laid that night and the following morning it had all disappeared. This was a good feeling as I topped up the little plastic trays for another night of toxic feasting in store.
That same day we met up with some family and were dragged into their home for some beer and salami. They live on the 4th floor of an apartment in Yambol centre, we also met their cat! Mmm, the idea of borrowing a cat seemed on so I asked. The next thing I knew was the cat had been packed away in a travel cage with some cat food in a plastic bag and we were off home with a cat that wasn’t too happy about being shoved around.

The cat spent the night in the yard in his confined space and the following morning we opened the cage ready for it to check the garage for vermin after we had cleared all the poison away. No poison had been eaten, probably because the cat was in the area. As the door opened the cat sprung out scaled an 8-foot wall and landed in next doors driveway where a big guard dog was waiting. All we could hear was continuous barking and hissing.

As we ventured next door there was the confrontation, the dog wanting to attack but every time he when near the cat hissed and the dog stopped. That was how it was for quite a while. We managed to get the dog away, but the cat was now wild and would not let us anywhere near it. I got clawed and bitten trying to get the cat back into the travel cage. The only answer now was to get the owner, who we rung. He was due to arrive lunchtime and did. The cat was now in the box after the owner did the business and he was to collect it after work later that day.

Bulgarian Cat And Rat SagaThe evening ended up with a party as the family came to collect the cat. I was a good idea but just didn’t’ work with this particular cat. We all got together to tell the story and catch up with other news. An excuse to bring out the Rakia, home grown salad from the factory farm picked earlier in the day and another sirene dish that I will have to write up about it was that good.

So more poison put down in the garage before bedtime as we have now run out of ideas. It should do the job as it does in the farmhouse where it is laid down permanently in hidden areas. No problems at all there.
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18 comments:

  1. Hi Martin I fancy you need an old fashioned rat catcher-they must have them in Bulgaria. here the locals eat the rats they catch in the rice field!

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  2. American in Britain14 May 2009 at 14:34

    As someone else pointed out on my blog, try the T-rex trap. I looked it up and they also sell rat attractant.

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  3. Be carefull because if a cat eats a rat which has had the poision it might well die too.
    Sam
    x

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  4. you could always buy a nice pellet gun...might be kinda fun. You could always use plain old traps baited with peanut butter....rats love peanut butter.

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  5. I don't like Mondays, rat trap and all that. I'm surprised you didn't have a click on Boomtown Rats song to accompany an excellent post. Okay here's your answer.

    Christmas time is the most popular choice for Brits to leave the homeland and you have got to ask yourself why. Hot climates, foreign soil, the mother in law is coming to town and don't forget that expensive bugger, Santa. You'd be wrong on all counts.

    Buy yourself a Cliff Richard CD, put it on in the garage and hey bingo....no more rats. Mind you, lean over the garden fence and you might see the dog smooching with the cat. Great blog, well written and go to the top of the class.

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  6. Martin in Bulgaria14 May 2009 at 21:44

    Hi Mike,
    Even the gypsies don't eat rats here, poison and traps or living with them are the choices.
    I think ratgs are certainly cleaer coming from rice fields, they come from the sewerage systems here in Yambol

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  7. Martin in Bulgaria14 May 2009 at 21:44

    Thanks for the tip A in B!

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  8. Martin in Bulgaria14 May 2009 at 21:47

    Hi Sam,
    Good to hear from you. Where are you now?

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  9. Martin in Bulgaria14 May 2009 at 21:48

    I've heards fo peanut butter, but it's just as expensive as poison and only the rats woudl eat it. I did contemplate getting my gun and waiting under cover, but I'de rather spend my spare time blogging. lol

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  10. Martin in Bulgaria14 May 2009 at 21:49

    Cliff Richard for lemmings Martyn? There's a joke there somewhere.

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  11. You know what we used to put as bait in the old fashioned rat trap? Coconut that is slightly cooked through fire. Rats at this side of the world seems to like them. :)
    I don't like to use rat poison because of the same reason as Galia.

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  12. I think there are some cats that are just not mousers and then there are cats that just plain opposed to work. :-)

    Glad to know some people are enjoying warm weather. It's raining here right this very moment. Good thing I was planning to stay inside today.

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  13. :-) Finally going to the Bulgarian countryside this weekend. Hope to witness some of the things you blog about :)

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  14. Samantha Hristova15 May 2009 at 21:38

    You'd think with the plague of stray cats in Bulgaria there would not be a rat in site anywhere! I have no rat solutions sadly, unless you want to find the right cat! I'm not sure our Мечка is cut out for mousing...

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  15. Martin in Bulgaria16 May 2009 at 12:17

    Hi Bev,
    Weather is great here right now. Hope the rain doesn't spoil you activities.
    The latest is there are no rats to be seen! Either the cat's scent put them off or the poison did the job.

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  16. Martin in Bulgaria16 May 2009 at 12:18

    Hi Bas,
    You're a busy man, po malko leka moliya! Life's too short!

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  17. Martin in Bulgaria16 May 2009 at 12:20

    Hi Sam,
    You would think so ,but obviously not the case, maybe because some of the rats are bigger than the cats!
    the poison seems to have worked - Dn't like it but it solves a problem.
    Hope you two love birds are getting on okay there.

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