Yesterday evening began much like any other evening here on the homestead. Little did I know, that the peacefulness & security we had come to enjoy would come to a sudden end. I was winding down & surfin’ the I’net, when the Li’l Woman called to me from the laundry room. As I approached, she opened the door into the garage & pointed at the ground. I entered the garage to see what she was pointing at. My blood ran cold as I recognized the unmistakeable sign of Mus musculus! We had been invaded.

I felt a potent mix of emotions grip me. Anger, disgust, shame… How could this have happened? Hurriedly I swept up the area, but I knew, that far more decisive action was required. It was a fitful night. Sleep was elusive. First thing this morning I went out & purchased some traps. Upon my return, I loaded them up with Skippy’s finest, set them & placed them in two strategic locations. Now I just had to wait for my prey to make the next move.

I spent the rest of the day performing my assorted chores. The feeling of home had returned for the most part. I felt fairly confident that I had the upper hand.

Towards the end of the day, I decided to check my traps. Didn’t expect much. Figured my adversary wouldn’t make his move until nightfall. I was surprised to see that my prey was far more cunning than I had expected. The trap was exactly as I had placed it… Except... There was no sign of Skippy’s finest! That tricky little devil! I rushed over to the other trap, bent down onto my hands & knees, then peered underneath my tool box.

I recoiled upright in astonishment with what had greeted my gaze! I was stunned! Nothing had prepared me for what awaited me… NOTHING!

That’s right, not only was the Skippy’s finest missing… So was the TRAP!

What type of creature from Hell had taken over my garage?

Suddenly I became conscious of how silent it was. There was a slight breeze outside & I could hear the faint rustling of leaves dancing across the driveway. Then I heard it. The hollow dry scratching sound of wood being dragged across concrete!

I quickly retreated to the relative safety of the house. Had to re-group! Had to formulate a plan! Had to find a flashlight & more importantly… Arm myself with a more suitable weapon!

After a quick mental inventory, I remembered running across the perfect weapon recently. A Crosman CO2 powered Python replica! It had been many years since I shot it. I replaced the cartridge & loaded the cylinder with 6 Crosman Premiers.

With my Mag-Light in my left hand & my faux Python in my right, I re-entered the garage. I made my way back to my tool box & carefully rolled it away from the wall. Nothing! I moved my air compressor. Nothing! I then bent down & peered underneath my work bench. Still nothing!

Then I heard it again. Closer this time. I tracked the noise to a cluster of boxes, a maze if you will. I approached with my light held high, Python at the ready. I moved one box with my foot & finally caught the first glimpse of my prey. His beady little eyes radiated contempt. He had almost been successful at removing the Skippy’s & making a clean get away… Almost… Except for his tail.

I thumbed back the hammer & anchored him with one of Crosman’s finest right between the shoulder blades. He was an Alpha though & one wasn’t enough. I put the second one right above the first & lights out! He was done.

All is quiet again… At least for now.

corraled in a front room, put out mouse traps, nothing, except empty trap, put out sticky trays for mice and rats, bait gone, and one day even a sticky trap, finally found with some REALLY long hairs attached, put out rat traps, empty of bait again, tried the 5gal pail of water with length of yard stick balanced on edge and end baited, and tripped several times with bait in water, but no rodent,

And finally had to buy an expensive large live trap, where I finally caught the thoroughly alerted critter. A very very large field rat, who appeared to be simply the world's largest field mouse complete with enormous brown eyes, nothing beady at all, and figuring we had both been through the wringer, drove him several miles away and released at a field edge where he belonged, had likely dashed in with me the same day he was heard rummaging in stored items for food.

x

nt

That sounds like a Norway rat. We got those accursed things here too. Had to snipe one under the hood of my wife's Buick Lacrosse last year. Dang thing tried to build a nest on top of the engine. They are quite destructive, too. Chew up wires and hoses. Hate 'em. Daisy 550 to the rescue.

the slender guys with big ears, large brown eyes, and long tails are no stocky Nörsk rodent, but an aka of "roof rat". They appear same as a giant field mouse except overlong tail, and younger ones often mistaken for grown mice.

First thing I learned was to tie a piece of wire to the trap and anchor it to something so they wouldn't make off with it. Between dog, traps and pellet gun I managed to get several.

Then this past summer we had one living somewhere in our backyard, probably attracted to my wife's bird feeder. I tried traps many times with no luck, seems that they aren't particularly interested in peanut butter.

I was told that the traps that have a perforated plastic bait tray often work better. You can wedge seeds into some of the holes. I was wondering how some of the scented/flavored fishing cheese would work?

they attract rats and mice, which then attract the rattlesnakes, which gobbles them all up.

but we do have hawks, and I thought I saw a fox run across the neighbors yard a few weeks ago.

Funny thin is we had a lot of birds at the feeder all summer, including a lot of Mourning Dove and White Wing Dove, then September first they all disappeared. I always said that the Dove knew when to disappear before hunting season started Sept. 1 and sure enough they did.

and you best hope no snakes such as the one which bit that lady several times at a Longhorn Steakhouse reads that statement. If I were you, I would be doubly careful around that feeder, from now on.

You are right about the doves, can be thick as flies until just before hunting season, and then, poof, all gone. Have noticed a sudden increase in grackles about the same time, and also much increase in roadside litter under powerlines, and quite a few empty black paint cans, and they may be a lot smarter than we think.

piece of candy on the trap. They wont steel a warmed and molded on Mary Jane from the trap.

Bob

https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Janes-Candy-240-Count/dp/B000EEFOAS

Many years ago we planted a small garden right behind the house, first with some small tomato plants. The next day they were cut off smooth with the top of the ground. Someone suggested that we had rats in the neighborhood. We got some very large traps and started catching big rats. This is when I learned to tie wire to the traps so they wouldn't carry them off. Between traps, my dog and my Daisy 777 I got a little over 20 of them.

One night I was going outside before bedtime to check on the dog. Turns out the dog had a rat cornered against the back door and when I opened the door the rat came inside as I stepped outside. My wife was screaming bloody murder so I ran back inside and spotted the rat. I had her go out in the backyard to hold the dog away from the door and I was going to shoo the rat back outside. The rat was walking slowly along the edge of the room but when he got to the door he started thinking "dog" and took off running the other way- down the hall around the corner and disappeared.

My wife said she would not go to bed until the rat was gone. I started looking and when I started pulling cushions off the living room sofa the rat ran into the bathroom. I managed to corner the rat in the bathtub and shut the sliding doors. I was standing on the toilet looking over the doors and watching the rat run around. At one time the rat climbed the hose connected to the shower head and jumped on my shoulder. I knocked him off, now he was on the same side of the doors as I was. He was running around and at one time he climbed up my leg. I shooed him off and eventually got a good shot with the Daisy and ended the problem, all while I'm standing on top of the toilet shooting down past my feet.

When this started my wife was on the phone with her neighbor friend, giving her a play-by-play description including slamming doors, she claims I screamed at one time, etc.

We had a small house but there are likely a million places a rat could hide.

Several years later I had moved across town to another house and eventually had a large rat enjoying my garage. When I would open the door to the garage he would run into a hole and disappear. I tried to catch him for a long time but with no luck. I had the idea that if I took the dogfood out of the garage maybe the rat wouldn't be so picky.

I was buying 20lb and larger bags of dogfood. One time they had a promotional deal and gave me a free 5lb bag with my purchase. When I picked up the dogfood to take inside I picked up the 5lb bag, that I had never opened, and it was almost empty with a little hole chewed through the sack in the back.

Well with the other source of food gone I was able to catch the rat. I don't know what is considered "big", but the body of this one measured 7" long and the tail measured 9".

x

and one day wife screamed of a mouse in the kitchen. The guy thought the wax bullets perfect for the job, told his wife not to worry, and blew a hole in his baseboard and vaporized mouse over much of the kitchen.

Hearing of that likely saved me from doing it. A .45 case with primer hole enlarged to prevent primer backing out is the perfect size for many foam ear plugs, the nerf wadcutter, and when fired, will punch a hole in a paper grocery bag at 5ft, and rebound and settle somewhere faster than the eye can follow, and might be a good indoor pest KOing round.

nt

Well done & well said.

Now that is a high capacity magazine!