Early autumn fruits (and a rodent)

0703 early autumn fruits
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

Early autumn? Late summer? Whatever. The supermarket had this array of unusual inhabitants in their fruit section this week - green starfruit, fresh figs and the hairy wonder of rambutans.

Exotica's great, but bananas back at around $2/kilo (a kilo is just over 2lb) are most welcome too.

On another note, this is the time of year when a rodent or two needs dealing with. There's one (optimistically she says one) that's got me bewildered. After being alerted to its presence by its chewing, I went this time for baits - poison pellets in cardboard containers.

First morning, I noticed some nibbling. Dandy.

Second morning, it looked as though there had been a full-scale domestic, with a ripped cardboard container, almost all the pellets gone, and scraps of cardboard scattered across the floor. O-kay. Glad you're enjoying it. Eat some more and preferably expire outdoors...

Third morning (having put down more baits), one container is definitely disturbed, some bait eaten, the container moved from where I'd put it. Hope you're finding it yummy, Mr Rodent (4-7 days, it says it will take to kill 'em, and they will still eat bait during this time, even though one feed is enough to do the deed).

Fourth morning, one container (about 4in long, with around 50g of bait in it) has VANISHED.

The rodent raptured, and took the bait with it?

I'm not looking behind the fridge yet. I still hope expiration takes place outdoors, not behind the fridge or somewhere in a cupboard.

I'll bung out another couple of bait smorgasbords and see what happens next.

(I just searched my blog with the word "mouse", and sure enough, it was about this time last year that the mouse hunt took place. It's that time of year...)