As my first glimpse of my new feline employee was peeking out from under the wormwood, I called her Absinthe, or Abi for short. Wormwood is the common name for the plant known as Artemisia absinthium, and one of the herbs used in the making of the alcoholic spirit Absinthe.

After a week in quarantine in the hay shed, Abi was allowed the freedom to come and go as she pleased during the day, and shut safely in the shed overnight. Since her arrival, the rat problem in the hay shed has been reduced dramatically!

Since Abi has been on patrol and resident overnight in the feed shed the amount of rat activity evidenced by the almost complete lack of rat droppings has been impressive. There’s still signs of rat poop overnight in the shelters and feed troughs outside, but Abi still tends to spook the alpacas so it’s not fair on my big scaredy-paccas to let her roam outside at night. Perhaps in time the rats will decide it’s safer to move elsewhere. We can only hope.

In the meantime, Abi has settled in well. She has an uneasy truce with the sheep … mostly. She glides through the stinging nettles like they aren’t even there, flows under fences and gates and loves climbing up trees, stumps and rocks. She loves to follow me when I do my rounds – as long as the alpacas don’t get too close!

Rather than cut a cat flap in the shed, we opted to remove the flyscreen from one of the windows, and build her a series of steps, platforms, weather baffles and ramps so she can enter and exit the shed safely above ‘pacca height. This also gives her easy access to the shed roof, which she loves to run along – much to the annoyance of the alpacas.

So far the only hunting instincts Abi has shown are to moving baling twine, rats in the shed (not native), one unsuccessful attempt to catch a rabbit kitten (not native), and a half-hearted stalking of a Spotted Turtle Dove (also not native).

In fact since Abi’s arrival we seem to have more native birds hanging around, more species and in larger numbers. Perhaps this is just co-incidence? Or perhaps the shrubs and trees we have planted getting bigger and bushier every year has afforded them more protection and cover. And our decision to avoid pesticides and herbicides wherever possible has meant more (and safer) food for them. Whatever the cause, we are all enjoying their presence and songs, and the soft purrs of our little feline rat deterrent.