I Smell a Rat..and See One Too

So this morning started early. I awoke with Mags and trudged downstairs to make her tea at 430 or so. She, in the meantime, had gotten up to take a hot hot shower hoping that the heat and steam would warm her and help clear all the crap out of her head/nose area. While she was showering I stripped the bed and threw the sweat soaked sheets into the wash. Mags went down to the chair and put a movie on while I crawled into the bed in the guestroom and was able to get a nice hour nap in.

After that I went out to our shed. The shed needs to be cleaned up once or twice a year and Thursday when retrieving the mower, I noticed all the bags in the shed..grass-seed, rose fertilizer, grass fertilizer, etc, etc had massive holes chewed in them. As did the large plastic snap-top container which held bird seed. Now these holes were too big to be made by the resident field mouse. I suspect a rat and when I put the mower away, something small, fast and hairy darts into the corner. I'm too tired and a little leery of tangling with a rat. So this morning I go to the shed, pull everything out ans sweep up mounds of bird seed, grass seed and rat poo. I dispose of all the offending stuff and start to put everything back into the shed.

I feel that the wee beastie must be in there still and when I almost done I decided to check my golf-bag. I lift my nine iron and sure enough, like he is being shot out of a cannon, a rat propels himself out of my bag, off my chest, down my leg and into the woods behind the shed. I close up the shed, go to the house and wash my hands with anti-bacterial soap three or so times and now I'm searching the web for ways to get rid of said rodent.

PS... anyone want to buy a set of golf clubs?