Our sweet Minnie surprised us this afternoon when we went to feed her in the barn. There was a large rat near her nest on the hay bales with its throat ripped out. I suspected there were rats in the barn, which had been unoccupied for years, and I thought Mother would take them on. This rat was the size of a plastic water bottle, head to tail. Go Minnie. She is turning out to be a stellar barn cat on her own. My advice to the remaining rats would be to get moving.