(That’s a Scottish phrase, for the uninitiated!) For the second time since we’ve lived in this flat, we had a MOUSE in our lounge…

It came whizzing out into the hall, where both Lois and I happened to be, then turned tail and skidded back into the lounge, Lois screaming in the process! So, Rob to the rescue!

Step 1: Close all doors out of lounge

Step 2: Get a suitable container to catch the rodent

Step 3: Pull out furniture and shine torch behind.

Step 4: Once located, scare the mouse into an easy corner.

Step 5: Once cornered, get the tub on him fast!

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Having completed the above, it was time to admire my catch:

Foolishly, I lift off the cover to have a peek and, whoosh, like a flash he’s out again. “Crikey, mate! This little critter’s really got some energy!” as our dear departed Aussie would have said.  So, back to step 3 or 4 and he’s caught again soon.  Here’s Ruthie admiring said rodent:

So, we take him out into the street, where I take the cover off and throw him out (as far away from me and the house as possible!) and he scurries off, looking a bit like Peter Pettigrew!!   Phew - let’s hope that’s the last time!

Other regular visitors to our house include:

• Cockroaches, like this one:

• Geckos - friendly little creatures, which apparently eat mosquitos, so we leave them be.  The only trouble is they do poos everywhere and you find loads when you look behind any of the pictures on the wall.

• Lizards - not so nice and a bit huge!  Usually, you just open the door and chase ‘em out, but I have also used the mouse technique!

• Mosquitos - gotta splat ‘em before they get you!

• Spiders - nothing too big or ugly.  Plenty of flat spiders which jump rather than spin a web (but which are susceptible to bug spray!)

It’s something I taught them to do once and they’ve been hooked ever since!  Furthermore, they now video themselves singing ’silly songs’ with the camera!!  Still, there’s not much else to do in Benin on a rainy day!