Cats! Hedgehog!

Had a terrible problem with kittens this summer, lots of them hanging around, more than we've ever had before.  Most of them have gone now however, with the exception of a tabby kitten, which is quite sweet and very friendly, not wild at all, and not wanted by us.  We already have a cat, although I must say, she's not the best at seeing off the intruders.  Anyway, this tabby seems to have adopted us and learnt very quickly how to use the cat flap, which is partly why we've been unable to get rid of it.  The cat flap is open all the time for our cat and we couldn't really start shutting it now, plus the front door is open most of the time during the summer what with the kids and the guests being in and out all day anyway.  We are still deciding what to do, although we'll probably end up keeping it as we couldn't abandon it and no-one will take it from us!  Looks like a trip to the vets in the near future.  More money.

Also had a problem a week or so ago with a little black kitten.  Now this one was very wild, not at all tame, not at all friendly and not a all safe to go anywhere near.  This one also learnt how to use the cat flap.  Now there is a big difference between a domesticated cat in your house and a wild animal in your house.  And much as we didn't want to, we had no alternative but to run a 'catch and release' program.  We went out one afternoon, left the cat transporter basket thingy in the kitchen, and fixed the cat flap so that the cat(s) could get in, but not get out.  Sure enough when we came back it was in the kitchen.  After a little chasing, Adrian managed to catch it and then after a bit of a scrap to say the least, it was a vicous little thing, managed to get it into the cat box.  Into the car and off for a little drive.  Dropped it off in farm land so it would have plenty of food in the vicinity and it legged it without a look back.  Now, I know that lots of you will be tutting away at me, but this was a wild animal, in no way domesticated, there is no 'animal sanctury' anywhere near here that I am aware of, and quite frankly, the irresponsible people at the end of the day are those that allow their cats to bread prolifically in the first place and then don't take care of the offspring.  Every year we have kittens around the place looking for food and shelter.  It is not nice.

And so onto part three of the cat stories.  Adrian found our neighbour's cat at the side of the road yesterday morning, it had been run over and looks like killed instantly.  It was in the middle of the entrance to where the bins are for our hamlet (no, the bin men do not come to our door, so think yourselves lucky next time you poms are whinging about your refuse collecters), so Adrian moved it onto the grass at the side, a little more discreet.  What to do?  Well, we decided if it was our cat, we'd like to know, so we went round to their place but they were out.  Later on I saw the wife, just coming back from the bins, she hadn't seen the cat there so I gave her the sad news.  She didn't want to see it, said her hubby would deal with it later.  Well, it was fortunate that Adrian had moved it earlier because there would have been no avoiding it when she went up to the bins and that wouldn't have been very nice for her.  Anyway, once we had confirmed with the wife that it was probably hers (it had a distinguishing mark) Adrian went and got the cat and put it in a box and we kept it until Mr Neighbour came home later that evening.  I showed him the cat's mark (we'd covered it's face) and he confirmed it was theirs, but he said he couldn't deal with it, so could we bury it please?!  Well, couldn't exactly say 'no' could we?  We've thought of a nice spot for it, but it's in one of the gite gardens, and we have guests in there at the moment, so we'll have to wait until monday morning when they've gone.  In the meantime, we have our neighbour's dead cat in our garage. 

On another note, we were having a bit of a chat whilst he was here, and the subject of the many kittens came up and he said, 'one of them was a lovely little black cat, been around recently although haven't seen it for a few days, so sweet - did you see it?'  Aaah - no!  The way he was talking I thought he'd have taken it on instead.  The guilt!  But then after further discussion I realised he was talking about a different cat black kitten (ie a friendly one, with different markings).  Phew. I would have loved to have offered him the tabby, but that would have been bad taste.

And just to prove that we're not entirely mean, animal haters, we did actually save the life of a hedgehog earlier in the summer.  Adrian found it in the swimming pool one morning, frantically swimming around, unable to get out.  So he fished it out and brought it back to the house.  It was in a bit of a state and you can't easily dry off a hedgehog, but we wrapped it loosely in an old towel anyway and put it in a box with a bit of cat food (apparently they can eat that) and it snoozed the day away in our kitchen, aprat from waking up to poop occasionally).  In the evening, it woke up and we released it into a sheltered spot in the garden.  Again, 'catch and release'!

lizard!

Went out last night (school meeting.  The excitement of my life).  Wore my trainers and as I was driving along the road I felt an odd sensation in my right shoe which made me think 'it feels like there's a spider in my sock', but I knew there couldn't possibly be a spider in there so I decided that probably my sock was a bit baggy and it was the movement of my feet on the pedals making it feel odd.  This morning I was sweeping the kitchen floor (a miracle in itself) and picked up my trainers to move them out of the way when I noticed a flat, dead, baby lizard in my trainer.

And talking of school meetings I was asked to join the parents committee yesterday.  Clearly they are either desperate (actually it turns out that they are) or France has suddenly gone all pc and needs a token english person on the committee.  Especially as the previous one has just left.  You know who you are. 

And after last nights meeting in which the class teacher admitted that her english was somewhat rusty to say the least and she has already been asking my daughter how to pronounce words (so far, after two full weeks in school they've learnt 'hello', 'goodbye' and the days of the week), it was suggested to me by another parent that I should go in and help teach english....  It's nice to be wanted I suppose!

Aaaaaaahhhhh.....

Bloody hell!!! The Nits are back. I am so pissed off. Took me half the summer hols to finally get rid of the little blighters and two months after going back to school they're back again. I'm going to shave all our heads like Adrian.

Wasps!

I think I'm going to name this year 'Year of the Infestations'. First rats and mice, then bees, ants and flying ants and now wasps (not to mention the brits, but we bring them on ourselves).

They're not really wasps actually, they're known in French as 'Frelons' and they are evil little bastards. Born angry. They're like hornets only nastier. Anyway, we always get some around the place, especially late summer, but the last couple of weeks they've been a lot worse than ever. They bang on the windows at night trying to get into the light and make a right racket. They have been flying around outside the house and some of the gites a lot and then a few days ago Adrian sussed out their nest site. The roof of our house is not all on one level and where it drops down between levels there is a stone wall, just outside the roof window of my parent's bedroom and above the girls bedrooms (which are on the ground floor).

The pompiers (fire service, who deal with this kind of thing) were called on Friday morning and we were advised that the local pompiers would call back sometime to make an appointment to check it out. Oh yes, and it would cost €100,00. An hour later there are two pompier guys on the doorstep, ready for action (with the frelons, not with me).

After shutting all the windows and doors, we had to give our remaining guests the orders to either remain indoors or evacuate to the other side of the garden for the next hour. The eldest pompier made the younger guy suit up and climb up onto the roof and spray some powder stuff into the wall and over the frelons. They were going mad all over him, but he was so well covered he could hardly see anything and the other was shouting directions from a distance. He couldn't see the nest because it is so far into the wall cavity, but they think it was quite new and therefore not too big and then they reminded me how wasps like to eat wood, especially oak, which just happens to be what holds up the roof (so far), so it was good to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Anyway, they didn't charge us because they said it wasn't our fault we had the frelon nest (when is it anybody's fault?) and the monies charged go straight to the tax man anyway. We were told to keep away from that part of the front of the house for the next three days or so because of annoyed dying wasps flying about, but they seem to have disappeared already (hope so, don't like to speak too soon). I went down that way earlier today to get some green beans because I thought it was safe, and then got completely freaked out when a large bee flew out at me!

BEES! FLYING ANTS!

Fairly full this week, four gites booked out. Adrian was doing some work at the weekend outside the little gite when he noticed some bees and flying ants at the window (on the inside). He went in to investigate and the place was swarming with flying ants and several bees as well, although many of them had also died and were littering the floor. He killed off the flying ants and cleared the place out of all insect life (and death) and we thought that would be that. But no! More bees kept appearing at the window, dead and alive. There were some gaps in part of the kitchen ceiling (wood paneling) so he blocked them up, but still they kept appearing (yes, he had checked that the windows were shut). Eventually he conducted a thorough search of the place and found them to be living in the bathroom. There is a panel behind the toilet and whenever he knocked it (gently) they would all go mad inside which apparently sounded horrific. He blocked up a few more holes inside the bathroom, but they were still inside this panel, he checked it out on the internet as bees are protected and you're not supposed to kill them, it said don't block off the entrance hole (which we think is above the front door!) as they'll then try even harder to find other ways out (ie into the gite itself).


This morning the bees are still buzzing away like mad so I went off to the local mayor's office (the fountain of all local knowledge, except when it's shut, which is why I wasn't there until today) to ask their advice, as we had guests due in this afternoon. They informed me that the pompiers (firemen) no longer deal with this kind of thing, have to 'go private' (ie pay). They gave me a number of a guy, who couldn't help, he dealt with wasps, he gave me the number of another guy; old, deaf and on his mobile, couldn't understand a word I was saying, anyway, he couldn't help, said he would get someone else to call me. Another guy rings, agrees to come over, and he duly does so, arriving just before lunch - I am impressed, I thought I'd be battling to get anyone out before the end of the week. He checks out the gite - no bees to be heard anywhere! Adrian eventually gets them to make a bit of noise by some serious banging on the panelling, but it looks like they've either died or buggered off elsewhere. The bee guy refused to remove the panelling - didn't have a protective suit for some reason, he said they naturally die off at this time of year (they're not honey bees) or may be they have actually decided that our gites are not suitable and they'd prefer something a little less rural and more up-market. (Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely little gite, also known as 'the love-shack' on account of the fact that most of the couples who stay there seem not to leave the place for several days during their stay and seem to be prone to long lie-ins). Mind you, it was our gite for two and not several hundred, so maybe they were feeling a bit crowded in there.


Needless to say, we did not put our guests in there, luckily we had another gite free this week and we've given them that one instead (bit of an up-grade) and we'll monitor the bees this week. Seriously hope they do not come back or we will have a bit of a problem on our hands. Although according to the bee guy, the pompiers will come out and deal with them when there is no other alternative - ie they cannot be removed and therefore have to be destroyed because they are in living accomodation - at a cost of around €100,00...

RAT!

We've had increasing noise in our ceiling and walls for some time from the rats and mice, but on the whole it's not bothered us and they don't tend to come in the house, so we let them get on with whatever it is they do. However, a couple of weeks ago all power was lost to the socket the computer uses and also the light on the bathroom mirror (wired up somewhere behind the wall, not visible socket). We realised that the rats/mice must have bitten through the wires. Anyway, Adrian re-routed the computer wiring under the carpet and through a wall to connect to a socket in our bedroom, couldn't do anything about the mirror light though.

We then decided we'd better do something about our lodgers as things could get worse. Adrian found some rat poison and went upstairs to where my folks live (we live downstairs) to put it down. Fortunately, there's a large hole in the floor under the table in the dining room which has been covered for sometime now with a peice of nailed-down plywood and a rug. Up the rug and the wood came and down under the floor went the poison. It was really smelly under there from all the animal droppings and wee and what have you, but the smell had not escaped into the house fortunately. After a couple of days, things finally went quiet in our walls and ceiling and we thought thats the end of that then. A couple of days after that, my parents part of the house began to stink to high heaven. Neutradol and open windows made no difference. The rug and the wood came up again, but nothing could be seen, and it was obvious that the smell was not coming from that area. Adrian sniffed around and reckoned he knew where it was coming from, which meant lifting the floorboards. Sure enough, giant foot-long stinky dead black rat. He tried to pick it up by its tail, but as it had already started decompossing, he was left with just the skin in his hand as the body fell away! It has now gone and the lights for the bathroom mirror have started working again...