What a great story! Looks like a book.

Strange, we (almost) never had rats. But we had feral cats, and they would eat those rats (and they did).

But squirrels were nice people; they brought avocados to my backyard, leaving a pile on the table, for us to enjoy. They had also planted about three avocado trees... but we left before they started producing any avocados. I have a big respect for those cohabitants. As well as for my, now dead, feral cats.