Ducati Monster Forum

Ugh....shuddering...just had horrible nightmares

well my dear sweet daughter, her child and husband moved into their new home in West Asheville

So I spent the past week at my vacated house in A-ville proper, cleaning it up and getting my furniture in it to spend more time there to begin the final leg of the restoration which is the interior work

Since the baby was born nearing 2 years ago they (daughter and SIL) have been doing what is referred to as "attachment parenting"  whatever the make the beast with two backs that means...

I do know it means that nothing else gets maintained for nearly 2 years except the needs of the second coming of the Christ-Child, her son

So I have a basement that is still filled with left over lumber from the exterior restoration,,,scrap wood that I wanted to pitch into a 30 yard dumpster, but SIL lectured me on wastefulness, plus it is piled wall-to-wall with all my S-I-L's possessions, favorite old electric motors, blacksmithing equipment etc etc...I mean PACKED!...the guy has selective hoarding issues

and a yard that is completely overgrown

now my daughter felt it was proper and correct to have a composting heap down by the bottom edge of the property,

she planted various fruit and vegetable beds all around my yard (that I envisioned as a world class croquet lawn course)

and she also created a "pond"....

behind the raised Toolshed that we built, my S-I-L kept many jugs and two 55 gallon drums of used cooking oil harvested from local restaurants to run his bio-diesel conversions

now these things are all well and good out in the countryside....but in an urban setting.........

I asked her to refrain from pretending she was in some bucolic commune and to deal with urban reality

fast forward......

a year or so ago they bulldozed a leftover 30 or 40 unit 1960's era 2 story Great Society housing project that was in tumble-down condition...

it was about a half-mile up the road

they gave the tenants a relocation...flattened the place with bulldozers and the city sold the land to developers for upper income property development

I was told this was in the works when I bought my house in 2006...yippee property value jackpot finally...well if we weren't in the second great depression maybe

well the city moved the two-legged tenants out...

but not the four-legged ones...they were left behind to fend for themselves

So when my daughter called me to lament the dislocation of society's victims (oh jeez spare me) and the bulldozing of their clump of failed social experiment up the road...well my response was to tell her to IMMEDIATELY

clear-cut the nuts and berries,

rip out her make the beast with two backsing reflecting pond and to get the pond drained and filled in

and to shovel her composting heap/dump into bags and get it off the land

I would have told her to get the cooking grease drums off the property but I had no idea they were there behind the shed

But I am a paranoid old worrier....what do I know....nothing was done

So guess who found paradise in my yard and under my shed?

Guess who has been probing my packed and cluttered basement?

Yes the rats.....fat squeaking Norwegian legacies of Lyndon Johnson's ridiculous Great Society Program

She did not bother telling me I was right...

and so you can imagine my surprise and delight as I was destroying a brand new Home Depot lawnmower last week

by using it as a bush-hog in the yard...

a large (well-fed I might add) fat make the beast with two backsing jumbo rat bounded out of a vegetable patch I was nearing with the lawnmower

I chased the make the beast with two backser with the lawnmower across the yard until I hit a rock half-buried and the mower stopped with a loud clang...

the rock discovery and ensuing loud clang of the blade being destroyed was frequent...I need to go get a replacement blade now

all the "gardens" (rat feeding stations) and the "pond" (rat refreshment station) were lined with rocks...but now hidden under tall weed grass of neglect

landmines

marched into the house...called an exterminator....told him to bring Sarin gas canisters, Mustard gas, flame throwers and edible poisons in bulk, I told him it was ok to bring .22's with hicap magazines loaded with snake-shot too, and night-vision gear....he laughed

but he did come over.....after reviewing the situation he told me he had seen much worse....so I asked him if he ever worked the now-flattened project up the road to find "worse"

Seems my colony is living under the tool shed and that is its main base of operations...

my neighbor across the street told me that he had them too but got a bunch of cats....

I am sorry but the make the beast with two backsers I saw (saw 2 more during my stay) would take down a cat in short order...you need some trained and dedicated Rat Terriers to work with this crew of ghetto pets

but the cats may have served to annoy the neighbor's rats enough to make them move over to my Rodent Resort

so the poison is laid out in my basement and around the shed...let's see if that works....I have sprayed down every shred of underbrush, poison ivy, vine and scrub plant with EPA Super Fund types of plant killers to eliminate ground cover

I am renting a 30 yard dumpster and have told my SIL that when he returns from vacation with my daughter and the Christ Child the shit in the basement either goes to his new place or into the dumpster by a Sept 15 drop dead date...

make the beast with two backs their goddam conceits and notions of recycling and organic gardening...

scurrying rats and monster cockroaches swimming up into the toilet bowl were part of my childhood overseas...I have worked too long and too hard to have that shit NOT be part of my life...ever make the beast with two backsing again

Next project is tearing down the shed after we have a sufficient body-count of rodents...to do it now would probably inspire the Colony of Rodentia to orchestrate an uprising and launch a counter-attack at the house for new shelter

For now letting them think it is BAU with extra new food sources is the best strategy

fortunately my step-daughter has moved into the house for maybe a few months or longer...she is normal...

and she is not afraid of dealing with rats/mice etc having lived for 7 years in Philly's Germantown....God Bless her  

here is the current battlefield over a year ago when we were painting the high end of the house....and the Shed of Rodentia....the blue drums were water barrels for the organic gardens (rat feeding stations)

(http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee91/visigoth9/EdgehillMonday003.jpg)

more to come.....

When I moved to Madison, WI a few years ago, I bought a little house sight unseen. Turned out to be a great house since I made money on it selling it after 3 years in the height of the housing crash.

BUT that first winter sucked. The crazy chick that lived there before me was one of those hippie commune types. My newly acquired back yard was a "Certified Wildlife Habitat" complete with native plants weeds, compost pile pile of rotting plant material, and a certificate from the National Wildlife Federation. I had chipmunks, rabbits, birds, racoons, possums, toads and HALF THE WORLDS POPULATION OF FIELD MICE. Mice that decided it was easier to move into the house during the winter than to tough it out in their certified wildlife habitat.

Move ahead to spring for better living through chemistry...RoundUp to the rescue! No more habitat = no more mice, no more possums, no more racoons, fewer mosquitoes, and a happier homeowner. ;D

If you have an area that other desireable critters can't get to, put some radiator fluid in some shallow tins and pour a bit of milk on top.  Throw in a few nuts or gobs of peanut butter for attractant.  Kills rats dead, dead, dead  in volume. 

RAT, you have my deepest sympathies. Is there anything good and true in this world that a hippie can't destroy?  [roll]

Quote from: WarrenJ on August 25, 2011, 05:46:18 AM
If you have an area that other desireable critters can't get to, put some radiator fluid in some shallow tins and pour a bit of milk on top.  Throw in a few nuts or gobs of peanut butter for attractant.  Kills rats dead, dead, dead  in volume. 

Oh I hear ya!  I was thinking of the same sort of thing...... peanuts soaked in anti-freeze served on a bed of peanut butter with parsley garnish.....slid under Castle Rodentia (the shed)....

and the other pets do not have access so it is do-able

I will let the exterminator take the first pass on the problem

then I will see if termination with extreme prejudice is warranted

Quote from: swampduc on August 25, 2011, 06:10:00 AM
RAT, you have my deepest sympathies. Is there anything good and true in this world that a hippie can't destroy?  [roll]

Very little I fear....

remember the fastest roads to hell are always paved

with the finest of delusional self-flattering good intentions

I will have my croquet tournament yet!!! 

On vibrant green manicured fields of play

Quote from: RAT900 on August 25, 2011, 06:21:21 AM

I will have my croquet tournament yet!!! 

On vibrant highly chemical-fertilizer-enhanced green manicured fields of play

Fixed.

Quote from: Speedbag on August 25, 2011, 06:58:22 AM
Fixed.

EXACTLY!!!!

or in the words of a Ford Agency model I once dated....

its not about how good you feel,

its about how good you look  [laugh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting)

Hmmm.

Sounds great. No doubt resulting in a totally dependent, socially inept, naive individual with no sense of discovery or real view of how the world really works.

Quote from: Speedbag on August 25, 2011, 09:53:05 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting)

Hmmm.

Sounds great. No doubt resulting in a totally dependent, socially inept, naive individual with no sense of discovery or real view of how the world really works.

EXACTLY....reality shock should be considerable when dealing with the majority of the world that was not raised in fluffy bunny world...each generation thinks it has the right formula

It will be up to Grandpa Rat to disabuse the poor child of all its parents' idiotic fantastical and craptastical notions of Bambi-Land

Quote from: Speedbag on August 25, 2011, 09:53:05 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting)

Hmmm.

Sounds great. No doubt resulting in a totally dependent, socially inept, naive individual with no sense of discovery or real view of how the world really works.

THIS


So, coddling the grandson, neglecting your property, storing significant quantities of flammable material, hoarding crap in your basement and running Rancho Rodentia?

/facepalm


RAT, you have your work cut out for you.
Good luck, and keep us updated

Quote from: Speedbag on August 25, 2011, 09:53:05 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting)

This sounds like the type of parenting that created Scott Peterson.  :P

I think if you need to read a book and/or subcribe to a particular theory on how to be a parent, then you probably shouldn't be a parent.  [coffee]

This part cracks me up:

According to Arnall (2007), discipline means teaching the child by gentle guidance, such as re-direction, natural consequences, listening and modeling, and not by punitive means such as spanking, time-out, grounding, and punitive consequences.

I think my neighbor did this with her son. She also spent about $100K to send him to a boot camp for a year when he was 16, so he didn't end up drugged out and eventually dead (like his best friend did).

If you hate them so much....how did you select your screenname??


I actually thought this was about this book i just read, and thought it would be interesting to discuss it-
http://www.amazon.com/War-Rats-David-L-Robbins/dp/055358135X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314294894&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/War-Rats-David-L-Robbins/dp/055358135X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314294894&sr=8-1)

<wanders back out...>

Quote from: AJ on August 25, 2011, 10:23:28 AM
THIS


So, coddling the grandson, neglecting your property, storing significant quantities of flammable material, hoarding crap in your basement and running Rancho Rodentia?

/facepalm


RAT, you have your work cut out for you.
Good luck, and keep us updated

You have to understand my ex-wife dropped them off at my fiance's door step 3 days before Christmas

with their worldly possessions in trash bags....

I was in the hospital at the time on IV Drip with blood poisoning from an infected burn on my finger,

my twins were 7 1/2 years old and suffered some serious neglect from "mom" for the final 2 of those 3 years alone with "mom"

So I understand that much of what my daughter (as a mother) is doing, is in direct reaction to the mountain of shit upbringing I couldn't offset for her until she and her brother came to live with me

I have tried to tell her you can't raise your child in retaliation,,to try to slay the demons of your own past....you might wind up just creating a different kind of demon

but she isn't a good listener

Quote from: JEFF_H on August 25, 2011, 10:58:21 AM
If you hate them so much....how did you select your screenname??


I actually thought this was about this book i just read, and thought it would be interesting to discuss it-
http://www.amazon.com/War-Rats-David-L-Robbins/dp/055358135X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314294894&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/War-Rats-David-L-Robbins/dp/055358135X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314294894&sr=8-1)

<wanders back out...>

1996 Monster 900 rat bike...great book decent movie too

Quote from: Triple J on August 25, 2011, 10:36:51 AM
According to Arnall (2007), discipline means teaching the child by gentle guidance, such as re-direction, natural consequences, listening and modeling, and not by punitive means such as spanking, time-out, grounding, and punitive consequences.

I was raised by tree huggers

Natural consequences governed my life

the consequence for pissing off my parents was naturally, a beating

Oh Rat....

Any time I see a new thread that you start, I know it's guaranteed to be a fascinating read but at your expense.

Sorry but thanks.    :P

Good luck with all the vermin in your world!  Will be watching for the artfully crafted story of their demise with hands over my eyes but with fingers spread.

;)     [popcorn]

Quote from: Jacob on August 25, 2011, 11:32:09 AM
I was raised by tree huggers

Natural consequences governed my life

the consequence for pissing off my parents was naturally, a beating

My parents weren't tree huggers, but they apparently held the same thought as yours regarding natural consequences!  [laugh]

If you've got a spare .22, I've got a week off coming up.   [evil]

I'll ride the 999, park it by the shed/Rat Resort and open the throttle.  I figure the rats will all run out of sheer terror, and we can pick them off.   :D





[bacon]

i had a mouse infestation a few years ago from a house that was demolished behind me. it was afwul! i didnt have any real food out & about for them so they took up home in my leather couch & proceded to eat that. i didnt realize until i was doing some cleaning & lifted up the cushions to vacuum & found they had tunnelled through the back & into the bottom of the cushions. it was crazy!! & i could hear them in the attic & theyd run across the floors & scare the crap out of me! theyre gone now, but i completely feel your pain... although i have to giggle at the irony of rat having rats, maybe you're the rat king :)

Quote from: The Bacon Junkie on August 25, 2011, 02:03:48 PM
If you've got a spare .22, I've got a week off coming up.   [evil]

I'll ride the 999, park it by the shed/Rat Resort and open the throttle.  I figure the rats will all run out of sheer terror, and we can pick them off.   :D





[bacon]

That's a long way to ride to shoot rats.

Quote from: The Bacon Junkie on August 25, 2011, 02:03:48 PM
If you've got a spare .22, I've got a week off coming up.   [evil]

I'll ride the 999, park it by the shed/Rat Resort and open the throttle.  I figure the rats will all run out of sheer terror, and we can pick them off.   :D





[bacon]

You have a 999?

I must have missed that one...


[cheeky]

Quote from: Speedbag on August 25, 2011, 09:53:05 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_parenting)

Hmmm.

Sounds great. No doubt resulting in a totally dependent, socially inept, naive individual with no sense of discovery or real view of how the world really works.

I had an old boss who raised his kid like that.  She was 5 years old and still on boob-milk.  I had dinner at their house once... when the little girl was finished with her steak she asked to nurse.  The mom pulled out her utter, at the table, and the little girl went at it.  I'm all for breast feeding, but when you kid is old enough to ask for it AND you have a guest over for dinner  [puke]

^^  :-X







[puke] 

Quote from: elyse on August 25, 2011, 02:33:59 PM
maybe you're the rat king :)

I dub thee...

Willard.

(http://www.nndb.com/people/016/000023944/willard-sized.jpg)

Quote from: Buckethead on August 25, 2011, 07:40:58 PM
I dub thee...

Willard.

(http://www.nndb.com/people/016/000023944/willard-sized.jpg)

[clap] [clap] [clap] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

You captured my nightmares the other night with that pic

Well there you go then, befriend them and send them out to do your bidding.

I would dearly like them to go move in with my down-hill neighbor but they are too comfortable at my place

I would pour a veggie oil path to his house for them to follow...

and dump my food garbage in his shrubs at night

but they would just come home to Castle Rodentia after partying

Quote from: elyse on August 25, 2011, 02:33:59 PM
i had a mouse infestation a few years ago from a house that was demolished behind me. it was afwul! i didnt have any real food out & about for them so they took up home in my leather couch & proceded to eat that. i didnt realize until i was doing some cleaning & lifted up the cushions to vacuum & found they had tunnelled through the back & into the bottom of the cushions. it was crazy!! & i could hear them in the attic & theyd run across the floors & scare the crap out of me! theyre gone now, but i completely feel your pain... although i have to giggle at the irony of rat having rats, maybe you're the rat king :)

Oh yes...we have some mice as well...they don't skeeve me like rats do

and this is dispelling the myth that mice and rats won't share the same working zone

but the mice are less than desirable none the less

step-daughter's cat is a mouser so I am hoping that it earns its keep

and yes the irony...hence the thread name of war of the rats...

the book, the 4 legged ones and my screen name

Quote from: The Bacon Junkie on August 25, 2011, 02:03:48 PM
If you've got a spare .22, I've got a week off coming up.   [evil]

I'll ride the 999, park it by the shed/Rat Resort and open the throttle.  I figure the rats will all run out of sheer terror, and we can pick them off.   :D





[bacon]

3 of them, 4 if you count the .22WMR....WMR is scoped and the other 3 are heavy barrel match rifles dialed in for 100 yards with Lyman or Redfield match aperture sights, 3 clicks down and you'll be at 25 yards....sub-moa at 100 so you won't miss

Lapua and RWS match ammo for the 22's and for the 22wmr we have hornady prairie dog detonator rounds...a few thousand...come on over

we can also get snake-shot rounds for shooting them on the run...we can post at the kitchen windows above the basement door...snake-shot might be better due to urban bullet travel considerations

also have the silenced Gamo .22 caliber air rifle w/gold pellet supply...I want to see if it has the penetrating power....needs sighting-in though

now if I could find some cheap night vision gear I would be set

Sounds like fun, wish I was a little closer.  :)

On the edge of my hometown, there used to be the ruins of an old poor farm, all dilapidated and overgrown. Once in a while, when the mood struck, a couple of friends and I would visit its basement after dark, armed with .22 short pistols and flashlights. Nothing quite beats the intensity of rat hunting by flashlight in a freakishly creepy old basement.  [evil]

Quote from: RAT900 on August 25, 2011, 09:57:39 AMIt will be up to Grandpa Rat to disabuse the poor child of all its parents' idiotic fantastical and craptastical notions of Bambi-Land

[laugh] [laugh] [clap]

Quote from: ungeheuer on August 26, 2011, 06:06:52 AM
[laugh] [laugh] [clap]

Unge....I can think of no other plausible or rational explanation for why I am still alive walking the earth instead of fertilizing it

I have done precious little in the way of commending my personal longevity over the course of this lifetime

...he was meant to be a true member of our savage bloodline...

I believe this may be my ultimate commission granted by God

and then I can die once and for all

Quote from: RAT900 on August 26, 2011, 06:32:41 AM
Unge....I can think of no other plausible or rational explanation for why I am still alive walking the earth instead of fertilizing it

I have done precious little in the way of commending my personal longevity over the course of this lifetime

...he was meant to be a true member of our savage bloodline...

I believe this may be my ultimate commission granted by God

and then I can die once and for all

Wait. You completely lost me there. I think I need to go get me another beer. BRB [beer]

[popcorn]

You can host the second D.M.F.C.I.M.B.Y.

see Getting Rid of Birds thread.

Quote from: ungeheuer on August 26, 2011, 06:40:29 AM
Wait. You completely lost me there. I think I need to go get me another beer. BRB [beer]

[popcorn]

making the grandchild normal (relatively speaking)

Quote from: RAT900 on August 26, 2011, 02:29:05 AM
3 of them, 4 if you count the .22WMR....WMR is scoped and the other 3 are heavy barrel match rifles dialed in for 100 yards with Lyman or Redfield match aperture sights, 3 clicks down and you'll be at 25 yards....sub-moa at 100 so you won't miss

Lapua and RWS match ammo for the 22's and for the 22wmr we have hornady prairie dog detonator rounds...a few thousand...come on over

we can also get snake-shot rounds for shooting them on the run...we can post at the kitchen windows above the basement door...snake-shot might be better due to urban bullet travel considerations

also have the silenced Gamo .22 caliber air rifle w/gold pellet supply...I want to see if it has the penetrating power....needs sighting-in though

now if I could find some cheap night vision gear I would be set

I don't really know much about guns, to be honest.  I found an 1886 Springfield in a crawlspace of an apartment I lived in back in Connecticut a long time ago. 

So I took it to a gunsmith.  He told me it was a "Rolling Block" with a flip-top breach(?) and all it needed was a good cleaning and a firing pin.  He x-rayed it to make sure it wouldn't blow up.   He gave it back to me with a handfull of .45-70 rounds. I bought two more boxes.  [evil]

It was the first gun I ever shot, besides a bb or pellet, and oh Lordy was I unprepared! ;D

But despite all the noise, smoke, recoil, etc... I hit what I was aiming for.   Turned out I was a pretty decent shot with those old-timey iron sights.   8)

So, it sounds like I'll do okay with your fancy shooters.  ;)



[bacon]

i'm feeling evil...if i can get myself moved in somewhere or extend my time at the current apt i'll be down next weekend with smoke bombs to either flush them out or asphyxiate them.


:)


actually that gives me an idea. if we can hook up a blower and get enough smoke we can find all their exits. cover each one to make sure they don't get away.

wonder if a flame thrower type device could be....wait. how close are the neighbors?

Quote from: KnightofNi on August 26, 2011, 09:12:12 AM
i'm feeling evil...
wonder if a flame thrower type device could be....wait. how close are the neighbors?

[laugh]


RAT plus Knight vs. the rodent horde?!?
[popcorn]

I'm down too..

Quote from: AJ on August 26, 2011, 09:46:50 AM


[laugh]


RAT plus Knight vs. the rodent horde?!?
[popcorn]

remember in the movie Wanted how he finally took out the bad guys?
i'm thinking that would be fun too.


rat, you will need a new shed and might as well go ahead and plan the pool.

Here's how I would do it:

Seal up the shed as much as you can, but leave one exit just big enough for one rat to squeeze through at a time, a couple inches off the ground level. A 1/3" hole is about perfect. Use the expanding foam insulation to seal up the shed as best as you can. Its fairly cheap, and sets quick.

Then drill another hole, and hook up a hose to your car, truck, van, bus exhaust pipe, and have one person run the engine to 50% max rpms to fill up the Rodent Motel with fumes.

Other people sit outside the 1/3" exit hole with guns ready, and alternate between shooters for every rat that comes out.
If there's 3 people, each one is responsible for his rat.

After about 10 minutes, you should have enough dead rats on the outside and the inside of the shed to make you a happy person.

Repeat once every week.

BC.

This is the shit that gives me nightmares

and my rats are pretty close in size to these make the beast with two backsers

Heading back down on Sunday with the scoped Gamo .177 Whisper

and 2 fresh packs of Raptor Pellets

hopefully I will have some trophy pictures to post

my kitchen window has a clear field of fire on their base of operations and their field of play


Giant Russian Rat Attacks Cats [HQ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPK_ij0llc8#)

Quote from: RAT900 on September 07, 2011, 03:47:53 PM
This is the shit that gives me nightmares

and my rats are pretty close in size to these make the beast with two backsers

Heading back down on Sunday with the scoped Gamo .177 Whisper

and 2 fresh packs of Raptor Pellets

hopefully I will have some trophy pictures to post

my kitchen window has a clear field of fire on their base of operations and their field of play


Giant Russian Rat Attacks Cats [HQ] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPK_ij0llc8#)

I like one of the comments on Youtube: "Why is everything opposite in Russia?"

It's clear to me now that you will require one of these to deal with your rat problem

(http://gullyborg.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/soldiertech_xm1095.jpg)

You need better cats

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/fisher-cats-killing-family-pets-boston-video-2645794.html (http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/fisher-cats-killing-family-pets-boston-video-2645794.html)

that is no cat

is too.  [evil]

I got a kick out of the lady taking the vid.

"What are you gonna do Mr. Fishercat".

"I'm gonna come out of this tree and make the beast with two backs up your dog, Dimwit"

I still contend that I could successfully tame one of those

Get plenty of footage

Quote from: SBK boy on September 07, 2011, 04:26:54 PM
Get plenty of footage

alas I don't have those near to me, start shooing them a little bit more west

I had an encounter with a fisher once.

Bah, it looks like a big ferret that got stung in the face by a lot of bees.
Still not scared, feel free to find one and throw it at me next DIMBY

Not scared of the rat either.

Buncha pansies here, all scared of stuff that's littler than you. You should be ashamed of yourselves.  8)

Quote from: lethe on September 07, 2011, 04:32:34 PM


Buncha pansies here, all scared of stuff that's littler than you. You should be ashamed of yourselves.  8)

you need to meet Mr Wolverine and Mr. Badger

Quote from: RAT900 on September 07, 2011, 04:39:23 PM
you need to meet Mr Wolverine and Mr. Badger

All you have to do is tap them soundly on the end of the nose and say, "NO!". It's all gravy from that point.

Quote from: lethe on September 08, 2011, 01:00:35 AM
All you have to do is tap them soundly on the end of the nose and say, "NO!". It's all gravy from that point.

With a 2x4.  ;)

Maybe Double-Tap them...anything less is a guaranteed mauling

Quote from: SBK boy on September 07, 2011, 04:20:18 PM
I got a kick out of the lady taking the vid.

"What are you gonna do Mr. Fishercat".

"I'm gonna come out of this tree and make the beast with two backs up your dog, Dimwit"

"After the dog, you're next.  And do you have any relatives close by?"

Fisher cat sitings are very rare. 

Quote from: SBK boy on September 07, 2011, 04:26:54 PM
Get plenty of footage

[thumbsup]   

Quote from: RAT900 on September 07, 2011, 04:39:23 PM
you need to meet Mr Wolverine and Mr. Badger

Honey badger would kick their ass even after being bit by a poisonous snake and stung by hundreds of bees. Just sayin' ;D

MUST WATCH: Honey Badger-The Most Fearless Animal on Earth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c81bcjyfn6U#)

I've know people like that honey badger

equally as memorable to watch in action

Quote from: The Architect on September 08, 2011, 05:59:24 AM
<snip>

Fisher cat sitings are very rare. 

[thumbsup]   

Not really.

You could get a Terrier. They are bred to catch rats and are much easier to deal with than a honey badger, or those big cats that are rare and eat pets.

I would need a team of at least 4 or 5 rat terriers when I start pulling down the shed

tried to noodle around on the web for folks that have good ratters they could bring over for fun and a fee

but nothing of the sort to be found :-/

Next I might call one of the Rat Terrier breeders in the area and see if they can line me up

Meanwhile the Gamo Whisper will be poking out the kitchen window....

maybe a jar of peanut butter out in the middle of the yard


kinda like a salt lick for deer <laughing>

Have you looked into local Honey Badger rescue outfits?

a couple dozen timber rattlers would do the trick

I've never met a more efficient killer than my Jack Russell.  The shake of death is quick and second nature.  Highly recommended.

Quote from: rgramjet on September 08, 2011, 08:09:37 PM
I've never met a more efficient killer than my Jack Russell.  The shake of death is quick and second nature.  Highly recommended.

Weren't they originally bred as shipboard ratters?

Quote from: lethe on September 08, 2011, 04:43:33 PM
a couple dozen timber rattlers would do the trick

I lived off Copperhead Road down in the mountains of Union County Ga......I discovered how the road got its name........a lot...

was a huge den there once/maybe still

venomous snakes are not my favorites as a dog owner

Quote from: RAT900 on September 08, 2011, 09:41:52 PM
Weren't they originally bred as shipboard ratters?

Actually they were bred to flush foxes and badgers out of their dens.  Fearless little bastards.  "Bruno" once attacked a cow.  They ain't right.

A COW??!!!    :o

That's kinda funny, actually...   ;D




[bacon]

The Honey Badger.  It really doesn't give a shit.



The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (original narration by Randall) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg#)

Vermin control by animal?

Too much trouble.

Chemical warfare is whats required. 

Give these guys a call >>  http://precisionpestcontrol.com.au/wrgay/index.html (http://precisionpestcontrol.com.au/wrgay/index.html)  << Not that there's anything wrong with that....

Quote from: The Bacon Junkie on September 08, 2011, 10:23:25 PM
A COW??!!!    :o

That's kinda funny, actually...   ;D




[bacon]

Envision 14 lbs of spring steel deadweighting himself and jerking as he latched on to the poor cows neck.  At some point in the scuffle, the cow was able to connect a kick.  Bruno came home with a hoof shaped bruise visible through his semi transparent summer coat.  None the worse for wear.

Your dog is loco...  [thumbsup]




[bacon]

My friend has a great Jack Russell. They actually found it (or the dog found them) on a camping trip. Maybe it was dumped by assholes but the dog is so good and smart who the hell would dump it? Anyway it now has a great loving home.

You can't say the word "squirrel" around it because it knows the word and goes ape shit running from window to window looking for something to kill. [laugh] I was at their house once and the pup was outside going nuts barking. My friend and I went outside to see what the ruckus was. The dog was barking at a red tail hawk that was circling the neighborhood hundreds of feet in the air!! Really? You want a piece of that hawk while it's flying? [laugh] Take no prisoners attitude. [thumbsup]

You shouldn't do both chemical control and a terrier or cat.  You'll end up killing your animal.  Chemical control can be very effective.  Some of the Aleutian Island have been over run with rats for a century, have now been reclaimed by the Fish and Wildlife Service through the miracle of chemistry. 

We've had recurrent rat issues at our house (guess it's a downside of living in the country).

We did catch one with a rat snap trap a couple of months ago, but have not had any other luck with snap traps.  We also put steel wool around the plumbing holes etc. in the kitchen but obviously we missed some.

We then bought a rat zapper (http://www.ratzapper.com/) and put it outside where we had seen one running around.  I did find later that it had gone off and the bait was gone, but there was no rat inside.  However, it had been set up with the batteries it came with, so they could have been pretty old.

Last night I saw a rat running around in our pantry.  I quickly closed the door and left the room, and then heard it having a party in there (until I couldn't take it any more and went to bed).
This morning my MIL and I found the aftermath, it had gotten into bags of flour and a sealed bag of a dog food supplement.

We cleaned everything and went and got large locking plastic containers for all the food.  The fruits are currently hidden in the china cabinet.
I put fresh batteries in the rat zapper and set it up with fresh bait (dog kibble).

Few minutes ago, I heard a couple of noises from the pantry.
Then a minute ago, I heard a much louder noise (like a rodent crashing around).
Now it's gone silent.

I am not going to look inside until the morning....

Quote from: somegirl on September 17, 2011, 10:56:55 PM
We've had recurrent rat issues at our house (guess it's a downside of living in the country).

We did catch one with a rat snap trap a couple of months ago, but have not had any other luck with snap traps.  We also put steel wool around the plumbing holes etc. in the kitchen but obviously we missed some.

We then bought a rat zapper (http://www.ratzapper.com/) and put it outside where we had seen one running around.  I did find later that it had gone off and the bait was gone, but there was no rat inside.  However, it had been set up with the batteries it came with, so they could have been pretty old.

Last night I saw a rat running around in our pantry.  I quickly closed the door and left the room, and then heard it having a party in there (until I couldn't take it any more and went to bed).
This morning my MIL and I found the aftermath, it had gotten into bags of flour and a sealed bag of a dog food supplement.

We cleaned everything and went and got large locking plastic containers for all the food.  The fruits are currently hidden in the china cabinet.
I put fresh batteries in the rat zapper and set it up with fresh bait (dog kibble).

Few minutes ago, I heard a couple of noises from the pantry.
Then a minute ago, I heard a much louder noise (like a rodent crashing around).
Now it's gone silent.

I am not going to look inside until the morning....

Years ago, when I lived in Allston, Ma, the rats would eat through the plastic dog food barrel. I suggest steel.

I had a super. in the bronx request 1/4" steel lining on all the walls of an apartment.  Anything he put up, the rats would chew through.

And our presence didn't bother the rats.    [puke]

Quote from: The Architect on September 18, 2011, 04:11:25 AM
I had a super. in the bronx request 1/4" steel lining on all the walls of an apartment.  Anything he put up, the rats would chew through.

And our presence didn't bother the rats.    [puke]

Isn't that a little overkill?   I'd think 3/16 would be sufficient.     [laugh]

Quote from: SBK boy on September 18, 2011, 04:28:08 AM
Isn't that a little overkill?   I'd think 3/16 would be sufficient.     [laugh]

I recommended wire mesh.  He tried it before with no luck.  Those bastards would chew through concrete like it was cheese.

HUD told him to get big traps, lots of them. 

Quote from: SBK boy on September 18, 2011, 04:28:08 AM
Isn't that a little overkill?   I'd think 3/16 would be sufficient.     [laugh]

[laugh]

Quote from: duck soup on September 18, 2011, 03:55:29 AM
Years ago, when I lived in Allston, Ma, the rats would eat through the plastic dog food barrel. I suggest steel.

Good to know.  Most of our food is now double contained.  Might get wire mesh for the fruits.

Did not catch anything.  OTOH, rat did not get into anything besides knocking over Grover's pill bottle.  :-\

SG I had/have a rat zapper as well....the rats I am dealing with would probably get an energy boost from it....batteries?....maybe a fully charged Sears Diehard array for a semi-tractor would provide sufficient voltage

aggghhh I would go totally bugout if they were upstairs where we live...I can deal with mice in a house...sort-of but having the rats going to town in my pantry would have me indiscriminately shotgunning the house to ribbons


Well anyway I left A-ville yesterday afternoon at 4:30 after a week there...got back here to shitland at 3 a.m.

I did not see 1 live rat the entire time I was there....

walked the perimeter of the house with the exterminator while he checked and reloaded the poison bait stations....some were untouched some were completely cleaned out...they seem to be working well

The one by the shed was cleaned out completely

meanwhile had a 20 yard dumpster dropped in the yard on Tuesday and it is half-filled already with the American Picker junk that was scattered around the yard

we turned over a skid/pallet and found the bleached/cleaned bones of one that my SiL shot last spring....this thing was BIG judging from the skeleton

anyway we were told to leave the shed alone until winter then to tear it down...upsetting the balance in one area of Ratopia will have consequences in others

the exterminator showed me all the slip holes around the entire perimeter of the house where the rats can and do get in under the clapboard that runs along the ground line

so my next project is to bed-in those flat square concrete patio blocks/tiles around the house perimeter flush with the bottom edge of the clapboard planks

it will give me a well defined and visible 18 inch/2 foot wide area between the house and the ground where nothing can grow and any attempts to tunnel under the blocks or chew through the clapboard will be readily evident

The basement is one of those half-finished ones with a dirt cellar side and a finished side....

there are burrow holes on the dirt side...... I don't know if they are legacy holes from when the house was a Junkie/Crack house in the 1980's and earlier or if they are recent...probably both

one of the bait stations in the dirt side was depleted of half its bait so I do have/had some coming into the cellar

Rats are inside the perimeter Sarge!!!  I think they are dragging their dead away so we can't get a body count.....nothing stinks inside the house or basement so they must be going back out to die while looking for water

so far so good....(didn't General Westmoreland say that?)

#6 confirmed kill at noon today.  This year has been the year of the rats.  I swear they eat the poison and shit it out without effect.

Quote from: RAT900 on September 18, 2011, 02:27:28 PM
<snip>
so my next project is to bed-in those flat square concrete patio blocks/tiles around the house perimeter flush with the bottom edge of the clapboard planks

it will give me a well defined and visible 18 inch/2 foot wide area between the house and the ground where nothing can grow and any attempts to tunnel under the blocks or chew through the clapboard will be readily evident

The basement is one of those half-finished ones with a dirt cellar side and a finished side....

there are burrow holes on the dirt side...... I don't know if they are legacy holes from when the house was a Junkie/Crack house in the 1980's and earlier or if they are recent...probably both

one of the bait stations in the dirt side was depleted of half its bait so I do have/had some coming into the cellar

Rats are inside the perimeter Sarge!!!  I think they are dragging their dead away so we can't get a body count.....nothing stinks inside the house or basement so they must be going back out to die while looking for water

so far so good....(didn't General Westmoreland say that?)

Be careful with masonry too close to wood.

I'm building a house because someone decided it would be a good idea to pour concrete around the sills.

How come dp?

Quote from: cokey on September 18, 2011, 06:05:50 PM
How come dp?

Wood needs to stay dry.

Concrete/masonry will trap water and rot the wood.

Ah true.

you need some gap also so you can see if termites are building tunnels into the wood,

less than the diameter of a quarter though as that is all a rat needs to work with

Quote from: muskrat on September 18, 2011, 03:32:31 PM
#6 confirmed kill at noon today.  This year has been the year of the rats.  I swear they eat the poison and shit it out without effect.

That is actually true, I understand they can build up an immunity, however there is no immunity to a lead injection.

Quote from: brimo on September 19, 2011, 12:43:31 AM
That is actually true, I understand they can build up an immunity, however there is no immunity to a lead injection.

Dam, I read the package and it didn't disclose that.  Is there an Attorney here?   :o
No matter, the Academy Sports pellet gun has served me well.  I do admit to hitting one with a 410 though.  [leo] The little bastard was hiding and fast as hell. 

@#$%^& rat ate into water bottles in pantry!   >:(

Will have to get another steel can to put emergency water supplies into.

Guess I will also have to try a snap trap in the pantry.  I was hoping to avoid that. :-\

I was just had this picture of Rat posting one of those old time style photos of all the rats he kills hung on a line and him standing in front of them armed with a pellet guns and a box of D-Con posion.  [laugh]

I have a problem with field mice/vols at my farm getting in the barn and into tractor equipment and setting up house, chewing wires and hose lines. I even have a GSXR stored in the barn in case I ever have time to go for a ride. The bike, lawn tractor and the Masey Ferguson are all surrounded in moats of rat death. I have a ring around the bike and each piece of equipment that has 2-3 types and flavors of poison.

Last spring I was checking on the scooter and noticed tiny mice foot prints in the dust on the rims. I thought uh oh, trouble. Pulled the bike cover off and popped the rear seat cowl cover and sure enough there was a miniature field mouse condominium. They had chewed up my insurance card, part of the owner's manual and a couple of red shop towels. And they had packed the area with a double handful of grass to make their nest. I can't imagine how many trips they took back and forth to carry that much grass into the barn, up the bike frame and into the seat cowl area! How in the world did they resist the moat of death every time they went back and forth. [bang] Amazingly they didn't do anything to the bike other than build the nest. Didn't chew on any wires or hoses thankfully. Everytime I see a rat snake or Copperhead I just leave them alone. They are there to help me so I just let them be. I have no pets or livestock there so they are welcome guests.

QuoteEverytime I see a rat snake or Copperhead I just leave them alone. They are there to help me so I just let them be.

+1  Glad to hear it.  Trouble with those snakes is that they are cold blooded and don't have to eat many rodents.  I lived with a friend that kept a rat snake.  He fed it
a mouse about once a week.  His feeding made for an excellent show, nature in the raw. 

Quote from: Scooter Montgomery on September 21, 2011, 09:42:38 AM
I was just had this picture of Rat posting one of those old time style photos of all the rats he kills hung on a line and him standing in front of them armed with a pellet guns and a box of D-Con posion.  [laugh]

I would think something along the lines of an old sepia daguerreotype,

me perched on a pile of rats ala the old Great Plains buffalo shoots of the 19th century

They love the poison....so far...

going back down there in 2 or 3 weeks and I plan to dust the outside of the burrow holes in the dirt side of the cellar

with talc or plaster powder or something to see if they are active at all

I toyed with the idea of pouring concrete in there....I may get to that sooner than later

as a side note rats require between 2 and 4 ounces of water a day....which is a good amount considering their size

remove water access/availability and they will move

they will drink standing water in rain gutters or anywhere it collects like downspout run-off hoses,

dryness is not their friend

All water bottles and soda bottles moved to spare fridge in garage, 3 different types of traps set up last night.
No destruction but it did push one of the traps around.

Quote from: somegirl on September 22, 2011, 07:37:21 AM
All water bottles and soda bottles moved to spare fridge in garage, 3 different types of traps set up last night.
No destruction but it did push one of the traps around.

Cheeky Bastards

If you know where/how their slips and holes into the house are

you can try packing them with steel wool....they hate that stuff

ya can't gnaw your way through steel wool (not that I have tried to)

Quote from: RAT900 on September 22, 2011, 08:46:58 AM
Cheeky Bastards

If you know where/how their slips and holes into the house are

you can try packing them with steel wool....they hate that stuff

ya can't gnaw your way through steel wool (not that I have tried to)

Thanks, I already did that as much as I can find the holes but there are obviously some I missed.

Ratzapper company suggested I give it a free meal, turn it off and put bait in the front and back.
Then when it is confident enough to go inside, turn it back on.
Guess it is worth a try at this point.

Rats are indeed neophobic

and it takes them a few days or so to get used to the idea of something new in their theater of operations

once they acclimate to the new object then they will explore it...just has to stay put unmoved and untouched

until the idea/aroma of its contents overrides their instinctive caution

personally I will use any and everything to get them...glue traps, snap traps poison, firepower

oddly the exterminator told me glue traps are regarded as unethical....I sputtered at him and said...what is there some sort of make the beast with two backsing Geneva Convention?

Not like I am looking for a truce and will ever be inviting them over to dinner (intentionally)

When it comes to rats I bayonet the wounded and will blast any I get in a glue trap

^^^ It is, after all, war.  ;)

Unethical? WTF? We are talking about rats, right? Not baby seals or baskets of kittens. What, that dude has a conscience? He needs counseling. [roll]

From another point of view, I used to work in my school's dining hall that used the sticky traps and we would sometimes see live mice that had ripped their legs off getting away from the trap. :-X

Quote from: fastwin on September 22, 2011, 09:31:58 AM
Unethical? WTF? We are talking about rats, right? Not baby seals or baskets of kittens. What, that dude has a conscience? He needs counseling. [roll]

After all, it's why we call em rats!

I dunno, I'm personally against the glue traps. We used to have 5 pet rats and they were awesome.  I don't want uninvited mice or rats in my home so I do set the snap traps but I don't want to make something that doesn't know any better suffer more than necessary. I figure they're all just trying to make their way through this shitty life too.

an exterminator said it was unethical?  [clap] [clap] [clap]
I'd say it's unethical for them to destroy our houses.....no mercy here.

Quote from: lethe on September 22, 2011, 05:01:50 PM
I dunno, I'm personally against the glue traps. We used to have 5 pet rats and they were awesome.  I don't want uninvited mice or rats in my home so I do set the snap traps but I don't want to make something that doesn't know any better suffer more than necessary. I figure they're all just trying to make their way through this shitty life too.

I'm 100% with you.

Quote from: lethe on September 22, 2011, 05:01:50 PM
I dunno, I'm personally against the glue traps. We used to have 5 pet rats and they were awesome.  I don't want uninvited mice or rats in my home so I do set the snap traps but I don't want to make something that doesn't know any better suffer more than necessary. I figure they're all just trying to make their way through this shitty life too.

I understand exactly where you're coming from, but...

I'm betting the rat has a completely different perspective. ;D

Quote from: duck soup on September 22, 2011, 05:57:38 PM
I understand exactly where you're coming from, but...

I'm betting the rat has a completely different perspective. ;D

A rat only knows what a rat knows, I know more and therefore have to see it from a more advanced perspective.

Quote from: lethe on September 22, 2011, 06:02:42 PM
A rat only knows what a rat knows, I know more and therefore have to see it from a more advanced perspective.

I think I said that

I suppose glue traps might be up there with trapping snares, clubbing baby harp seals and iron spring traps

All civilization has a really dark and unpleasant underside that formed it and keeps it going

personally I owe a debt of gratitude to every neolithic ancestor

who clobbered and skinned an animal and wrapped him or herself in its furry remains when it got cold out

I tend to focus on things like Hanta Virus, Black Plague, Rat Bite Fever, Gnawed electrical Wires and smoking craters where a house once was....

those thoughts allow me to cross a threshold into a whole world of cold-bloodedness I don't normally exhibit

well at least do not exhibit very much anymore............... these days  :-\

remember that thing that....peeny...

AAaaaahahahahahahahah hahahahahahhaha hahahahahahahahahahaha

Hey RAT and somegirl, maybe enlisting barn owls would help your rodent battles??

… The buck-toothed vermin [rats], it turns out, are a delicacy to barn owls, a family of which can gobble between 3,000 and 5,000 a year.

[following quotes from people trying to limit rodent population at the Marin Civic Center]
"Barn owls are most beneficial to man in controlling rodents, because they are cavity nesters and are easy to attract," ... "They are superb hunters with large appetites. Also, the barn owl is nonterritorial, so you can attract as many owls to an area as there is prey to eat."
…
"Typically, barn owls start looking for the wintertime nests in the fall, so we're hoping they move in soon."
…
Barn owls do not build their own nests. Instead, they look for holes or cavities in trees, often where hawks, ravens and other birds have abandoned nests. This…is why owl boxes work so well.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/23/BAPT1L71HV.DTL (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/23/BAPT1L71HV.DTL)

I like the flying night time raptor angle. [thumbsup] I'm a raptor fan. [bow_down] Put up some owl boxes. Between traps, snakes, raptors, rat terriors, .22LR guns, nuke them from orbit , etc. I think we got it covered. ;D

The owls end up taking over the house and then he has to find something to get rid of them.  [cheeky]

Quote from: lethe on September 23, 2011, 02:58:03 PM
The owls end up taking over the house and then he has to find something to get rid of them.  [cheeky]

his daughter is a hippie. She'd demand that he move out and let the owls have the house  [cheeky]

Look just get one of the terminator models and have it reprogrammed for killing rats. Perhaps one of the T 1000 units would be a good choice because it can basically shape shift to get under the shed, or even look like a rat itself.  Just imagine it carrying out it's one purpose day and night....

Rat has not gone for free meal at the front of the trap.
OTOH, no destruction the last couple of nights either.
Has it abandoned us for greener pastures?
Or is it plotting and biding its time?

Quote from: somegirl on September 24, 2011, 06:59:34 AM
...
Or is it plotting and biding its time?

This.  Watch your back!

We need an owl!

Quote from: somegirl on September 24, 2011, 07:58:10 AM
We need an owl!

What about a cat?

Quote from: Speeddog on September 24, 2011, 09:19:32 AM
What about a cat?

or an owlcat!
You know some freakish scientist is making one.  :o

Quote from: lethe on September 24, 2011, 10:04:19 AM
or an owlcat!
You know some freakish scientist is making one.  :o

Funny...

My dad had an outdoor cat, it spent a lot of time on the roof, as it was coyote country.
I came home one night, saw the cat on the edge of the roof... "Hi Mr. Cat".
Cat sprouted wings and flew away.
Damn near stopped my heart.  :P

Quote from: lethe on September 24, 2011, 10:04:19 AM
or an owlcat!
You know some freakish scientist is making one.  :o

Hmmm.

And the practical uses would be.....

They taste just like chicken! [bacon] [drool]

Quote from: Speedbag on September 24, 2011, 02:22:20 PM
Hmmm.

And the practical uses would be.....

Removing rats in a most efficient manner.

Jm

Quote from: Speedbag on September 24, 2011, 02:22:20 PM
Hmmm.

And the practical uses would be.....

Step 1 : Make owlcats
Step 3 : Take over the world

Quote from: somegirl on September 24, 2011, 07:58:10 AM
We need an owl!

http://www.dump.com/2011/08/06/eagle-owl-in-slow-motion-video/ (http://www.dump.com/2011/08/06/eagle-owl-in-slow-motion-video/)

Quote from: somegirl on September 24, 2011, 06:59:34 AM
Rat has not gone for free meal at the front of the trap.
OTOH, no destruction the last couple of nights either.
Has it abandoned us for greener pastures?
Or is it plotting and biding its time?

What if you tried clicker training them?  IDK....could make them more useful around the place if they're planning on staying....  Perhaps help fold the cloth diapers...







;)

Quote from: SBK boy on September 24, 2011, 04:59:00 PM
http://www.dump.com/2011/08/06/eagle-owl-in-slow-motion-video/ (http://www.dump.com/2011/08/06/eagle-owl-in-slow-motion-video/)

Holy shit. That was nature at her best. Red in tooth and claw. Wonder what the bait was? When I come back in my next life it will be as a red tail hawk. Just sayin'. ;D

http://www.barnowlbox.com/us-barn-owl.html (http://www.barnowlbox.com/us-barn-owl.html)

I'm thinking maybe...

Quote from: AJ on September 24, 2011, 07:13:29 AM
This.  Watch your back!

You were right.  Yesterday morning I found it had eaten part of a tube of all-natural diaper cream (looks like a giant chapstick) in the living room, near the wood stove. >:(  There's lots of gaps between the stove pipe and chimney, not sure how to close those off.

Oh well, big wood delivery is coming next weekend, once we start firing it up again for the winter we won't have it coming in that way.

I'll check out those owl boxes.
Cat not possible right now, not compatible with the whippets.
Owlcat sounds interesting. ;D

Simple traps...maybe fill the buckets with water or anti-freeze so they are too busy swimming to chew their way out

Bait with diaper cream or cheese  [laugh]

I hope you put your wood in a crib or some sort of cradle that keeps it off the ground....direct on the ground is a guaranteed nesting spot

how do I know?  I have large piles of unsplit wood left on the property...under tarps to keep it and the rats nice and dry!!!  Like the shed I cannot disturb the wood until winter


TRAP A MOUSE OR ANY RODENT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOnAP_3M-84&feature=related#)

Live Mouse Traps 7: Rotating Bottle Trap (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcpXvv4vZ0w&feature=related#)

Got 2 with glue traps..   i dont let them suffer too long..  cutoff their air supply..  with a baby in the house, theres no mercy... 

Quote from: RAT900 on September 26, 2011, 07:47:30 AMSimple traps...maybe fill the buckets with water or anti-freeze so they are too busy swimming to chew their way out

Cannot do with toddler and dogs.

Quote from: RAT900 on September 26, 2011, 07:47:30 AMI hope you put your wood in a crib or some sort of cradle that keeps it off the ground....direct on the ground is a guaranteed nesting spot

The wood for the house is up on shelves but there are piles on the ground elsewhere (tenant's wood).  I'm sure there are plenty of places a rat could nest on the property, actually. :-\

Hmm... Wonder if I could import one of these guys...

OWL transformer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRXT_TrUbiw#)

That's pretty damn cool. [thumbsup] I love the evil owl look!! Where the hell did that display come from? Kept expecting it to whip out a samurai sword!! [laugh]

Sorry to hear the rat was chillin in your living room, somegirl.   Hopefully you had spare diaper cream elsewhere.   (Could it really have been that tasty??)

I hope the owl boxes are feasible!

Quote from: Speeddog on September 24, 2011, 10:22:02 AM
My dad had an outdoor cat, it spent a lot of time on the roof, as it was coyote country.
I came home one night, saw the cat on the edge of the roof... "Hi Mr. Cat".
Cat sprouted wings and flew away.
Damn near stopped my heart.  :P

[laugh]

The power cord for the phone (was between the piano and the wall along with a few other cords).  Wish it had found something more high voltage! >:( >:( >:( >:(

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/rat-cord.JPG)

Quote from: somegirl on September 28, 2011, 11:49:27 AM
The power cord for the phone (was between the piano and the wall along with a few other cords).  Wish it had found something more high voltage! >:( >:( >:( >:(

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/rat-cord.JPG)

Nice floors!!

and what in the hell did you do to piss this rat off like this....mine are sneaky scurriers afraid to do more than venture in and out of the basement

you have a bunch of punk-rockers trashing your place......... and liking electrical wires...

THAT is scary and is the stuff that says it is time for big nasty glue traps and a baseball bat

Quote from: somegirl on September 28, 2011, 11:49:27 AM
The power cord for the phone (was between the piano and the wall along with a few other cords).  Wish it had found something more high voltage! >:( >:( >:( >:(

You have some evil rats!  :o

Time to take the dogs to the kennel for a while and drop off the kid at grandmas...then declare war. Pellet guns, redneck antifreeze traps, glue traps, snap traps, poison, flame throwers, etc!

I'm surprised your dogs don't take care of it. We have nothing living in our yard due to my dogs.

remember that thing that dave (peeny hahahahhahahah)

sorry

remember that thing that dave did with the generator?

you guys should try that again and see if you can cook the little bastards

Per a coworker's recommendation I have wrapped the replacement telephone cord in aluminum foil but I would also have to do the whole entertainment system and computer equipment.

I guess I need to step things up.  It's a bad time for MrI to be away.  

The dogs get a pass, one is 13.5 years old and the other is 14.5 years old.

Quote from: Jacob on September 28, 2011, 02:50:28 PM
remember that thing that dave (peeny hahahahhahahah)

sorry

remember that thing that dave did with the generator?

you guys should try that again and see if you can cook the little bastards

That was a very expensive bit of miswiring!  I am not backfeeding the whole house again even to get the rat.

Quote from: somegirl on September 28, 2011, 02:51:10 PM
The dogs get a pass, one is 13.5 years old and the other is 14.5 years old.

That makes sense. Mine are quite a bit younger.

Good luck!  [thumbsup]

Don't know why it didn't occur to me before I can put bucket trap behind safety gate.  Just built this, this is where the tube of diaper cream was.

Only using water though.  No antifreeze.

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/bucket-trap.JPG)

Oops, can tell from the picture I need to align ramp and dowel slightly better.

Quote from: somegirl on September 28, 2011, 03:41:01 PM
Oops, can tell from the picture I need to align ramp and dowel slightly better.

I was just wondering about that :)

That's some nasty wire chewing, definitely time to get tough! I hope the bucket trap and food lock-down works to stave them off until you can call in the reinforcements (barn owls and peeny)

Good luck!!!

Better:

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/bucket-trap2.JPG)

I'mma make the beast with two backs up some rats when I get home.

Night vision goggles and my crossbow.



Peeny the impaler.

Quote from: peeny on September 29, 2011, 06:01:41 PM
I'mma make the beast with two backs up some rats when I get home.

Night vision goggles and my crossbow.



Peeny the impaler.

I'll laugh if they all tie you down like Gulliver

I am curious to see if any of SG's rats kick the bucket

Be patient remember that rats are neophobic

and might need a day or 3 to get tempted enough to go for the bait

fingers crossed for you paula  [thumbsup]

 [popcorn]





Cant say I've ever looked forward to rat capturing stories.

;)

Quote from: Stella on September 30, 2011, 06:04:16 AM
[popcorn]





Cant say I've ever looked forward to rat capturing stories.

;)

Here at NMC,,,, One's horizons are always widening, not always in a wholesome or family-oriented manner   [thumbsup]

Oh, the rat went for it the first night.

Loved the peanut butter.  Then proceeded to have the runs in the kitchen. :-X :-X :-X

I redid trap yesterday to make bottle spin even faster.  Set it up with smaller amount of PB.

And it enjoyed it again last night, no digestive issues this time thankfully.

Time for a new approach.

Since it does seem to like this arrangement, I am thinking about bungeeing the rat zapper to the top of the bucket.

Give it a free meal for a night or two.  Then turn it on.

Alternatively I will dig out my clicker and work on training it per Stella's earlier idea.

Ok, I'll join this discussion. A good friend of mine had a rat infestation in his house downtown. Instead of taking the passive approach and setting traps we decided to make this very personal. We sprinkled dog food along the edges of all the kitchen walls. We set up the kill zone with two sniper nests, one at the mud room door, one at the kitchen door. We turned out the lights, cracked a beer... and waited.

We were armed with air riles, old Daisies with hollow point pellets. Our eyes adjusted easily with the ambient light from the streets outside. The sounds of small skittering feet were above us, hidden safely in the ceiling. Safely. For now.

After an hour and a half the first rat struck.

His sleek body emerged from the corner behind the washing machine, a dark silhouette against the stark white enamel. He lumbered along the wall, sniffing greedily at the dog food they had feasted on for weeks now. He found the morsel that lured him to his doom next to the pantry door. Inches more and he would have found safety within its walls, but not this one. This one had forgotten his training in the presence of what appeared to be easy pickings.

The shot cracked out from across the kitchen. My friend had taken the shot. A ear piercing squeal filled the room as he flipped the lights on. The death was quick though, and within seconds the convulsing form on the floor lay still, a bright red splash framing his corpse on the wall behind him.

This would be the first of many. We considered impaling him on a pike outside the village as a warning to the others, but we figured nah, too dramatic  [laugh]

Click at your own risk, it's gory.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/theartfuldubber/Carnage.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v432/theartfuldubber/Carnage.jpg)

Beautifully written tale (tail?? [laugh]). You are obviously talented with the pen and Daisy. [thumbsup] I love stories like this. Baited killing field. [evil] And there was beer involved. More good thinking! Revenge is a dish best served cold. Hopefully the beer was cold too. [beer]

I like the impaling idea! I once had an ongoing jihad against pigeons vs my songbird bird feeders that was dealt with in a similar fashion. Scoped pellet rifles. [thumbsup] I would occasionally leave a carcass laying around as a warning to the others. I assumed the smart ones figured out the message, the dumb ones joined the carcass.

Quote from: somegirl on September 28, 2011, 04:02:47 PM
Better:

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/bucket-trap2.JPG)

I think you need to move the spinning bottle closer to the side without the ramp

He/she can probably reach the peanut butter with its hind legs planted on a stable bit of the bucket or ramp and stretch keeping its front legs on the wood dowel

Again, more good advice. ;) Catch/kill a rat = think like a rat. [popcorn]

This rat has entitlement issues, didn't hesitate to hit the bait first time out...then crapped the floor as a thank you

probably should put the bait more towards the far end of the bottle too

Quote from: RAT900 on September 30, 2011, 08:45:26 AM
I think you need to move the spinning bottle closer to the side without the ramp

He/she can probably reach the peanut butter with its hind legs planted on a stable bit of the bucket or ramp and stretch keeping its front legs on the wood dowel

This was last night's version.

Putting bait on far end is a good idea.

I was also thinking about coating the whole bottle in oil. :-\

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-09-29_rattrap_revB.JPG)

All I can say is that I would not want to be that rat when you do catch it

Are you going to get an aluminum baseball bat and do a Mortar and Pestle job on it?

Quote from: RAT900 on September 30, 2011, 10:31:04 AM
All I can say is that I would not want to be that rat when you do catch it

Are you going to get an aluminum baseball bat and do a Mortar and Pestle job on it?

something we all should have learned long ago...don't mess with a mom.

Referring to this "rat" in the singular is probably wishfull thinking if I remember by biology correctly.

Not always the case...sometimes one will venture out and attempt to colonize and if it establishes,,, it will send for a mail-order bride from back home

might be the case here since this one is acting like it isn't getting laid much

Reference 19th Century US Imperialist Territorial Expansion and perhaps the earlier Frontiersmen of the 17th and 18th centuries in North America, Grizzly Adams, Dan Boone etc

Quote from: Artful on September 30, 2011, 08:14:30 AM
We considered impaling him on a pike outside the village as a warning to the others, but we figured nah, too dramatic  [laugh]

I lived in a house with rat issues for years.  You could hear them in the walls at night mostly, but occasionally they would get into the house.  Exterminator guy would come along every few months and set out poison.  They would disappear for a short while, but sooner or later you could hear more of them in the walls.  It really sucked to wake up in the morning and see that the fruit you had on the counter top had been gnawed on.  And the bastards wouldn't just eat one piece of fruit, or just one banana of the bunch.  They would have to stick their diseased teeth into every piece of fruit and every banana in the bunch.  And, occasionally you would start to notice a certain smell that would get more and more pronounced every day.  The smell of death.  But the bastards would often die somewhere in the walls, and there was no way to get to them.  Just the horrible stink.  And all the flies buzzing around the doors and windows, trying to get INTO the house.  It really just sucked.  Made it feel like the home wasn't mine anymore.  One time we were able to trace the smell to the stove.  Had to mostly dismantle the thing (electric stove) to finally find the bastard.  Seems he/she started to chew on the power cord where it connects on the inside of the stove and got zapped.  Finding a rat that has been dead for days and having to pick it up with gloved hand or other improvised device always made me gag.  They are HUGE in Hawaii. 

It had gotten to the point where you didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, because you would be afraid of encountering a rat or two.  Not to mention the knowledge that every surface in your house has had rats on it, doing their rat things.  Rugs, floors, furniture, beds, counter tops, the top of the fridge, closets, the pantry, inside clothing drawers, shelves, desks.  Everywhere. 

And coming home at night to an empty house was something to be feared as well.  That's when they felt most comfortable to explore and creep around, like the place was theirs.  One night, I just totally snapped.

I had come home late after a night at work.  Was standing in the kitchen having a drink, when I thought I heard something in the living room.  I froze, and listened.  Sure enough, I heard a bit of nibbling going on beneath the couch.  I was PISSED!  I quickly and quietly sprung into action.  There were two exits from the living room, neither equipped with a door.  I grabbed a large picture off the wall and placed it across one exit, making sure it would sit flush, with no gaps for the rat to squeeze through.  For the other door, I used the glass top to the coffee table, carefully putting it into place.  Looked around for a weapon, and decided on the kitchen broom.  Downed a shot of bourbon in the kitchen (I make the beast with two backsing hate rats) and went into the war zone. 

I was pissed.  Pissed that I was too poor to live in a house without rats.  Pissed at my job.  Pissed at my life in general at that point.  But mainly pissed because I really just wanted to go to sleep, and I was tired of ceding the house to the rats.  Tired of waking to the sound of rats scurrying around in the ceiling right above my head.  So I went into the living room, armed with broom, and got on top of the couch. 

There is a certain bit of nervous anticipation when you can hear something first, and you know it's there, and you know exactly what it is, but you haven't seen it yet.  And you know that when you see it, it will startle you, because it just seems so out of place.

Gripping the broom, I started wacking it against all sides of the couch.  Within a few moments, I saw the little bastard come out and quick as lightning run underneath the adjoining chair.  I hopped on top of that, and proceeded to smack the chair with said broom, and the rat ran for the couch again.  The make the beast with two backser was FAST.  Onto the couch again, and the rat makes a break for the t.v. stand on the other side of the room.  I go chasing after him/her, swinging with all my might at the little bastard, cursing, yelling, but missing every time.  Rat changed direction multiple times, erratically.  Made a beeline for the exit, blocked by the painting, tried to jump it.  The make the beast with two backser could JUMP, but not high enough.  That gave me pause and fear, seeing the little bastard take to the air like that.  I make the beast with two backsing hate rats.  He/she decided to head back to the living room, all the way dodging my broom with ease.  Anyone watching would have likely laughed their asses off, as it was reminiscent of a Tom & Jerry cartoon, me chasing and cursing and swinging and missing and knocking shit over and breaking stuff in the process.  The rat made a couple more evasive moves, went under the couch again, and when I flushed it from the couch once more, it headed for the second exit.  The bastard knew my house like the back of its paw.  This was to be his/her fatal mistake.  Scurrying full speed towards the doorway, the rat banged into the glass coffee table top.  This shocked the rat for a split second, confused it for a brief moment.  That gave me enough time to finally connect the broom to the rat.  The broom not being a very solid or heavy rat killing device, merely startled the rat, set him/her off balance.  It scurried a quick circle, tried running along it's familiar pathway back to the kitchen, blocked by an object that was never there before in the shape of the glass coffee table top, tried jumping a few times.  Bleh!  I connected a few more times, each blow knocking the rat into a bit more of a confused stupor, slowing him/her down more and more.  By this time I think both of us were out of breath.  Finally the rat slowed enough that I was able to connect 2 really solid hits.  The rat went belly up, his/her body shuddering a bit, then, nothing.  I waited and waited, broom cocked and ready for another blow.  I yelled and cursed at the rat to get back up, because I wanted to hit it again.  I waited a few minutes actually, nudging the rat a few times with the broom, hoping it would come back to life again so that I could beat it into death once more.  The rat never came to, so I swept it out onto the deck, watching carefully for signs of life.  I grabbed a machete that was outside, and in one fell swoop, decapitated the little make the beast with two backser, and left the remains there overnight as a warning to any and all of his/her friends.  After all that, I had another drink.  I make the beast with two backsing hate rats.

In the coming two weeks, my roommate and I took to the yard, trimming back trees that connected to the roof, trimming back bushes away from the windows, shored up a couple of holes that lead underneath the house (It was post and pier foundation.)  Rented a giant tree chipper and removed a pile of brush and crap from the backyard.  Seemed to make the difference, but I was only there for 3 more months after that.

That, is my rat story.

Quote from: somegirl on September 30, 2011, 07:47:51 AM
Oh, the rat went for it the first night.

Loved the peanut butter.  Then proceeded to have the runs in the kitchen. :-X :-X :-X

Ok add a little probiotics into the peanut butter to help their digestion.

;)

Quote from: Stella on September 30, 2011, 12:22:39 PM
Ok add a little probiotics into the peanut butter to help their digestion.

;)

make them better before you kill them....

'xactly.

;)

My stepdaughter and I finally went down to the basement the other week so she could do her laundry

she has been living in the house for 2 months since my daughter and SiL (sorta) has moved out

She was out of clean clothes and had been reluctant to go down there alone to hit the machines

So equipped with baseball bat and a stout extension pole for the paint rollers we made our way down.....

for her benefit I was banging on the walls and in my best Tent Revival/Televangelist drawl I shouted " Begone foul beast of satan" several times

she started laughing...we both did

We cleaned out the entire laundry area which sits within the old stonework of the former coal bin for the house, old tarps and paint cans, scrap wood galore etc etc

we assessed the entire finished side and dirt side of the cellar so she knows her way around it and what it looks like

nothing is worse than leaving your imagination to visualize some things

so while she isn't big on going down there she at least is ok enough to do her laundry

and she still bangs on the walls and shouts Begone Foul Beast of Satan just to be sure as she heads down there

the girl is a trooper

Grappa, Now that's a make the beast with two backsing rat story!! [laugh] [thumbsup]

My ex-wife and I years ago loved to put out bird feeders. We had a nice bird bath too. The ex was also into composting everything, especially kitchen/veggie waste. You guessed it... make the beast with two backsing rat heaven! >:( Bird seed, water, compost, etc. They used the telephone line from the alley pole to the house like a damn highway! It was funny to watch when two met going in opposite directions. [laugh] I always enjoyed hanging out on the patio at night, cigar and drink in hand with the pumped and loaded Feinwerkbau pellet gun at the ready. Good clean entertainment. [thumbsup] [drink] Probably the best part of that marriage. ;D

Grappa loved the story and you are right they are demoralizing to deal with....and it is a hell of a lot easier to keep them away than it is to get rid of them once they have decided to mark your abode

I don't waste a lot of energy hating many things but I have got plenty of energy when it comes to vermin especially rats

They're right up there with mimes.

So at a closer look on the second version of the trap, it did not actually eat the PB, it spun the bottle.  Must have felt it moving and got spooked.

Do I spike the bait to make it more exciting?

Or should I try hanging bait like this (http://www.4dotranch.com/MT/index.html)? 

In the interest of time I will probably just try spiking the bait for tonight, maybe actually move it closer to the ramp.  I have to confess that I went and bought bacon bits for the rat today. [bacon] [roll].

One issue I have with the bucket traps - I'm pretty certain a motivated rat can jump out of a 5 gallon pail pretty easily.  You may have caught it several times already.

Quote from: WarrenJ on September 30, 2011, 08:52:37 PM
One issue I have with the bucket traps - I'm pretty certain a motivated rat can jump out of a 5 gallon pail pretty easily.  You may have caught it several times already.

I have water in the bottom.

Rativity report?

Maybe the bacon bits drew them in and MsI is in the midst of whipping up some ratatouille for Danger's breakfast?

;)



[puke]

It poked at it but did not go for it.

Quote from: somegirl on October 01, 2011, 06:59:01 AM
It poked at it but did not go for it.

Do you live near a highly guarded Area 51 type Military Facility?

buy a high powered pellet gun and have fun.

Quote from: RAT900 on October 01, 2011, 07:52:14 AM
Do you live near a highly guarded Area 51 type Military Facility?

you suspect they are from NIMH?

Quote from: somegirl on September 30, 2011, 05:21:44 PM
I have to confess that I went and bought bacon bits for the rat today. [bacon] [roll].

Quote from: somegirl on October 01, 2011, 06:59:01 AM
It poked at it but did not go for it.

The heathen!!!  Ignoring yummy bacon?!  All the more reason to eliminate it!   >:(



;D




[bacon]

 >:( >:( >:(

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-02_block.JPG)

Quote from: somegirl on October 02, 2011, 01:20:41 PM
>:( >:( >:(

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-02_block.JPG)

taunting you, daring you to do something

Uh oh!  :o

Screwing with the kids toys?

He done gone and make the beast with two backsed up now...   >:(

Smart ass rat. Passed on the bacon but chewed a plastic kid's toy block? WTF? In Texas "he needed killing" is a valid legal defense. Jusy saying... [evil]

I will kill every. last. one. of. those. mothermake the beast with two backsers.

I get the feeling a recon satellite is being rerouted right now...

Quote from: swampduc on October 02, 2011, 05:09:08 PM
I get the feeling a recon satellite is being rerouted right now...

Recon satellite, hell, he's rerouting one of those orbital death ray laser satellites. ;D

Quote from: krolik on October 02, 2011, 07:01:18 PM
Recon satellite, hell, he's rerouting one of those orbital death ray laser satellites. ;D

My thoughts exactly. ;)

Quote from: peeny on October 02, 2011, 01:57:15 PM
I will kill every. last. one. of. those. mothermake the beast with two backsers.

Scorched playroom

Caddyshack Clip - License to kill gophers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv87T1CQF8E&feature=related#)

This IS a NIMH rat...it is communicating with you....telling you your kid is vulnerable

this one is the foul beast of satan indeed    :o

Quote from: Buckethead on October 02, 2011, 01:22:17 PM
Uh oh!  :o

Screwing with the kids toys?

He done gone and make the beast with two backsed up now...   >:(

ohh, it's the kid's toy!
I thought those are Mr I's megablocks... ;D

Friday night my MIL forgot and left the bananas out on the counter, and the rat had a field day with them.

We put everything away the next night, but I guess after the previous feast, the rat was not going to be denied.

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-09_fruitbox.JPG)

It totally gorged on an avocado in there.

Yup, ignores the bacon bits and eats through wire mesh to get at avocado.

Apparently what we have here is a vegan rat.

And he's aware of all the nutritional benefits of avocados.

Gasp! You're going to need the following

1. a dirty hemp hat
2. a few cups of free trade coffee
3. a Nissan Leaf (a Prius is far too mainstream)
4. an early release model of the iPad 3
5. a Sarah Mclachlan album back from when she was underground

Arrange them all in a drum circle and wait.

Don't forget the patchouli oil!

[laugh]

Quote from: somegirl on October 10, 2011, 01:27:41 PM
Friday night my MIL forgot and left the bananas out on the counter, and the rat had a field day with them.

We put everything away the next night, but I guess after the previous feast, the rat was not going to be denied.

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-09_fruitbox.JPG)

It totally gorged on an avocado in there.

Yup, ignores the bacon bits and eats through wire mesh to get at avocado.

Apparently what we have here is a vegan rat.

He must die a slow and painful death,

he must see the look in your eye and the smile on your face

before he goes to meet his maker

on another note my rativity has dropped off considerably...the poison has devastated them

Exterminator came last Friday and checked the bait stations,

only the one inside the dirt cellar had been hit....ugh...still inside

no yard sightings...and no fresh activity around the outside slip holes at the foundation line of the house

SiL has emptied the basement of his stellar collection of crap and clutter

so we can now put some tracking dust around all the holes on the dirt side and see if they are active at all

if they are, I may run a hose off a 2 cycle motor with a heavy oil/gas mix

and run the hose into one of the holes and start smoking it to see if anything pops

I killed another make the beast with two backser this morning.  Thankfully they are not in the house but I'm running out of pellets. 

Why don't you try poisoning some fruit and leave it on a nice little plate with all the fixins? 

Quote from: muskrat on October 10, 2011, 02:07:51 PM
I killed another make the beast with two backser this morning.  Thankfully they are not in the house but I'm running out of pellets.  

Why don't you try poisoning some fruit and leave it on a nice little plate with all the fixins?  

SG's rat would take the poison fruit and mix it back in with the good stuff just to rattle her

are you using the gold Raptor pellets?

I have a problem with pocket gophers at my east TX farm. It's not like an urban rat problem but they tunnel like crazy in the soft sandy soil, push up mounds of dirt everywhere and eat the roots off of anything planted in the yard. RODENTS to the max! Well, years ago I learned that if I find a fresh mound of dirt at the end of an active tunnel and I find a hole in the mound then out comes the trusty riding lawn mower and a convenient 6 foot section of old water hose!! [evil] Pull up to the hole, let previously mentioned riding mower idle away and connect the exhaust and mound hole with the water hose and walk away. About the length of time it takes to drink a beer and have a cigar seems to do the trick. Funny how those tunnels always seem to stop right there.

Quote from: RAT900 on October 10, 2011, 02:18:54 PM
SG's rat would take the poison fruit and mix it back in with the good stuff just to rattle her

are you using the gold Raptor pellets?

nah, the hollow point.

What would you folk recommend for shooting the rat? My arsenal involves a longbow, a crossbow, a blowgun, and a Mosin.

None of those will cut it. I want to ensure rat death but not put hole sin anything bigger. Pellet gun sound about right?

Quote from: peeny on October 10, 2011, 10:17:39 PM
What would you folk recommend for shooting the rat? My arsenal involves a longbow, a crossbow, a blowgun, and a Mosin.

None of those will cut it. I want to ensure rat death but not put hole sin anything bigger. Pellet gun sound about right?

need to borrow a pellet gun or air rifle? Got 4, we can have a party.

8 or 10 shot .22 revolver with Rat shot shells

However in your particular case I would suggest a sticky glue trap and an aluminum baseball bat...

that is if your rat doesn't grease its feet first before hitting the glue trap,

or it wears 2 pairs of throw-away bowling shoes it stole from a prior venue

i use a pellet gun and my accuracy has increased on my rifles as well.  could it be that they are the cheapest form of target practice?  :o

dynamite ;D

Pellet rifle. [thumbsup]

peeny, you seem like a manly man. why do you need a gun to do this.

get a set of throwing knives. or some thwoing stars.
get some practice, and keep them on your hip at all times. if you see the make the beast with two backser, nail him.
you might need to lay down something to protect the floor and carpet from blood spray, but it could also serve as a warnign to any other rat that might decide to try and take up residence.

i used to sit on my couch in brooklyn and throw things (knives included) at the rats running from the kitchen to the closet.
they chewed through the steel wool we stuffed in there, and found ways around the bricks we covered the holes with. my roomies wouldn't let me use the bb gun inside the apt, but they were fine with me whipping out a blade and hucking it across the room... ???

Pellet rifles, throwing stars, etc. my ass. Bump it up like you mean business! [evil]

Dillon Aero (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYvEFATaRMY#)

Yowzer!!! [thumbsup] [clap] [popcorn]

i'm not sure that tracer rounds would be a good idea around him. he does tend to set himself on fire often

Use your Nagant with just a primer and a wax bullet or a rubber one if you can get one close to bore size.  Get behind the couch and put on your helmet and fix bayonets and wait for them to charge!  If you use wax bullets, be sure to clean your bore good before using full power ammo again.

Do you think the rats got the better of SG's & Peeny's household?   Should we be worried?

No, we just had a tarantula keeping us busy briefly. ;)

Anyway, I was coming to post an update.

My findings this morning contradict our earlier theory of a vegan rat and confirm that we are not actually dealing with a simple rodent, but rather Satan's minion. [evil] :-\

I had set up this hanging bait of peanut butter and bacon bits over a bucket with water (and a little vegetable oil to keep bugs from breeding in it).  This was on October 4, and it stayed like this until last night.

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-04_hangingtrap1.JPG)

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-04_hangingtrap2.JPG)

Finally the rat figured out how to get at the tasty treat.  It moved the ramp to the side so it could reach it. :o

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-13_hangingtrap1.JPG)

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-13_hangingtrap2.JPG)

It is (well past) time for the sticky traps. >:(

So, not only are you feeding the rat, but you're making it smarter as well.

;D

It is time to bring in the Clergy

this is not a rat,

it is the foul presence of evil

Quote from: Monsterlover on October 13, 2011, 09:23:26 AM
So, not only are you feeding the rat, but you're making it smarter as well.

;D

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

You seriously need to set up a "nanny cam" and get this rodent's antics on video. Could be a useful tool in your rat jihad. [thumbsup]

Quote from: fastwin on October 13, 2011, 10:38:40 AM
[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

You seriously need to set up a "nanny cam" and get this rodent's antics on video. Could be a useful tool in your rat jihad. [thumbsup]

observe your enemy before the strike. a cessation of activity will only serve to make them feel secure. after careful intelligence gathering you will be able to strike as your enemy feels they ahve won and they will slip up.

Quote from: fastwin on October 13, 2011, 10:38:40 AM
You seriously need to set up a "nanny cam" and get this rodent's antics on video...

+1
Rat cam would be interesting...
I'm guessing this is a posse of rats, with an especially wily one as their leader...squeaking out orders..."Rufus, move the ramp an inch more to the left...Rudy, stabilize the base of the ramp...Rory, lead three up to the top...everyone grab the tail in front and don't let Rory fall! (such a pain to chew through the bucket from the outside, and he'll spend weeks getting that vegetable oil out of his fur)...that was fun, good night's work team...back to the avocados...who's going to plant the insect distraction this time?"


But I digress.  These rats need to GO  >:(

Might be fun to get one of those robot cams that roll around the house to keep an eye on the little home wreckers. 

Quote from: AJ on October 13, 2011, 10:56:24 AM
+1
."Rufus, move the ramp an inch more to the left...Rudy, stabilize the base of the ramp...Rory, lead three up to the top...everyone grab the tail in front and don't let Rory fall! (such a pain to chew through the bucket from the outside, and he'll spend weeks getting that vegetable oil out of his fur)...that was fun, good night's work team...back to the avocados...who's going to plant the insect distraction this time?"


But I digress.  These rats need to GO  >:(

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Quote from: somegirl on October 13, 2011, 09:17:29 AM
No, we just had a tarantula keeping us busy briefly. ;)

Anyway, I was coming to post an update.

My findings this morning contradict our earlier theory of a vegan rat and confirm that we are not actually dealing with a simple rodent, but rather Satan's minion. [evil] :-\

I had set up this hanging bait of peanut butter and bacon bits over a bucket with water (and a little vegetable oil to keep bugs from breeding in it).  This was on October 4, and it stayed like this until last night.

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-04_hangingtrap1.JPG)

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-04_hangingtrap2.JPG)

Finally the rat figured out how to get at the tasty treat.  It moved the ramp to the side so it could reach it. :o

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-13_hangingtrap1.JPG)

(http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-13_hangingtrap2.JPG)

It is (well past) time for the sticky traps. >:(

Not sure how old your kiddos are.....this warning is worth noting.  Almost happened to a friends child several years back.


http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5006.html (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5006.html)

Quote from: rgramjet on October 13, 2011, 02:33:37 PM
Not sure how old your kiddos are.....this warning is worth noting.  Almost happened to a friends child several years back.


http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5006.html (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5006.html)

Great warning. Kiddo is 14 months old.  Bucket is well behind a safety gate. [thumbsup]

All the ingenious things and still no dead rat.  [bang]

You should arrange the bucket and stick contraption in a way that the stick will fall into the bucket when the rat gets on the far end of the stick with the tasty prize attached.

Also, you need to put more liquid in the bucket so that the rat simply can't stand up, and jump out of it.
You have enough water in there for mice or voles, but not nearly enough for a decent sized rat.

BC.

Quote from: AJ on October 13, 2011, 10:56:24 AM
+1
Rat cam would be interesting...
I'm guessing this is a posse of rats, with an especially wily one as their leader...squeaking out orders..."Rufus, move the ramp an inch more to the left...Rudy, stabilize the base of the ramp...Rory, lead three up to the top...everyone grab the tail in front and don't let Rory fall! (such a pain to chew through the bucket from the outside, and he'll spend weeks getting that vegetable oil out of his fur)...that was fun, good night's work team...back to the avocados...who's going to plant the insect distraction this time?"


But I digress.  These rats need to GO  >:(

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

I think someone's tipping these little bastards off and drawing schematics to solve for the equation you're presenting them.  I'd get shit tons of sticky paper and line the traffic areas.........who gives a shit about humane BS.

I'm all for a night-vision camera triggered by motion detector.  These make the beast with two backsers are far more nimble than you are giving them credit for.  And I bet they are even smart enough to pull the dangling prize towards them instead of venturing out over the water for it.  I am thinking that rats have problem solving skills equal to squirrels.  As for the glue traps...  Had a friend who set some out.  Rat got caught in one overnight, chewed his leg off to get out of it, then bled all over the house before dying.  So if you go that route, you might want to glue the traps to the floor.  It's time to get medieval on these bastards, and out-smart them!

[popcorn]

Yes, you may want to secure the glue traps....these minions of evil might try to slap them on your head while you sleep

can you make a collapsable glue trap so that as the rat thrashes around trying to get free it just becomes wrapped up in it like a mummy?

then you will have the pleasure of the rat knowing it has been caught when you walk up and laugh evilly.

You know this is a damn serious problem of great concern when the thread goes on for 16 pages!! [laugh] I'm thinking nuke the house from orbit and be done with it. [thumbsup]

All or most glue traps turn into a rectangular box...  if you get the big ones something like 12" x6" it heavy and they can't wrangle it off..  

Be sure to have pellet gun handy to target practice when they stick

BOOM! Headshot!

One of the evil mothermake the beast with two backsers down. I'll see if any more turn up.

Quote from: peeny on October 16, 2011, 12:26:05 AM
BOOM! Headshot!

One of the evil mothermake the beast with two backsers down. I'll see if any more turn up.

Pics or didn't happen!

Why you don't call nobody, i can use some target practice....

Quote from: DanTheMan on October 16, 2011, 12:34:58 AM
Pics or didn't happen!

Why you don't call nobody, i can use some target practice....

Thought you were in the Philippines getting STD's from trannies still.

Quote from: peeny on October 16, 2011, 12:37:10 AM
Thought you were in the Philippines getting STD's from trannies still.

Got all the STD's i can acquire so i came back. And the trannies.. well thats another story.


What you doing later this week? Beer? How do you feel about herpes? 

Quote from: DanTheMan on October 16, 2011, 12:41:42 AM
Got all the STD's i can acquire so i came back. And the trannies.. well thats another story.


What you doing later this week? Beer? How do you feel about herpes? 

No clue about any of it. Yes beer. Herpes...meh.

Quote from: peeny on October 16, 2011, 12:26:05 AM
BOOM! Headshot!

One of the evil mothermake the beast with two backsers down. I'll see if any more turn up.

What did you use?

...and there's never just one. ;)

Quote from: peeny on October 16, 2011, 12:26:05 AM
BOOM! Headshot!

One of the evil mothermake the beast with two backsers down. I'll see if any more turn up.

House still standing?

Gory pics:
The scene (http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-15_deadrat.JPG)
Close-up (http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-15_deadrat_closeup.JPG)

Quote from: somegirl on October 16, 2011, 08:32:58 AM
Gory pics:
The scene (http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-15_deadrat.JPG)
Close-up (http://paularickert.net/albums/userpics/10001/2011-10-15_deadrat_closeup.JPG)

How did you do it?

Sweeeeet! [thumbsup] Was he trying to deliver that postal box when you shot him?

Crosman 1077

female confirmed kill.  [thumbsup]  you are well on your way.

Good Work, Great Shooting!!

Do you see how its evil eyes are still glowing?

Careful it does not come back to life....

zombie rats require precision head shots

Quote from: fastwin on October 16, 2011, 08:59:40 AM
Sweeeeet! [thumbsup] Was he trying to deliver that postal box when you shot him?

probably trying to steal it

This is awesome.  [popcorn]

I never get to fire guns indoors.  :(

so did you guys stand over the rat and taunt afterwards?

Quote from: King Tut on October 17, 2011, 06:55:17 AM
so did you guys stand over the rat and taunt afterwards?

It was in it's death throes when I walked up and shot it execution style.

It glared at me and screamed "Killing me won't bring her back!"
I said "Ain't that a shame."

Bang!

(http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/images/smilies/snipersmilie.gif)

Hope PETA doesn't have a member on this forum. [laugh]

they wont mess with anyone here.......too many gun owners.  [coffee]

 [laugh] [laugh]

I'm a little surprised you didn't go with:

you: Don't know if that was 5 pumps or 6......

rat:  I Gots to know!!

Good Dirty Harry line! [laugh]

Quote from: peeny on October 17, 2011, 07:02:27 AM
It was in it's death throes when I walked up and shot it execution style.

It glared at me and screamed "Killing me won't bring her back!"
I said "Ain't that a shame."

Bang!

(http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/images/smilies/snipersmilie.gif)

lol, where is that from?

So...............SG & P

Has your personal Rodent Reign of Terror abated with the execution of the single subversive vermin??

Things seem to have substantially abated here in A-ville with the poisoning strategy although I am not convinced it is over yet...despite the lack of activity at the slip holes no fresh crep and no outside scurrying sightings

There are literally piles of rat crep concentrated in various areas of my dirt cellar...

spent several days cleaning all the clutter and junk out...bags of old clothes, endless piles of wood and trim, 3 pairs of 1930's/40's era water ski's, AM band only car radios....stuff from before I bought the place

Exterminator is coming this week to check the poison bait consumption....last visit it looked like only mice had eaten the dirt cellar poison...which may be good as rats tend to kill mice and don't believe in sharing space with them

Saw signs of another yesterday. Not surprised. I should shoot it soon enough. I'm sort of in a rush as there really don't seem to be that many, nor are the remainder as smart/persistent as the alpha was.

Brought my sons down to SW va for the weekend.  Time to get the cabin ready for the annual buck hunt.  

Freakin rat sign EVERYWHERE!  

Saw 3 bigguns last night, caught one in a trap.  Only problem was the trap wasn't strong enough to kill the thing.......sat there looking at us after we heard the snap.  A heel to the back of the neck dispatched it quickly.

Id guess the one we caught weighed about a pound......nasty.   Wish I never googled henta virus.......

Hantavirus and Valley Hemorraghic Fever are kind of creepy

I am still down here in Ratopia....still no sightings...big highlight of my week will be tomorrow afternoon when my Pest Control guy comes to work the bait and trap line on the property...

I follow him around like a kid and watch as he opens each one to see how much poison was consumed....and where on (or in) the property they are hitting them

Tomorrow is dedicated to finishing the trim painting on the lower end of the house....

Wednesday is working with the beam jack guy to help me place jacks and re-level the sagging floors so I can plaster and paint the interior walls

Thursday is dedicated to draining the Rodent Refreshment Pond and filling it in...

I have to go back to NY so I can stop working for a few days

On a brighter note folks who pass by,,, taking their dogs to run the trails in the park behind me,,,, are stopping and telling me how beautiful my restoration of the house is

and how nice it is to see the grounds getting cleaned up to do justice to the house...it is a cool house despite all the problems

another little bastard killed in action tonight.  Academy sells the best pellet guns.  [evil]

I have been stuck back in NY for the better part of November   [thumbsdown]

I am heading back down to the killing fields of Ratwood Gahdens after Thanksgiving...

I am hoping they haven't realized that the house has been unoccupied and sent in scouting parties

I'll let my Pit/Border Collie dog into the house first to track for activity...

she is excellent at finding any traces of them and mice...girl has a lot of "kill" in her

Good luck.  Take lots of pictures of the carnage  :o

Quote from: muskrat on November 21, 2011, 09:51:16 PM
Good luck.  Take lots of pictures of the carnage  :o

A rat! Shoot! Shoot!

Quote from: peeny on November 21, 2011, 10:15:14 PM
A rat! Shoot! Shoot!

I am hoping not....praying not...if there are any still inside

and if they have come upstairs due to lack of human occupancy

I will be in full bug-out mode

I am tearing down the yard shed in January which was the cover for their old stronghold

hoping the poison bait wiped them out like it seems to have....

need to make the shed go away before it gets warm again and another family moves in under it

Old thread back to the top.  Our dogs flushed a rat and the wife went ape shit.   I heard screaming but the dogs had other plans.   I grabbed my pellet gun and off I went to kill. Wife won't talk to me now  [cheeky]. She had a pet rat and wants another one, NOT

Quote from: muskrat on April 21, 2012, 07:26:45 PM
Old thread back to the top.  Our dogs flushed a rat and the wife went ape shit.   I heard screaming but the dogs had other plans.   I grabbed my pellet gun and off I went to kill. Wife won't talk to me now  [cheeky]. She had a pet rat and wants another one, NOT

good dogs!!

pet rats are up there with pet cockroaches in my world

or maybe a flea farm instead of an ant farm or something

one more.  today's count is 2 little bastards.  :'(

Quote from: muskrat on April 21, 2012, 09:52:56 PM
one more.  today's count is 2 little bastards.  :'(

when I get down south for good a pair of Rat Terriers are on the must-have list

We had someone come out and "rat-proof" our place a while back, which seemed to work.  But now that MrI is gone on another extended business trip, they are back.  Luckily it only took a couple of pieces of fruit for me to go back to battening down the hatches.  

It is very odd that they come out to play when he is gone.
Does he have natural rat-repellent properties?
Has his rat marksmanship reputation spread?

Or is this actually his alter ego?

I had two pet lab rats in college. Otis and Tunafish. As rats will do, they bred, had kiddos and one day the kids and Tunafish killed and pretty much ate up Dad. Domestic violence on a rat level. Never had heard of such a thing. Disturbing.

Pissed me off so I took Mom and kid rats to the local pet store and said "here, free snake food!". They smiled and relieved me of my duty. Slept like a baby ever since. Never trust a rat. Lesson learned.

Quote from: somegirl on April 21, 2012, 10:53:56 PM
We had someone come out and "rat-proof" our place a while back, which seemed to work.  But now that MrI is gone on another extended business trip, they are back.  Luckily it only took a couple of pieces of fruit for me to go back to battening down the hatches.  

It is very odd that they come out to play when he is gone.
Does he have natural rat-repellent properties?
Has his rat marksmanship reputation spread?

Or is this actually his alter ego?

I smell a rat. I think he is setting you up for something. Not sure what. Watch your back. Ever seen the movie "Willard"? [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_(1971_film) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard_(1971_film))

Just read this from start to finish. Some of you really need to publish your works, brilliant material!

My rats were brought home on accident....

Find Bus in woods AKA mobile rat home....
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/3.jpg)

Bring the whole colony back to the nice new diggs
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/15.jpg)

Realize the error of my ways "oh shit, this thing is full of HUGE rats!!"
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/24.jpg)

Kill all the things!!!
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/23.jpg)

do you seriously think you got ALL of them?   [cheeky]

My son in law had the diesel version of that bus sitting in my driveway forever on 3 flats...no doubt it was one of their many comfort stations...probably still is wherever he towed it to


I glanced at my dirt cellar bait stations yesterday evening...one loolked like it may have been visited..not sure,

the blue crumbs could have been from the last time the exterminator tore out the old bait packets

and put in new ones (yeah right !!  keep telling yourself that genius)

exterminator being summoned today to open it up.....

and to make the rounds on the rest of them...

but no other signs or fresh piles or rat shit down there

When we are all gone it will be an open contest between the rats and roaches on who takes over the planet. Bets anyone? [popcorn] [laugh]

Quote from: JEDI PIMP on April 23, 2012, 02:56:11 AM
My rats were brought home on accident....

Find Bus in woods AKA mobile rat home....
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/3.jpg)

Bring the whole colony back to the nice new diggs
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/15.jpg)

Realize the error of my ways "oh shit, this thing is full of HUGE rats!!"
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/24.jpg)

Kill all the things!!!
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/23.jpg)

Rats or not...that thing is awesome!

Yea man..  pics of the restoration if you do one..

Oh, n that's one big F'n rat..

Hope this is not thread jacking!  [thumbsup]
the "Dirty Bus" is all done.
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/36.jpg)

(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/143.jpg)

(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/IMG_0647.jpg)

(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/alexbodle/IMG_0653.jpg)

It was a hard build.

Awesome.  How big is the mattress.   :o [evil]

I need one of those!   Without the rats [clap]

Jedi: AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Rat: Dude, organically grown veggies make for big damn rats!!!!!

Quote from: Le Pirate on April 24, 2012, 05:54:57 AM
Jedi: AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Rat: Dude, organically grown veggies make for big damn rats!!!!!

I don't know, I would speculate that chemical fertilizers would result in larger rats and pesticides might alter their genetic composition, possibly creating mutant rates.   [cheeky] 

Quote from: akmnstr on April 24, 2012, 07:12:55 AM
I don't know, I would speculate that chemical fertilizers would result in larger rats and pesticides might alter their genetic composition, possibly creating mutant rates.   [cheeky] 

i'm with you. some of the rats i have seen in NYC were the size of cats. and not tiny cats.
i think it's the chemicals.

Quote from: akmnstr on April 24, 2012, 07:12:55 AM
I don't know, I would speculate that chemical fertilizers would result in larger rats and pesticides might alter their genetic composition, possibly creating mutant rates.   [cheeky] 

Which in turn grow old and train turtles in the art of ninjitsu?

Quote from: Le Pirate on April 24, 2012, 08:31:01 AM
Which in turn grow old and train turtles in the art of ninjitsu?

TURTLE POWER!!!!    [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Quote from: Le Pirate on April 24, 2012, 08:31:01 AM
Which in turn grow old and train turtles in the art of ninjitsu?

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]
 [clap] [clap] [clap]




 [bacon]

Quote from: Le Pirate on April 24, 2012, 08:31:01 AM
Which in turn grow old and train turtles in the art of ninjitsu?

*LIKE*

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-poLh2MRs4Qg/T324uglmEQI/AAAAAAAACvA/-j5tErlxEKE/s1600/mossy-vw-bus.jpg)

It could have been worse.

It can always be worse

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c174/cokey2/301786.jpg)

Quote from: KnightofNi on April 24, 2012, 07:34:33 AM
i'm with you. some of the rats i have seen in NYC were the size of cats. and not tiny cats.
i think it's the chemicals.

Biggest rat I ever saw was in the subway tracks.  We were waiting on the subway platform somewhere uptown, NYC.  The first rat came out and I couldn't believe the size of it.  I thought is was a possum.  It started gnawing on a piece of gum.  The second rat, even bigger, came out and picked up a AA battery and started gnawing on it.    [puke] 

Quote from: The Architect on April 24, 2012, 12:40:28 PM
Biggest rat I ever saw was in the subway tracks.  We were waiting on the subway platform somewhere uptown, NYC.  The first rat came out and I couldn't believe the size of it.  I thought is was a possum.  It started gnawing on a piece of gum.  The second rat, even bigger, came out and picked up a AA battery and started gnawing on it.    [puke] 

i love NYC rat stories. That could be a thread in itself.

The ones I see regularly are just normal sized, the biggies must come out at night

Back in the late 70's I worked on the Charles River Dam in Charlestown Ma. and the rats were scary huge.I was working in a mill there and we were sitting on the radial arm saw bench eating lunch and the biggest meanest one sauntered out of the tool closet,stopped and stared us down,defying us to try something.He was missing an eye,half an ear and had scars on his face and was the size of a Maine coon cat.Our jaws dropped,we were frozen :o.He looked at us for a few seconds and then slowly walked out the door  like he was the boss.
Another time I was hanging out with a girl on the banks of the River Charles one moonlit night,drinking some wine  [wine],working on my game and we noticed some V shaped mini wakes cutting across the water.It took a second to realize they were rats swimming across the river.
Kinda killed the mood. :-\

Thanks for the props on the bus!
Rats scare me because of the razor sharp teeth and the lightning reflexes and speed.
Ever been bitten by a tame hamster??? multiply that by 11tybillion and u get a huge RAT  [thumbsdown]

Quote from: Ducatamount on April 24, 2012, 02:16:49 PM
Back in the late 70's I worked on the Charles River Dam in Charlestown Ma. and the rats were scary huge.I was working in a mill there and we were sitting on the radial arm saw bench eating lunch and the biggest meanest one sauntered out of the tool closet,stopped and stared us down,defying us to try something.He was missing an eye,half an ear and had scars on his face and was the size of a Maine coon cat.Our jaws dropped,we were frozen :o.He looked at us for a few seconds and then slowly walked out the door  like he was the boss.
Another time I was hanging out with a girl on the banks of the River Charles one moonlit night,drinking some wine  [wine],working on my game and we noticed some V shaped mini wakes cutting across the water.It took a second to realize they were rats swimming across the river.
Kinda killed the mood. :-\

Killed the mood?     [laugh]
You should have tried harder.

Quote from: KnightofNi on April 24, 2012, 12:47:07 PM
i love NYC rat stories. That could be a thread in itself.

I had a friend who worked in the garment district.  One morning she went in early.  The night before they had laid out those sticky pads for mice.  She noticed a small pile of papers and garbage moving slowly around the office.  Got closer to look at it.  It was a rat stuck to a few of the traps along with all the other crap that got stuck to the traps.  I think she screamed for four days straight.........

Quote from: muskrat on April 24, 2012, 03:25:44 PM
Killed the mood? 

Just momentarily,we headed back to her apartment in Arlington for much sexy time.
Another time when I was working in the mill at the Dam,a guy had brought in a young,little pig for another guy and left it in the back room for him to pick up.One of my co-workers was a tough city boy from Magoon Sq. Sommerville and he opened the door (no light on)and quickly slammed it shut.Turning around,ashen faced,said "Thats the biggest make the beast with 2 backs rat I've ever seen!  [laugh]

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

We had a family function at my house several yrears ago.  The majority of family that came were from NYC.  During the event some of the family went for a walk around the neighborhood.  The walking allows them a break from eating, when they come back there seems to be more room for more food.  It's an old Italian trick.

Well a few of our guests returned from a walk and comment on how make the beast with two backsing big the dogs are up here in NH.  I had to ask, "where did you see this dog?"

"Right around the make the beast with two backsing corner, in the fenched off area, it must be on steriods!"

"It's a minature horse you make the beast with two backsing spaz!" 

"Are you sure?  I know a dog when I see one"..........

 [laugh] [laugh]

I work with a woman of Greek ancestry...grew up in Astoria Queens of course....worked a few years at the NSA and got tired of living a "fully examined" life and came to work for us. 

Anyway she was telling me during one project we were working on that she had an uncle in Astoria who decided to move north of NYC up into Westchester County....

first Greek Orthodox Easter he was out in his driveway in front of his garage spit-roasting a whole dressed lamb over his pit

Neighbors' kids saw saw this and went home bawling...

parents called the cops...

thought he was roasting a skinned dog in his driveway

 [laugh] [laugh] That's some funny shit!! [clap]

Since my furry companions left me to go chasing wallabies up in doggy heaven, the rats and mice have taken it as an all clear to invade, anyone ever trained an attack chicken?

Quote from: brimo on April 25, 2012, 07:35:53 PM
Since my furry companions left me to go chasing wallabies up in doggy heaven, the rats and mice have taken it as an all clear to invade, anyone ever trained an attack chicken?

one of my co-workers bought some chickens because the story around here (Texas) is that chickens will keeps snakes away from your home...they peck them to death or something.

So he gets some chickens...his kids name all of them....and they start disappearing. one by one. He thinks maybe a racoon, or some coyotes are getting them. Feral cat of some sort, mabye.

Nope. A snake is eating the chicks  [laugh]

Irony.

Quote from: Le Pirate on April 26, 2012, 06:24:51 AM
Irony.

Apparently it DOES taste like chicken. At least in this case.

My old place had a 8 ft python in the ceiling, kept the rodent population in check, should have brought it with me when i moved.

In Texas you often see donkeys in cow herds. Old school legend is that donkeys will fend off coyotes from the calves. Must have some truth to it... came back from my east TX farm yesterday and I swear every herd of cattle had at least 2-3 donkeys mixed in. [popcorn]

that statement is true.  I've seen a jack ass kick the shit out of a coyote and the rest of them run for the hills.

killed another 3 Norway Rats and they were big.  Gonna get a silencer for my 10-22 and go to town on the rest.   Pellet gun wasn't cutting it.

ANYONE handle owls, hawks and bobcats they could bring over?  We are inundated with rats and bunnies, Wife wont let me kill the latter

Quote from: muskrat on September 26, 2013, 09:33:47 PM
ANYONE handle owls, hawks and bobcats they could bring over?  We are inundated with rats and bunnies, Wife wont let me kill the latter

Turn the rabbits into vampires to kill the rats?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnicula (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnicula)

then cannibalism ensues and the Wife will scream, this being my fault of course.
gonna trap a bobcat and drop him off in my yard at about 3 am when those bastards are a plenty

We had a rat problem at the cabin.......now we have a snake problem.  My buddy killed a 4 foot copperhead last weekend and out came her 6-8 youngins.  This happened next to the cabin.  Lots of shed snake skins inside.

I hate rats but I really, Really hate poisonous snakes.  

Guess where Im going in about 4 hours....

Quote from: rgramjet on September 27, 2013, 03:59:25 AMI hate rats but I really, Really hate poisonous snakes.  

Guess where Im going in about 4 hours....

Australia?   ;D

No such luck.....SW Virginia.

Got any good rat/snake repellent recipes? 

I cant help you with rat repellent.... (scroll back 7 pages or so for some of RAT900's sage advice)...  but snakes?

I rarely see snakes coz I make sure they know I'm there.

Dont surprise them and they wont surprise you is my FHE.

Guaranteed I'm gonna get bitten tomorrow now I've said that  [bang] [laugh].

I'm gonna get a box of tic-tacs and leave them in my pocket....

Quote from: rgramjet on September 27, 2013, 04:34:05 AM
I'm gonna get a box of tic-tacs and leave them in my pocket....

... none of our snakes.... rattle.

There have been  rattlesnake sightings down there. Always in the woods.

The copperheads are much more visibly prevalent.  I think they are fattening up for winter hibernation.  Problem is they've discovered that a semi warm cabin is much more comfortable than a chilly woodpile......especially when catered with mice/rats.

Quote from: rgramjet on September 27, 2013, 06:10:05 AM
There have been  rattlesnake sightings down there. Always in the woods.

The copperheads are much more visibly prevalent.  I think they are fattening up for winter hibernation.  Problem is they've discovered that a semi warm cabin is much more comfortable than a chilly woodpile......especially when catered with mice/rats.

Pygmy Rattlers or the big one's?

Quote from: rgramjet on September 27, 2013, 04:18:50 AM
No such luck.....SW Virginia.

Got any good rat/snake repellent recipes? 

http://www.amazon.com/Catchmaster-1872SD-Insect-Boards-4-Pack/dp/B001O7AYO0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380301989&sr=8-3&keywords=snake+traps (http://www.amazon.com/Catchmaster-1872SD-Insect-Boards-4-Pack/dp/B001O7AYO0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1380301989&sr=8-3&keywords=snake+traps)

No first hand experience. 

2147104536 McKinney snake capture removal and release from glue board.MOV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwhENSPS0Xk#)

Rattlesnakes are getting all stealthy now!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=216924322 (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=216924322)
There are few things more chilling than the sound of a nearby rattlesnake. That distinctive sound serves as a warning that trouble could be on the way. The only thing worse than hearing a rattlesnake within striking distance â€" is not hearing it at all. A herpetologist in South Dakota's Black Hills has discovered a growing number of Prairie Rattlesnakes with atrophied tail muscles; he believes it's a genetic issue that multiplies because those snakes that can rattle usually end up being killed. But others think the situation could be an evolutionary development to avoid detection.

Quote from: rgramjet on September 27, 2013, 04:18:50 AM
No such luck.....SW Virginia.

Got any good rat/snake repellent recipes? 

Dunno availability/cost/legality, but these seem to do OK with snakes:

(http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/BF/BF91400A-3497-4513-B548-A8247724C41D/Presentation.Large/Indian-grey-mongoose-attacking-a-snake.jpg)

I'd love a Mongoose and the Wife would approve....surely, right?

Bunch of skins but no live snake sightings......so far.  I did hear some feet pattering about in the middle of the night.

Time to go clear some roads....