Free Lunch!

Today, I hoped to catch a shot of the Robin that has taken up residence with Mum's hens.
While waiting patiently with camera at the ready, I also saw a pair of Dunnocks and then this family appeared.

Rats!
As bold as brass, 2 Adults and 4 juveniles made repeated visits to the bowl of corn.

The Dog deemed them to be too small to be worth chasing and sat and watched with me for a good 20 minutes or so.

Whereas I normally dislike rats - usually because their presence is unexpected and they make me jump, these were rather endearing.

I remember, as a child, learning by heart, the whole of the poem 'The Pied Pier of Hamelin by Robert Browning. Today this was the only verse I managed to recite to the Dog.

Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladle's,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.

Here is the full version,

The blue/green blurred line on the image is that of the plastic wire mesh surrounding the chicken run.