I’ve once again been exercising my denial muscle.  The other day, Cass and her friend Minnie caught a rat beside the barn.

While I know that there is no such thing as a single rat, I’m still telling myself that this one took a train from Boston to get away from the crowds.  My biggest concern is that the canonical way to deal with a rat problem is to set out baits containing an anticoagulant poison.  The idea is that the rats take the bait back to their fellows, they share the meal, and then all bleed to death.  The catch is that dogs are similarly sensitive to the poison, and eating the bait or a rat that has consumed the bait can do them in.  Birds of prey are similarly vulnerable.   And since rats are the border collies of the rodent world, mechanical traps are rarely effective at catching more than one or two before the group figures out the trick.

I feel stymied, and since I haven’t seen another rat (not that I’ve gone looking…), I’m pretending there’s no problem.  I’m hoping my denial bubble lasts at least a little longer.