As the local authority financial cuts bite, staff like the parkies face ever-increasing workloads. One result is an ever bolder and almost certainly growing rat population in West Park (probably all the parks).
I rarely visit West Park these days without seeing at least one rat – emerging from the ground cover, going about its business and retreating back into the ground cover.
Often, the retreat is prompted when someone or some dog gets too close to the rat’s zone of comfort. Sometimes, it is when the rat has succeeded in grabbing some of the food visitors have left out for the birds or squirrels.
The rat in this picture headed straight for the brightly coloured litter: possibly a discarded bread wrapper with a little bread still inside. I just had time to get the one picture. A moment later the rat had seized the litter, and dragged it into the longer vegetation which can be seen in the background.