Got home last night, and my eye caught a shape on the ground. Turned out to be a dead rat (I think it was a rat ... or a big mouse). Since we don't have a cat (although there are neighbourhood cats) I'm not sure what to make of it. It was quickly bagged and binned and a passing glance didn't seem to show any signs of violence, but I really wasn't motivated to perform a rat autopsy.
We had a rat issue a few years ago. Council expert came round, and pointed out that while we kept all rubbish in proper bins with lids, both neighbours didn't - they just left black bags in their back yards, and rats were happily running along our garden wall between the two. A series of poison boxes on the rat run, and a word with neighbours seemed to fix things.
Anyway, is funding a dead rat outside your house something to be of concern or is it not too unusual ?