[font color=\'#000000\']OK, really off topic remark:
My folks retired and moved out to S. California in the very early 70's (near Joshua Tree National Park). A favorite pastime was desert golf, where the entire course was laid out in the sand. They always made a point of swatting the sidewinders with golf clubs whenever they were encountered, thinking - correctly - that this would free the bipeds of any rattlesnake worries. Eventually the sidewinders were gone.
Several years later the local population of desert rats grew to alarming proportions, and bird feed, dog food, plus anything else remotely edible, had to be stored indoors or in steel containers. Now desert rats aren't brown rats, but just the same boys and girls, rodents are rodents.
There really is no free lunch,
Tom[/font]