Infestations…

Our new house has evidence of previous woodworm in some of the floorboards in our bedroom. Recently on a couple of nights we heard a random ticking sound that we couldn’t place, we didn’t have any clocks and the heating had been off for several hours so of course I thought ‘death-watch beetle!’ We weren’t one-hundred percent sure and I suspected a few other things, but we thought it was better to be safe than sorry, and so we arranged for a ‘Timber Pathologist’ to come around a do a survey. When he came over we lifted a few floor boards and he drilled a hole in another to inspect with a probe and in the end he was happy that we didn’t have a problem. I moved the two wicker baskets that sat on the bookcase behind our bed (they were pushed right up against the wall) and we haven’t heard the noise since.

But now we seem to have an infestation of cats! Our cat flap in the back door is either open or shut and normally we leave it open so our cat Sooty can come and go as he pleases. We also usually keep all the internal doors open to let the air circulate. The cat’s food is kept on the kitchen floor by the back door, and although he is a fussy eater, the bowls are always empty. On a couple of occasions we have come home from work and he has greeted us as usual while another black cat has come downstairs and run out through the cat flap. Also on a couple of nights ginger cat has come in and Sooty has started hissing at him so that I have had to get up and shoo it off. Now we have to close doors and the cat flap for some peace and quiet. It must be noted that Sooty is not averse to entering other neighbouring houses for food and a sleep either.