Innsbruck - here despite it never being on my to-see list

What is it with Carlsbad and rodent? I managed to live most of my life in crappy apartments, old homes, and in the boonies without having to think about mice and rats. But ten + years in Carlsbad has taught me that the rest of the county is free because even rodents want to live by the beach. (not counting OB's attic which doubles as a B&B for mice.)

Quite a few balls had piled up in the side yard and since I'm about to be gone for a week, I wanted to return them. The rain had been so bad here that most of my yard was a giant puddle with a small sinkhole on the side. The balls had to wait until today. So I went out and started the process (I think there were about 8) of bouncing everything back over. I do the final sweep and my eye catches a suspicious looking shape against my wall.

A drowned rat. Ugh.

And more ugghh, ugghh, ugghh.

The cat didn't kill it. The hawk didn't kill it. This sucker drowned.

Normally I would let nature take it away but this was too close to the house to attract ants so I braced myself and did the usual - tossed it over the fence for the scavengers to feed on. At least I didn't have to deal with guts.

There are some things worse than homework.