A Rat Killing Machine
- January 25, 2005
- 6 comments
My mini Dachshund, Shorty, is a rat-killing machine. He’s absolutely ripped for a mini, with muscles showing all over the place. In fact, that’s one thing most everyone comments on when they first see him is how muscle-bound he is. That and how fast he can run for a short dog.
When I first got him, he was in shape, but not ripped. Through years of playing chase-the-bouncy-ring all over the house and outside, he has become an über-mini. His favorite toy is a green, rubber ring that can bounce in odd directions. He will literally wear you out from throwing it before he gets tired of it. I’ve thrown the ring for over half an hour sometimes and he gets pissed at me for stopping.
For Christmas, we got him a mechanical rat that rolls around and makes noises. It’s made of hard plastic and has fur on it. As soon as we turned it on and put it on the ground, he was on it. Within a couple minutes, he had ripped its face (including the plastic) and tail off, crushed its plastic sides and broken the internal motor. No real rat would stand a chance.
Anyway, through all that practice, he is amazingly strong, quick and agile. His natural instincts make him a hunter. Put those together and he’s a rat’s worst nightmare. Which is good, because we have quite a few field rats on our land. Sometimes they like to take up residence in one of our sheds which wouldn’t be bad except they love to destroy everything.
So today, while my dad was cleaning out one of the sheds, a HUGE field rat jumped out of a box and hid behind a workbench. Dad called me and told me to bring Shorty out. The rat pulled a good one on all of us and escaped into another shed without us seeing him at first. We took a guess as to where it went and discovered it hiding up in the beams of the ceiling. We got Shorty in there and I got a broom to try and knock it down on the ground. The thing was fast and it took me about a minute before I was able to get it just right and knock it on the ground. Well in that minute, Shorty got so pumped with adrenaline he was literally groaning. As soon as the rat hit the ground it took off like lightning, but Shorty was right on him. There were several seconds of the rat jumping and bouncing around trying to avoid Shorty, but it didn’t work. He clamped down on the rat, shook his head twice and it was dead.
He then trotted around like a big-game hunter with his tail straight up in the air. I got my camera and took the above picture. Rats are very fast and there’s no way I could’ve caught the thing by myself. With Shorty around however, the odds are against the rat.
Russ
January 26, 2005
Missy
January 26, 2005
Les, I have them turned off because trackbacks are so rare. I get maybe one or two a year, so what’s the point?
I would love to get Shorty in action on video, but I don’t have a good video camera. Video’s such an expensive hobby/business to get into, I don’t see myself getting one anytime soon either.
Yeah Miss, Shorty’s a keeper! 
Russ
January 26, 2005
Awesome story Chris! Shorty looks so damn proud and deservedly so.
On a different note why do you have trackbacks turned off? Spam? This is one of those entries where I’d probably write a related entry and trackback to you. Just a curious quandry.