A week or so ago, I decided to have a walk in a different place to my normal park walk with my lunchtime pack. I invited my friend along with me and after collecting the dogs from clients homes we set off to Highwoods country park & woodland.
We pulled up in the car park and got ready for a lovely walk.
The dogs were excited to be in the woods and looked forward to the big lake at the bottom of the walk. They wagged their tails eagerly with big smiles coming from them(I believe dogs smile!)
We walked on lead out of the car park and as we entered the wooded area we set them free to run and play together. But today wasn't like any normal walking day. Rolo being a terrier at heart decided to head straight for a small enclosure, we wondered what he was up to as he changed direction and sped to the edge of it. It was a bird feeding station but had a chicken wire mesh box built around it to stop the squirrels raiding the bird food, it stood about 6ft high.
Rolo was quickly followed by Trippy a Golden fox haired retriever as they caught scent of something that made them super excited. I looked closer and there were 2 rats inside the enclosure, they had cleverly found there way in but then were trapped by these 2 hunters wanting to capture them, to be fair I think Trippy knowing his nature was just in it for the fun but Rolo (also known as Kylo Rolo) was intent on the capture.
The 2 rats who we named Roland and Ratatouille were scared, one climbed to the top of the enclosure hanging on the top with 2 paws like a scene from cliff hanger and staying well out of the way of Trippy's eager gaze and waggy tail.
The other rat, "Roland" wasn't quite so clever as he darted for a tiny hole in the chicken wire getting stuck half way! Rolo was so sharp, he was onto the rat within a millisecond and pulled him through the hole and had him in his mouth.
I reacted as quick as I could and grabbed Rolo instantly making him drop the poor unfortunate Roland rat.
BUT...in that split second moment I heard a huge RiiiiiiiiP!!!
The rat, a decent sized chunky little thing had survived Rolo's jaws as he hadn't bitten down and he scampered off into the undergrowth, I held Rolo back until I knew it was safe. The other Rat was still hanging on like a trapeze artist waiting for the chair rope to wing back to him. I was at eye level with him and reassured him everything was okay.
"You will be alright little one" I whispered to Ratatouille with a smile.
We moved away, the dogs forgetting about the incident as quickly as it happened, walking off with waggy tails and a bounce in their step.
As for me, I soon discovered what the loud RIIIIIPPPP! noise was, I had torn my trousers from the front right around to the back and they were flapping about letting the fresh air waft around my unspeakables! With my pants on full show and my friend in tears of laughter I remembered I had a spare pair of trousers in the car (as a dog walker it's always good to carry backup clothes)
I walked back to the car as naturally as possible, A lady with her child looked at me strangely as I explained what I had done,not surprisingly she hurried off!
I found my spare pair of trousers and got changed quickly in the car park and as discreetly as I could.
We laughed all the way around that walk that day as we kept talking about my trousers!
The rats lived happily ever after, Rolo & Trippy had an extra bit of fun and finished the long walk really tired due to not only running and playing but also using their inherited skills of hunting, scenting and working as a pack.
We still laugh about it now!!
until next time.
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