Anyone need snake food?

The other day I was loading up more aluminum siding to take to the scrap yard when a rat scurried across my boots. She darted to a hole under the woodshed where the floor had caved in. I'll take care of this, I thought to myself, stuffing a "special dinner" packet in the hole for her supper.

A few days later, after determining that my guests would appreciate some privacy in the restroom, I went to fetch the bathroom door out of the woodshed. The door was crammed all the way in the back of the shed. Noting the 25 pound bag of seeds that some critter had been munching on, I decided to clean it up as I worked my way through all the clutter. Clearly, she had been merrily feasting on the seeds, which I'd intended to use to attract red crested cardinals to the garden. 

I moved aside some leftover batt insulation that I'd found up for grabs at a construction site and started scopping up the leftover shells with a dustpan. I had half-emptied the dustpan into a garbage can when suddenly I felt something plop down into the garbage can. That's when the squeaking started. 

Glancing around to find the source of this noisy ruckus, I spotted 3 baby rats nestled on the floor in a pile of insulation and seeds. The 3 babies were teeny tiny, so young that I could see their little hearts beating beneath their hairless bodies. I gently pushed them onto the dustpan and set them out on the garden table, then went to fetch the fourth that I'd accidentally dropped into the trash can.

But wait! There were more!