I was walking across Sophie Wright Park last night to catch a bus. Someone had been eating peanuts there earlier, and there were shells and peanuts all over the ground. Lots of little birds were sitting on the ground, picking at the shells, and one fat, puppy-sized rat was sitting in the middle of them, munching contentedly.

He heard me walking by and looked over all guilty, like he'd let his people down by getting caught out in the open by a person. He ambled over to the bushes to hide from me, but he didn't seem to be in any particular hurry.

I waited for the bus for a few minutes, then turned back towards the park. The birds were gone but the rat was back, eating and watching me.

"You catch your bus," he said to me, "and I'll eat these nuts. Everybody's happy."