* The Saga of the Papaya Rat * 

For the past couple of weeks, a big, fat rat has been devouring my ripening papayas.

Last night, I decided to take action. I set a rat trap in the papaya tree, baited with a chunk of Slim Jim. 
(Rats can't resist a stinky Slim Jim)

This morning, at sunrise, I went to check the trap, only to find it missing. I spent 15 minutes searching my backyard for the rat trap.

Feeling remorseful, I feared I might have caught a possum by the paw or tail.

While I was scouring the backyard, my neighbor, three doors down, texted me: "Hey, did you happen to set a rat trap last night?" He also sent me a photo.  
(I’m the only pleb in my neighborhood that would do the manual work of trying to catch a rat) 

I was shocked. Apparently, the trap had worked. I had caught the papaya rat, but soon after, my neighbor's tomcat dragged the rat over several 8-foot fences, down the block, and onto my neighbor's porch, where it proceeded to feast on half of the rat. The tomcat got its prize, but I remain the victor in the end.
☠️🐀
😃 🐈 https://image.nostr.build/3970b17f958d620399640ab49a807531882f7fc38d284e122177962c84585c00.jpg