03 May 2012

A Bad Bandicoot Situation

I don't know how else to say this, so I'll just say it.

Bullseye likes killing bandicoots.  Little rat bandicoots that obviously live in the forest out the back.  I think they are the pest bandicoots that are a problem in Asia and India, but whatever their status in Australia, they must be living in plague proportions in the forest, because there certainly seem to be many which venture into our yard at night.  Don't they learn their lesson, after losing to Bullseye?  Well, yes, one can assume that each individual bandicoot does learn its lesson about trespassing in our yard, but by then it is tragically too late.

I hate her killing bandicoots.  I disciplined her severely the first few times she did it, then I found a few dead rats around the place and praised her for killing those, then I got about as confused as she obviously was, and now I don't know what to do.

Well, there is one good solution and the best price I have found on the internet is $21.60.


Just for overnight wear in bandicoot season.  She has forfeited the right to go muzzle-free, I think.

Grandma disagrees.  She is a soft-touch, even when shovelling remains of  dead bandicoots into their resting places because Mr de Elba is at work from too-early til too-late, and I refuse to do the job.  "Oh no, you don't want to put a muzzle on her," says Grandma.

"Yes I do," I say.  And I figure that once Grandma shovels her first maggot-ridden, greatly-decomposed, mostly-melted bandicoot which has putrified after not being discovered during an extended rainy period, she may agree.

10 comments:

Allegro ma non troppo said...

Go for it.

The Accidental Housewife said...

Bandicoots, the dirty little rats that they are, are considered "vulnerable". Especially in your yard!

I reckon you have two choices. Either go for the muzzle, or else collect a whole heap of bandicoot skulls, stick them on tiny stakes along the edge of your yard, and scare the beejebuz out of the little critters. Your call ;)

mamahasspoken said...

Love the comment above!
I had no idea what a bandicoot was so I googled it. Some were cute, some looked like a huge rat. Either way, your story reminds me of our chipmunk and bunny problems here. I've taken the mantra of 'a dog has do what a dog is born to do' and let them go for it. Of course they've eaten part their kill several times which then brings the birds of prey into our yard. Which then makes the dogs try to catch them, sometimes with luck. Oh you see the cycle of things here don't you. I'm just happy there aren't any small children at my house any more....

Unknown said...

I'm siding with your dog on this one. Can't say I have any sympathy for pests. Being raised on a farm can do that to you. But it hasn't hardened me up enough to deal with shovelling dead animals. I'm incredibly sexist here and would call it a man's job. So if a muzzle if what you need to do, I'm not judging you!

Tracy P. said...

I wish rodents were smart enough to sense the Grave Danger of entering canine territory. If they were, the rabbits in my yard would vacate due to the recent addition of four dogs in the yards adjacent to ours. Then my garden would be safe! Good luck with the muzzle. Eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Charlie said...

So glad I have cats. Indoor cats, at that.

The idea of a muzzle freaks me out because I'm a tad claustrophobic, so ANY kind of restraint like that freaks me out. (Doesn't matter if it's for animals or people. When I see movies with people in straitjackets I usually leave the room.) On the other hand, decomposing animal life in my backyard doesn't thrill me either. Tough call. Perhaps you could send Bullseye around to sleep at Grandma's house every night...?

Unknown said...

The muzzle kinds horrifies me. And if you have dead bandicoots in multiples in your yard, it seems that it's a possibility that you might have multiples of live ones in your house or near your house if you muzzle the protector of the realm. And I'm not sure what a bandicoot is but the reality is never as appealing as the name. Especially when you are referring to them as rats. Personally, I love the little staked skulls suggestion. And perhaps you could also put a little Christmas light in each one so the empty eye sockets glow menacingly into the forbidding forest? But I've no idea what you are talking about so what do I know?

Swift Jan said...

Oh ewwww!!! You know I have just [finally] gotten through the other side of a horrible rat problem (hey! A blog post idea!)... I wish I had a Bullseye to hunt them down! In the end it was a trap and some poison that killed them!

But the thought of finding dead animals all the time in my yard is pretty gross also.
I wouldn't know either what to do!

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John Ross Barnes said...

Hey You! I'm still alive and doin'(mostly)

Muzzles, huh? My main concern would be that some previously unknown crytid beast might materialize(just Because the dog has amuzzle),jump the fence and have it's way with hapless canine.

Too much of a stretch, Huh?

We have coyotes here who will do all of the above.

If not that, Go for the Muzzle! Just cause I also have scooped and buried more than my share dead critters