Saturday, March 26, 2011

STRANGE THINGS IN THE NIGHT

GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA!
TOBY (and the PACK) here...
(Aunt Tam - there's no stopping her!)

What a happening in our house the other night!
I have to tell you about it!...

It is usually pitch black and deathly quiet in our house, when everyone is sleeping.
Us dogs lie in the corner, snoozing lightly, while our humans snore away. We usually have our ears to the ground. But we've also learned to rely on the beady eyes of our high-tech alarm system.  

Well, on Thursday night, the "Boss" was out of town.  
Maxmom was alone, with only us to keep her company. 
We all went to bed early.

At 2am we were all rudely awakened...

  Loud, blaring sirens!
EEE----AAH---EEE---AAAH!
Maxmom was up in a flash.  So were we...

WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

Intruders?
Once Maxmom let us past the security gate, we let rip down our passage.

Afterall, us dogs have to be first with everything!

WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!

Maxmom wasn't sure what to do, so we waited for the security company to arrive and we barked, frantically, in the meantime. 
Soon the officers were there, all ready for action, and they started their patrol.
Eventually, they declared, quite casually, that it was all a false alarm
....mmmph!
  What had they found?

NOTHING!

BUT...US DOGS knew better!

Maxmom wanted to go back to sleep, but we remained on full alert.

"Can't you guys settle?" she asked

"No way!"


Eventually she got up and made herself a cup of tea. 
By that stage it was 3.30am.

Looking fatigued, she boiled the kettle and poured the water over her teabag.
Suddenly, something caught our eye.

A large, black creature, with a very long tail!!!

"RATs!!!" we barked.

With Maxmom's cry of alarm, Aunt Tam and "The King" went into full hunting mode. 
The rat took one look at us and scaled the dog barrier between our kitchen and the dining room. 
We followed him, in hot pursuit, into our piano room. 
Geesh, he was agile!

 I'd never experienced something like this before, so I barked while Aunt Tam and the King went into full hunting mode. 
But the rat wasn't taking any chances.
He disappeared as quickly as he'd shown himself.
I ran with Aunt Tam and the King back into the kitchen.  
We searched everywhere.
In the scullery, in the cupboards, everywhere!

 Maxmom also used the time to turn the house upside down.

"Rats! Rats!"
...she kept urging us, breathlessly.
This always sends us into a canine frenzy!
The "King" is our master-snooterer!
We don't call him "The King" for nothing!
Long live King Toffee!
He can get into the small spaces, while we have to watch, frustratingly...

We spent about another hour sniffing everywhere, for this obnoxious and elusive critter.
 The rat's smell was everywhere - behind the couches, near the piano, in the corners of the cupboards!
He seemed to have dropped things wherever he'd been. 
 It drove us nuts!
Eventually, we discovered that he'd set up shop behind Maxmom's dishwasher, and she set about cleaning his mess. 
But the rat was nowhere to be found!

"Some dogs, you are!"
...she muttered with disgust.  We eventually followed her back to the bedroom.

"We'll find it, Maxmom! We will!'

Rest assured!
When she says, "Eeeeeek!", we say...

WOOF!

Have a happy weekend, we'll be rat-hunting!
Lotsalicks

22 comments:

Dexter said...

Oh what an awful scare! I suppose "just a rat" is a good outcome but now that little bugger is somewhere waiting to jump out. Hope you track him down.

Slobbers,
mango

Angel Ginger Jasper said...

A rat uggg Mum said she would hate that but I think with you three on the case you will soon have that rat sorted. I hope so because your mum will have no rest untill its caught. Happy rat hunting you three and hope its found.. Hugs GJ xx

Clive said...

More rats - goodness!!! We've just been reading about that French rat that got it's life finished off by Tama-Chan and Bibi!! I think you need some French visitors quick!!!

Sorry we haven't been commenting recently - we've been very busy but we have been following and reading!

Thanks for the kind comments too on winning the money for the Assistance Dog Programme on the Poupounette blog - much appreciated!

Have a good and 'rat-free' hopefully weekend!

take care
Clive and Murray

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

OK, Tam.... MAKE ROOM FOR TAMA!!!!!! Me and my gang of Vermin-Catchers Extraordinaire would be happy to fly out to SA to help you with this little project but please note that we only travel FIRST CLASS....

Roars,
Tama-Chan (just call me TC), Sei-Chan and The Beebs

KT and Easton said...

Story, well told! We used to get the field mice in our house in Idaho. We had two Goldens then. Female Cosmo was a huntress supreme. Little boy Devo could have cared less. Of course little meeces didn't set off alarm systems. Good luck catching the rat.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

Good luck with the hunt for the unwelcome intruder, that I guess was looking for a comfy winter home?

Scout 'n Freyja said...

Holy moley! What YOU need is Miss Rosemary JOY! She is our 'predator in residence'. Once a mousie got into the house. Miss Rosemary JOY! dispatched that mousie quickly and assuredly and then laid it to rest at momma's feets. Miss Freyja was just about ready to check the deceased mousie out with her snooter when momma grabbed a tissue, picked up the dearly departed and - well, we didn't see where she put it but we can tell you this - for a long time there were some really and really good sniffs to sniff in our fambly room with our snooters, yesh, there were!

Miss Rosemary JOY! does not has a passPURRt but she says she will get one and be on her way if you need her assitance☺

PeeEss: momma says that only a devoted blogger would think to grab her flashy box during such an exciting episode! How come no photos of the officers that arrived? Were they cute?

Angus said...

To be in Joburg and have your alarm go off in the middle of the night must have been scary. Top marks for seeing the light side of it ! A quick way of getting a thorough cardiovascular workout. Having I can see from the photos that having Toffee there made the whole experience much easier to deal with. Quite a character.

Mrs. JP said...

Oh my, what a night you had! I bet you were exhausted while the dogs were having a good old time.
I know you've probably thought of this but I have to say it....set a trap behind your dishwasher!! I can't stand those buggers. Our cat has made our house blissfully mouse free.
We'll be praying for good hunting,,,yikes!!!

Pepsi the Lazy Bum said...

Oh my, what a night all of you had! At least it was just a little rat; I'd hate to think if it was something or someone else...

I am SURE you'll find the little critter soon!

WOofs,
Pepsi

The Life of Riley said...

I've been starting to think we have our own rat as about 3am each morning I keep hearing ripping of paper and scratching noises - but it is only our little puppy who has been nicknamed "the rat" for the last couple of weeks!

Good luck finding your own little rat. I hope you or Miss R has checked your dogs are all up to date with thier leptospirosis vaccination so they don't end up with anything nasty. Do you vaccinate for that in South Africa? It is optional here but we live by a creek which is in the bush behind our section, so you never know what creatures are around!

Sending you woofs (and much surprise at our cricket team actually winning after they lost 11 one day matches in a row),
Riley

Molly the Airedale said...

We have no doubt that you will stay on the case until the intruder is found. If you need any help, Mitch will be there in a flash. He loves to hunt mousies!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

sprinkles said...

That must have been quite scary to be woken from a sound sleep in the middle of the night like that!

Sorry about the rat. Hope you find him soon and send him on his merry little way. Just not my way, bol!

Sally Ann and Andy said...

That sounds very scary. I'll come and get the rat. I am an earthdog after all.
Sally Ann

Tweedles -- that's me said...

maybe the intruder is snuggled in your bed!! oh dear!

will the alarms go off again- tonight?
what an incredible story.
we did not want it to end!
love
tweedles

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Let's hope woo don't start singing to it like that Michael Jackson did year and years ago!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msqfQpoFTYk&feature=related

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

STELLA and RORY from Down Under said...

Oh I'm glad your Mum had you three to keep her safe. That sneaky rat. Hope he gets caught soon. We had a great dane that caught a rat once just before my daughter's 10th birthday party. He was carrying it around in his mouth until I got it and disposed of it. Then she gave him marshmallows to 'sweeten' his breath. It was so funny. Take care all, no worries, love Carol.

Milo and Alfie Marshall said...

How awful. We hope yoo frighten away the norty rat soon.

WFT Nobby said...

Wow Toby I bet MaxMom was pleased to have all of you around. That must have been SO exciting.
But I can't help feeling that what your house needs is a terrier! I mean, I know I've never hunted a rat, but I am so sure that I could!!!
Toodle pip!
Bertie (never ever short on confidence)

NanaNor's said...

Hi Toby and gang, I can imagine how terrified your mum was when the alarm went off, especially with dad being away. So glad that it was just a horrid rodent though and not a person. You tell King Toffie he must earn his keep and show his royal bloodlines-get that rat and let mum sleep.
Hugs to you.
Noreen and Reggie-dog

Anonymous said...

Wow what a day!

I bet that darn rat will never come back because you all scared the poopie out of him!

Keep up the Grrreat work!

woo woos, Tessa

Unknown said...

Oh - what an adventure!!!!!

Hey, Toby - tell your human to be glad that at least she hasn't got ME! I'm TOTALLY useless. You probably missed the post last year but we had rats in our house in Brisbane last year - they used to come out every night and chew up stuff in our pantry! Yes, even though plastic bags - all our things had little holes in the bottom! So to find out where they were coming from, Hsin-Yi sprinkled some flour by some cracks in the floor - and in the morning, she found a little set of paw prints leading from a hole in the floor - RIGHT PAST MY BED & MY NOSE - all the way to the kitchen!! You should have heard the things SHE muttered about me then! Hee! Hee!

Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane