February 2nd, and my day starts out at with the rat in my garage seeing his own shadow. That must mean six more weeks of setting the rat trap in the garage. I know. I know. This is really Groundhog Day. But starting my day with a rodent encounter seemed awfully appropriate.
This particular rat was caught in the live metal trap we bought last month when said rat was spotted outside near the pond, eating bird seed. Pretty good looking rat, too. Since he was in our house, though, he was “vermin”. (If I’d bought him in a pet shop, his name would be Ben.) But you don’t keep a pet named Vermin, and I’m too much of a wuss to kill an animal that big. So what do you do, being it’s 5:30 in the morning and you’re not exactly at the top of your game?
You relocate the rat.
Yes, Vermin went for a ride in the back of my car. There’s a lovely field next to the “park and ride” in Soquel where my carpooler and I hook up. I carefully opened the trap, shook out Vermin, hopped around a bit as Vermin jumped up and down on my feet (this was great fun at 6:00 am) and then set out to the field, destined to likely be breakfast for a hungry hawk.
I’ll be resetting the trap in the garage this evening. We’re hoping that Vermin doesn’t have siblings or dependents, but if he does, I want to make sure they’re reunited.
So what in heck does any of this have to do with music? It’s just the kind of thing that pops into your head when you run your monthly open mic, get home at 11:00, and then double back over the hill first thing the next morning.