There's been a problem with rats on our street in Capitol Hill. Hank was approached by a neighbour asking him to pick up the pears which fall daily from the tree in our front garden. She claimed to have seen a few fallen pears with bite marks and was worried the rats were feasting on them. He was surprised by this but told her he would see what he could do.
Once the neighbour was gone, Hank began searching the garden for pears and to his surprise discovered a small rat under a bush. The rat appeared to be injured and did not run away. Donning a pair of gardening gloves, Hank reached under the bush and picked the rat up by its tail. It was bleeding from the head and appeared dazed.
Standing in the middle of our front garden, holding the rat by the tail, Hank wondered what he should do with the animal. He looked around for inspiration. Should he kill it? How?
Just at that moment a lady walking past on the street called out to him: "Excuse me?"
Embarrassed, Hank looked up, still holding the rat by its tail. "Yes?"
"Can I have that?" she said.
Hank was caught off guard. "Erm .... Why?"
"Because I'm not sure what you're planning to do with it. I want to make sure Animal Control are made aware of it and can help it get better."
At this point it was probably all Hank could do not to burst out laughing. Stifling his belief that Animal Control were not interested in rehabilitating rats, he offered to put the rat in a box and hand it over to the nice lady.
And she agreed.
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