OF RAT AND DOGS – THE WINTER BLUES by Syd Blackwell
In June the southern winds blow cold,
with winter ready to take hold;
and outside critters sense the air;
´tis time to seek a winter lair;
thus came a rat through window screen;
he gnawed a hole; he came unseen;
it took a while until we knew,
´til storeroom bags had been gnawed through;
we closed the door but window not,
escape was not what this rat sought;
we set a mousetrap with some cheese,
which he ignored with sated ease;
but then this rat thing escalated,
when the rat a nest created;
destroyed a feathery duvet;
´twas time our rat should have to pay;
we bought blue Storm a rat poison,
so with this rat we´d soon be done;
we scattered Storm out on the floor,
then tightly closed the storeroom door;
we have five dogs; we did not need,
on rat poison for them to feed;
at dawn I went to have a look;
but poison none the rat had took;
the same continued several days;
we tried to think of other ways
to entice him; it had to please;
we topped the Storm with grated cheese;
it did not work; but stubbornly
we left the mélange, just to see
if he would eat eventually;
and that´s how dogs came to this tale;
which also needed me to fail
to close the storeroom door one day;
then one of our dogs found the way,
to cheese topped Storm and ate it all;
then later Gundy´s frantic call,
to ask if Storm I had cleaned up;
then manic panic did erupt;
Lorena was the closest placed,
I grabbed her and to vet I raced,
but speed was not what we would need;
this poison slowly makes things bleed;
I´d daily have to look for signs;
for blood in stool, or ´long gum lines;
through habits and the things he ate,
one dog we could eliminate;
but all four others thrice each day,
the antidote; vitamin K;
I checked their gums and poop and pee;
in time a victim we would see;
meanwhile the rat who caused this fuss
was left alone; ignored by us;
through an extension cord he gnawed;
cut power; and both freezers thawed,
which we discovered far too late;
this rat we´d come to truly hate;
then just like that it seemed ´twas gone;
and we had dogs to focus on;
a week had passed; no symptoms seen;
we asked our vet what this could mean;
it could take longer; we must wait,
and still each dog must medicate;
and coughing meant that blood could be
in lungs; no breathing easily;
another week crept slow as rot;
but then Sofia coughed a lot,
and worsened as the night did come;
but signs of blood I could find none;
and Leah and Lorena checked
like nurses, as the cough progressed;
come morn´ I took her to the vet,
dreading bad news I would get;
but this cough was from poison not;
´twas kennel cough; she got a shot,
the news was good, but also bad;
this kennel cough that she now had
would surely spread; and it did too;
to Leah and Lorena who
had gone to check out Sofi´s cough;
the other two did not get off;
all treated in turn medically;
with shots, pills, creams and royal jelly;
and slowly all again got well;
there´s more rat story left to tell;
the rat you see did not vacate;
all he did was relocate;
beneath the bathtub in a space
closed in to hide a pump in place;
there he´d stay throughout the days;
and every night he´d make forays,
to search for food; to get a drink;
with five dogs indoors you would think,
that one night should commotion come,
with dogs a-chasing, rat a-run;
well maybe with a different breed,
but our dogs simply paid no heed;
at first we too were not aware;
then Gundy lost some underwear;
then pecan nuts we had left out,
and carrot tops we left to sprout;
and thus we knew our rat survived,
and new means now must be contrived;
some nights I heard things so I thought,
but flashlight searches yielded naught;
we bought new traps with sticky glue;
one foot in glue the rat was through;
but in the glue trap all I see,
a pecan that he left for me;
and in the bathroom one more theft;
he took a sweater Gundy left,
and dragged it t´wards his bathtub lair,
´til stopped by gluey trap left there;
so through the sleeve he chewed a hole;
the sweater saved; we paid a toll;
once Gundy at the kitchen sink,
heard scratching sounds that made her think,
though day, the rat was in the stove;
I searched below and then inside,
but ´twas behind the rat did hide,
´twas clinging to the back somehow;
I grabbed a stick to beat it now;
the rat, however, did not wait
he made a run while not too late
across the kitchen to the fridge
I ran around the counter quick
still brandishing my wooden stick
but when the fridge was moved away
it seems the rat had got away
back to the bathroom I suppose;
behind we found in motor well,
a hoard of empty pecan shells;
with wire this space I now enclosed;
we bought big metal traps for rats;
we bait and set them; then they sat;
our rat was just too smart for that;
we´ve had warm weather recently;
our veranillo annually;
with all the doors like mouths agape,
perhaps our rat chose to escape;
´cause we´ve not seen him for some time,
and ne´er again would be just fine;
and what about the poison that
was left untouched by clever rat;
´twas dog that ate the cheesy feed,
so why did no dog ever bleed;
perhaps was two who ate the bait;
avoided a more tragic fate;
by sharing, cut the dose in two;
with antidote, they made it through;
now this is all the news I send;
these winter blues are at an end
Casa Inspiración
20/08/14
