That is horrible nannygetspaid I think maybe you need to get the rodent control people in and block up any holes in the building, around pipework etc.
Here's a rat story, she says, distracting herself from proofreading again...
My niece, when she was about 10 and her sister just born, had a very nice pet rat. She was intelligent, charming and very tame. They lived in London, 3 doors away from a large Victorian cemetery. And it was summer.
The rat cage was kept on the kitchen floor and the back door was often open.
One day my sister was on the phone and announced that the rat seemed to have a boyfriend. it was something about flour on the floor and rat footprints...
Oh, says scientific sister, mmm, well I think you are going to have to have your rat put down. Wild rats carry Weil's disease, you can catch it from their wee, and a male rat, climbing all over the pet girl rats cage will have been weeing away like anything - and the disease is really nasty and potentially fatal. You can't take the risk.
So they took my advice and the sweet pet rat was put down (i guess the vet saw my point of view) . There followed an outpouring of grief. Not just niece but my sister, who cried and cried for days. And also the woman who bred the rat was told, and she was grief stricken too.
I felt bad, but knew that my advice was right. Would not have forgiven myself if children had been made ill. Sharing space with rats not a good idea.
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