"Samotnik" wrote in message
...
napisal(a):
Take all the food off the boat and wait a few days. Rats won't hang
around long if there isn't any food. They will even jump overboard and
swim ashore.

No kidding?

Rats are very good swimmers. When I had some as pets, in a breeding
experiment, we'd take them into the lake with us. Quite happy, no alarm on
their part.

However, the open companionway and absence is also a good sign.

And, finally, for what it's worth, the *best* rat I had I caught and tamed.
Very sweet disposition and a marvelous mother. She was what started the
breeding experiment, as she was a brown Norwegian, and my others were hooded
(not show quality - typical pet store snake-food grade, rescued). She was an
adolescent when caught, because she didn't get pregnant for a couple of
months.

However, just so you don't get the wrong idea, no animals will be welcome
aboard our boat unless they are already - or are in the process of becoming
(as in fish) - food :{))

L8R

Skip and Lydia


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a
clear night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize
that you are quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to
you that in the general scheme of things you are merely an
insignificant speck on the surface of the ocean; and are not nearly
so important or as self-sufficient as you thought you were. Which is
an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one that may effect a
permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly appreciated
by your friends." - James S. Pitkin