I’m a handy kind of guy. It’s not that I’m just sooo good with tools and all; more like, I’m just not afraid to try. And believe you me, I’ve screwed up enough stuff in my life that I have learned a bit about homebuilding humility and I know when to call in the experts versus trying to do it myself. Because home ownership is nothing, if it isn’t rife with constant projects that need your attention, I normally spend a good deal of my time at least walking through my basement, even if I’m not actually doing anything there.
As I’ve blogged about ad nauseum lately, I’ve been busy. I haven’t done much around the house. Plus, it’s winter. I mean, seriously…
But this weekend, what with the weather being perfect and all, I found myself with time on my hands to work on a couple of small projects (shelving in a closet) that afforded me the opportunity to spend time in my basement.
And that’s when I discovered that we have a little visitor.
Poop here. Poop there. Poop and torn insulation everywhere!
The little bugger–dare I say RAT-bastard–has apparently made himself quite at home this winter in my absence. I first found his spoor over in the corner after moving a tarp that was lying on the floor. I then tracked his movements around the wall and under the toxic waste dump plastic shelving where I keep all of my chemicals. Which wouldn’t have been so bad, except he completely ignored the 20 things up there that would have killed him, and instead ripped into a 15lb bag of grass seed. He/it also apparently wallered in it like a Sumo wrestler at a Denny’s Breakfast buffet because it too was full of poo!
So now I’m off to the hardware store to try and find something yummy that will kill the thing so that I can, in a week or two, stumble upon his little dead body while tracking down some awful new stench in the house. Good times.
Postulates & Pastimes 
2 replies on “Hey, I ain’t runnin’ no ark over here!”
There is a certain satisfaction in using plain ole traditional wire traps. A little peanut butter can be a good bait. The De-con mouse proof baits work well too but you may not find the body, ever. Never had a problem with that tho.
Just the other day I opened a large big I keep painting supplies in, out jumped a field mouse. The bin is in my garage. Time to set some traps.
Good luck
RE: Woo! I think I single-handedly met their sales goal for the year over at “Doyourownpestcontrol.com” this morning. That T-Rex snap trap just looks like too much fun! And admittedly, I AM a sucker for a good glue trap. Why, if I had cats…
…nevermind. Thanks for dropping by and commenting. If these high-tech devices don’t work (much like all of the gopher traps and bait I’ve used to no avail), I’ll grab the peanut butter!
I love glue traps so much that I wish I’d invented them. I feel kind of heartless when I listen to people who have some weird twisted empathy for animals that come into our homes and sh*t all over them, though. I lack anything of the sort.