Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I got junior

You can't really tell from the picture, but this is one of those big rat traps.

I'm still trying to catch Big Daddy.  As Mary said, packrats are smart.  They are really good at eating all the bait without tripping the trap, and when you really wedge the cheese in there, they just eat the exposed parts.  Yesterday I sprinkled some sunflower seeds from the bird feeder around on top of the trap, thinking maybe they'd be more focused on getting every seed and forget to be careful.  I don't know if that's what happened, but this is the first one I've caught.

Normally I'm a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but packrats are nasty.  They mark their territory with a smelly musk, which I now have on one of the bags my snow tires are in.  You often hear about them getting into vehicles and gnawing through wires and hoses, and I don't need that.  I won't use poison, but the trapping is on.  They may be bushy-tailed woodrats when they're outside, but in my garage, they're just plain old packrats.

5 comments:

  1. is Big Daddy kin-fo to Uncle Daddy?

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  2. If you see one outdoors (er, um, alive), you might consider a photo essay like this one by French photographers who lay out in a field for long periods of time: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1314285/Revealed-tiny-The-secret-life-harvest-mice.html

    I didn't know mice could be so darn cute!

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  3. Nothing a 5.56mm 155 grain full metal jacketed round couldn't handle...just make a call!

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  4. I'd welcome the 5.56mm round if it doesn't put a hole in my garage. You may need a night scope and a lot of patience, like those photographers Mary cited. I know I don't have that kind of patience, but those were awesome pics. And Mari, you just ain't right.

    I went out this morning and found a sprung trap and about two inches of the end of a rat tail lying nearby, so at least I've offended them.

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