Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Pack rats, snakes and raccoons, oh my!



Those of you who know me, know that I could do without some of God's creatures. Snakes and rodents in particular. Oh, I know, some of them are beneficial, but I could do without them.
I was sitting on the patio the other night talking to my kindred spirit in Tampa when I saw something moving at the edge of the garden. Looking at it from a distance, it looked like a large mouse. (At least that is what I wanted it to be, because they are not quite as bad as rats.) The next morning I looked out the window, and there he was scurrying around under the big pecan tree just outside our kitchen window. Dad decided it must be a pack rat. I must admit it was shorter and rounder than other rats I have seen, but I still don't like it. A dear friend suggested that I put some cheese way down inside some steel wool, and that would take care of it. SO, off to Lowe's I went to get some steel wool. I laid my little trap where I could tell that it had been touched, and sure enough, the next morning the steel wool had been moved, and torn apart. AH HA, I decided that I had done the critter in, but looking closer (out the window, you understand) there he was digging around under the tree again. Ok...the exterminator was due and surely he could help get rid of this critter. He put out a HUGE spring trap and some rat bait, and said that should take care of it.
In the meantime, he was looking at the garden and said there was a snake in there. OH GREAT, I thought, but went to look, so I would know what to look for. It was a green snake with a dark green stripe running the length of it's long body. The exterminator guy said it was the largest garden snake he had ever seen (and I bet he has seen lots of them.) but it was not poisonous. It might bite, but it wasn't poisonous....great news, huh?
So, this morning I just knew that I would have to dispose of a body in the back yard. Great surprise....I looked out the window and the trap had been sprung and the critter was busy under the tree again! If you have any great ideas for getting rid of pack rats, I wish you would share them.
Raccoons? Well, they visit our yard every night. The man across the street has trapped and carried off 60 of them in the last 2 weeks, and the folks next door have trapped several also. I can tolerate the 'coons, except if they become rabid, but I would like to get rid of the other critters. May have to borrow my son's dogs....lol.

1 comment:

charlestonyaya said...

Oh my gosh - do you remember when underneath our house in S'Ville was invaded by those huge rats looking for water during a really hot, dry summer?? We tried everything - I even ducktaped up the vents to keep them from coming into the house!! UGGGGGGHHHHH! Good luck!! They drug the traps around our yard!! Finally that nice little man that took care of S'ville Catholic - remember him - gave me some rat poison that I put in little cups by the woodpile - finally did them in!!! Keep trapping!! K