Trapper Dave

When we went to Man-O-War a couple of days ago, we took Walkabout to "stretch its legs." As we stepped on board the dewy decks, we saw funny little footprints in the cockpit. Then Dave found some droppings in the cuddy cabin. Uh oh, there's a rat on board! I'm not sure why, because there isn't any food, but my biggest fear would be that it was looking for a nesting area. If it was hiding somewhere, it went for a ride to MOW and back. That night, Dave borrowed one of the boatyard's rat traps and set it in the cockpit. First check a couple hours later...Gotchya! Here's the conversation that followed...
Dave: "I got one! Do you want to see it?"
Me: "No thanks, but how big is it?"
Dave: "About the size of a rabbit!"
Me: "WHAT?! Hang on, I'm coming downstairs with the camera!"

I don't think it was quite the size of a rabbit, but still quite large. I think the ironic thing about the photos is that Dave's eyes are closed and the rat's are open. 😉

He reset the the trap and found another one in it yesterday morning. Last night he reset it again, and I told him that if he trapped another one it meant he was enticing these critters on to the boat from the surrounding mangroves. He agreed. This morning he checked and the trap is empty. We know the first rat was a male and forgot to see what sex the second one was. Our theory is that it was female and the these two 'harbour rats' were moving on board to start their family. Lesson learned? Use Walkabout more often!