They say...

They say, in London, that you are never more than ten feet from a rat. Thankfully in the two years I lived in London, I never saw one (well, maybe the occasional tube mouse) and also, as they say, "out of sight, out of mind." I can confirm, in Sudan, not only have I been within ten feet of a rat, I've been within ten feet of a rat's birth. I am not amused. I am actually traumatised. While working on Saturday, minding my business reconciling bank statements, I looked down to see two very odd "things." They were slightly bigger than my thumb. They hadn't been there all day which made me deduct either 1) they were live creatures or 2) they were something which blew in the office from outside as we had a very uncommon windstorm. Upon closer inspection, they were moving. I hurriedly called my colleague to investigate. I asked "What are they?" She responded "Do you really want to know?" (well, now I do). "They are baby rats." See specimens.

This brings me to two very worrisome questions - 1) Where are the others? I was told a rat litter is usually 6-8. These rats are far too young to just walk out on their own and 2) Where is the mother? I forsee a very large-scale office cleaning in the very near future.

I also think it's very fitting that they are laying on a bank reconciliation.