Rats!

I had heard that there was a population of rats at Blackford Pond but had never seen evidence until today - and might have missed them but for another visitor standing watching.

Here we have one adult (though we saw two) with two young (we saw four). We stood observing their coming-and-going for a few minutes before turning away and agreeing that, in the sunshine, they appeared quite attractive.

Stop reading now, if you are of delicate constitution.. .

We had taken just a few paces away when a lady who had a collie dog arrived, which made a bee-line for that area and jumped into the water, as dogs do. His owner called to it - but too late, one of the adult rats had been killed outright - it only took a second. Looking closely at the photos, it appears that one of the adults was  blind in its left eye and therefore was already vulnerable; hopefully it was this that met its demise.

Resigned to a fait accompli, with mixed feelings we all went on our way.