Fighter Jets Deployed For An Ancient Mission

Rats have long been regarded as a pest and there is no better way to clear them from a farm than with a pack of terriers, says Matt Cross

- Matt Cross

The first rats came fizzing out before anyone was ready. Even Jay, the very model of lurcher sharpness, was taken by surprise as the rodents fled their burrows and made for safety. The terriers, tied to a gate post outside, burst into a frantic chorus of yelps and whines as their quarry ran past, making for the sanctuary of the drystone wall.

It takes a lot to catch the Tweed Valley Rat Pack by surprise. Over the past few years they have built up a reputation as southern Scotland’s foremost ratting outfit and, watching them at work, you can see why. On an icy November morning we were tackling the rats on a mixed farm in the Scottish Borders. Moray, a Penicuik man with the powerful build of a Borders rugby player, was accompanied by the lean and wiry Ed, whose long hair and shark’s tooth earring gave him the air of a pirate. Both were dressed in fleeces and hats embroidered with the pack’s logo. With their smart gear, professional manner and growing Twitter presence, they are the modern face of an old business.

Rats used to be part of daily life for most people. Modern rodenticides, better sewers, concrete and steel have pushed the rat further and further from most of our lives. The adage that “you are never more than 6ft from a rat” has long been debunked and at no time since the brown rat arrived on our shores have we been more distant from them.

As it has been pushed out of our homes, the rat has also been pushed out of our culture. As a child I was given an elderly Guinness Book of Records, which included “the world’s fastest ratting dog”. It seems to have been Jacko, a bull terrier, that fought in the 19th century London rat pits.