My weekend and other animals

I had a fun(?) weekend just gone which has led to a few questions... dilemmas also

Animal Issue 1, We have a large shed on the property.. 3 cars and a mezzanine level sort of big...well if it wasnt full of crap so the lawnmower (push) struggles to fit in. I know i have a possum or 3 living in there and they are welcome to stay but i think we have some rats too and they cant stay if they dont pay rent so they need to go. rat sack is not happening already tried and caused some issues. so i bought a non lethal rat trap, metal cage with a door that closes once they enter. so i set it up on saturday with peanut butter (crunchy) and some additional sprinkles on top as bait... the missus laughed at me for using the sprinkles but i showed her. the next day there was a possum in the cage...so at least the cage works... Any ideas for better bait and or other solutions that will catch/kill rats and not the possums? PS you dont want to catch possums like this, the amount of poo that the spray out is unbelievable...

Animal Issue 2, The missus asked me to turn the compost from one bin to the next one. near the end i turned a shovel full and 2 little red bellied blacks slivered out... i backed off and one of these 300mm long cuties and I had a stand off. he/she looked at me. i looked at him/her. it reared its head up and flattened its body and i leaned on my shovel and looked at it. so i called he missus over and my boy to see the little fellas from a safe distance... long story short i finishing up moving the compost and all up 12 or so little snakes no longer live in that compost bin cos its empty... to do... i know there have been debates on here before about the right / wrong thing to do with snakes... should they be dispatched should they be left alone to run(sic) away etc... in this case its a bit different its a pit of baby snakes. should they be dispatched so they dont become big daddy and mummy snakes?...should i just move on leave them to it and never touch the compost again unless im in a bear/snake proof suit...should i only compost over winter...i know killing them would only leave a hole that another snake will fill. I know i have python(s) in my roof. I know there is a 10 foot python that lives in the general area...i know i had a mature red bellied black living under the house just near the front door for a few weeks... until it moved on. im not intolerant but a dozen of the blighters??!!!

what a weekend and that was just the animal issues...i should have stayed inside and just watched the cricket.


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