Surprising

You will remember our rat concerns over the summer. Notwithstanding Rentokil’s confirmation that our house is definitively rodent free, herself continued to allege that there were…scratching sounds coming from the blocked up chimney in her room.

Today she summoned her father to listen to the noise. She messaged me subsequently:

Update on the rat living in my chimney: it is a pigeon. Dad is thrilled. Apparently, it’s not a problem anymore because pigeons are peaceful animals. I am significantly less positive. He offered to let it loose in my room (!) in the hope it would fly out the window. When I rejected this solution, he left in a sulk.

Apparently, Mr. Waffle opened the hatch at the back of the fireplace. He was going to put up a piece of cheese to verify absence of any cheese eating rodents and when he opened the hatch there was a totally unafraid pigeon blinking calmly back at him. This, apparently is where it lives and scratches. Chimney caps are coming into our lives.