Regular readers will know that I have both a fascination for, and dislike of, rats that are not native to Australia. If you told me that the photo below was of a native bush rat, I would say, “Oh, poor thing!” However, if you told me that it was Rattus rattus, I would have no sympathy for it. I would have some sympathy for the magpie though, my first thought being that I hoped the rat wasn’t poisoned lest the magpie die of secondary poisoning.

Anyway, I have been hanging on to this photo for a while, since April actually. I was out walking, contemplating fording some long weedy grass – a wilderness experience – when I caught this magpie acting strangely on the edge of the sports oval. All of a sudden it darted into the long grass (magpies much prefer short grass) and pulled out a rat.


So the long tail tells me that it was Rattus rattus. Do you agree? I suspect it was a dead rat because it didn’t put up a fight and the magpie spent a good minute wondering what to do with it before she flew away with it. It is likely that the rat was poisoned. Or old. Anyway, anyway, there was nothing much I could do about the situation. After that, I decided not to head into the long grass.

You know how I love a good story. I cropped the photo for Show & Tell at my photography group. I think the members quite liked this photo and the story.


This may or may not be my final word on matters rattus. It depends …. Speaking of photography, I submitted some photos for a bookmark that my photography group is producing. I’ve never done anything like that before but why am I in this group if I am not going to participate in the activities? I am keen to know the outcome because I really liked the photos and I would love to share them with you.

Apart from that, my life is pretty ordinary. Given the events elsewhere, this is a good thing.

Take care and stay safe, everyone.

Kind Regards.
Tracy.

49 thoughts on “The Long Grass”

  1. An interesting ‘show and tell’ moment, and well recorded too. I’m going to suggest this event to my newly-joined photography group. It sounds a fun way of sharing photos.

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    1. Margaret, we meet once a month in a small lecture theatre. Members bring in their USB with up to 6 photos and these are projected onto a screen. Sometimes we have field trips. It is not about photo technique per se, but about why a particular photo appealed to the photographer. I like that about it. My photos are very busy/untidy compared to others.

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      1. It sounds just the ticket. My group too works for me as everyone is welcome from fine photographers to snapshot-ists who rarely get off the automatic setting, like me.

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  2. Yep just a good old rat. A really well fed rat. I too hope it wasn’t a poison victim. The tip I was given for rats and mice. Exotics tails are longer than their bodies

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      1. I spied a rat on the back verandah this afternoon. I set the live trap, heard it go off and found the resident Bandicoot with its tongue through the bars trying to get to the peanut butter 😂

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  4. Well done, Tracy. I wasn’t grossed out by this photo. 😆 I think the rat’s little feet gave me something to concentrate on.
    I’m excited about your photo submissions! Good luck to you.

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  5. I don’t know anything about rats but I do know a well-timed photo and good back-story when I come across them! Must have made for an interesting ‘show and tell’ 🙂

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      1. We’re well southeast of the floods. Our family and friends in Vermont are managing okay. It’s the worst flooding since the big 1927 flood. The poor state is just getting hammered.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. The catastrophic weather events just keep on coming across the globe. The county we’re in is now under a flood watch for tomorrow. (I wasn’t expecting that!)

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  8. An ordinary life is a good thing. I’m grateful for mine and dreading the elections coming up next year. Poisoning vermin is a thing. I hope the rat died of natural causes like an eagle and was dropped. I had enough rats in China to last my whole life.

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  11. Tracy, your title immediately made me think of the line “Not into the long grass!” from one of the Jurassic Park movies. Which was obviously good advice, because there’s rats in there! 😀

    This is a great photo and I can’t wait to see which photos you added into the pot for your club’s bookmark! Joubert and I also joined a photography club just two weeks ago and we’re supper excited to start taking part in the events and competitions they organise.

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