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| See bottom right corner. He ate ALL the cake mix! |
Several days and nights, I have heard a sound. A few of those times it sounded like a larger animal. It sounded like a book might have fallen off a stack and onto the floor. Sometimes, the sound seemed to come from a room I cannot access.
I have a box sitting in front of a tall cabinet. One day, I reached over the box to get something out of the cabinet. I managed to knock off a can, box of something and a plastic squeeze bottle of mustard. Because my back was hurting and I was in a hurry, I did not pick them up. Two days later, I struggled to get them. There was rat evidence on the can top. Uh oh. It appeared the mustard bottle had a hole in it, a hole that was not there two days before. The box had a corner gone. RAT!
Exbf aka MGF (my good friend) was coming the next day--Thursday. So, I had him put a poison packet there. Several years ago, I spent the night in ER from just the packet of mouse poison. He washed and dried his hands at my request so I would not be exposed at all to the poison. He had to come back on Friday to pick up his car. The whole packet was gone! At least, I could not find it. He took the flashlight and examined the area and all around. Gone.
While I was cooking on Friday afternoon/evening, I heard a big scruffling around sound behind the table. Terrified, I asked him to come look. He saw nothing. That sound could have been on the outside of the house. It sort of sounded like it even when I first heard it. Or, it could have been in the basement.
Scruffling? I don't know how to explain it.
There is one more packet of rat poison, so I will don rubber gloves and put it out. We left the open food, so that the smell will/may attract him again. I suspect the RAT is dead. But, I will never hesitate to poison another since some guy (Jess maybe?) said my hens won't bother a poisoned rat.
ACK! It is not cold, so they cannot be coming for shelter. I have no bird food around, either.
Oh, after the rat this winter, I found evidence that a mouse recently was under the sink! You would think that with all the cats that come around, they would clean this up. I just had a light bulb thought. Since the groundhog took up residence under my house, no cats go under there or are around the yard.
Now, the groundhog must go so my rodent eradicator machines will come back.
Okay, I added the picture and took it when it was in the trash on raw chicken. He could have eaten another flavor! I wonder if chocolate is lethal to rats. Why, Oh, Why did he have to eat chocolate?
Your turn
Does it make sense that the groundhog taking up residence has caused the cats to stay away and the rodents to return?
This week I found that I have rats in the garage they could be mice. I have set traps and put out two different kinds of rat & Mouse bait, Before setting the traps I attached a long thin wire to the traps. I was afraid that if an animal was trapped by the tail or paw it might run pff and hide somewhere I couldn't see and die. I found that these mice like the bait in brick form much better than the pellets Good luch on your rat eradication program !
ReplyDeleteJanet,
ReplyDeleteYou can tell rat and mice feces apart by the size. Rat poop is about 1/2" long. Mice poop is small like a fat short grain of rice, actually roundish shaped. That is smart to attach a wire. I've never had the brick form since I would have more chance of exposure. Thanks. I have heard nothing for awhile and the other packet of poison is still intact. I would put a snap type rat trap, but once I caught the tiniest mouse in a snap trap and blood hit the baseboard, wall and back of the refrigerator. Since rats are so much larger, I fear the blood might squirt across the room. Thanks. And good luck on your eradication program, too!
Coming from a point of absolutely no scientific information, I'd be surprised if a groundhog kept away cats. Groundhogs are so passive and cats...well, let's face it...they just don't care.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of poison just because the targeted critter doesn't die immediately...he can crawl off and die between your walls, or somewhere else and raise a big stinkerooo!
Glue boards work for us, as long as they aren't where small birds can get on them. I put some in the barn and found two small sparrows had landed on them and were totally stuck (why? WHY?). We were on a first name basis by the time I had gotten those birdies loose and clean. They will probably never come within 100 yards of humans again.
Cherdo
www.cherdoontheflipside.com
I suppose you are right on the cats don't care. But, there are not nearly so many cats going under the house and sitting around. They are around the neighborhood.
DeleteLuckily, rats and mice don't smell for long, but I find them dead in the place I last heard or saw them. That's good and bad.
Glue board work but cost $1.50 each--too rich for my blood. Besides, rats drag themselves and the glue board around getting all sorts of things I want to keep stuck to the board. I would be horrified if I caught little birds, but since I only use them in the house, I won't catch birds. Sometimes, I find the glue boards with only rat fur on them. That's a rat that will never approach a glue board again.