I've been told I can move mountains.
~T.C. Wood 1875~
And the nasty, dang things are trying to take over the ranch! They're in the big barn, the lil' Mustang barn, the shop, the woodshed, the chicken coup, under the house, and I've seen them scurrying around in the rock rim. I've found lil' chew marks on a couple of the saddles while we had them out of the tack room during the makeover! Everywhere I go, I smell the stench of rat urine...gag!
Day before yesterday, our 5 chickens had 5 eggs...yesterday...not ONE egg! Now where do you think all my eggs went??!!??
Well, we caught the bugger last night in the trap...and we caught one the night before under the house...there was another one in the trap at the Mustang barn this morning too (but the dogs got at the trap before I did and lost it).
In all, we've probably trapped at least 20 pack rats...probably more...I quit counting!!
My Man went to the farm store to get another trap this week, and they were out of the smaller one like we have already. So, we went for the bigger one ... $38 bucks for the dang thing!
OK...on to the best part...well, if you are a pack rat lover...turn back now!!! (I had a reader that believed they should be caught and relocated) Well, my neighbors who are having the same problem as we are wouldn't appreciate it one bit...in fact the whole County is having a problem. Our newspaper editor even wrote her weekly editorial on their problem with pack rats. They're getting into vehicles and eating upholstery, chewing wires...see the problem???!!!
So, what DO you do with over 20 pack rats? Well...we have 4 sporting pups, who love to play the game of "Get the Rat."
 |
| Sometimes the hardest thing is to get the rat out of the trap (I guess you can't blame the rat for not wanting to come out)! Notice the mid-air rat and its shadow on the ground?!? |
 |
| Rattie Ranch Dog Cindy Sue moves in for the take... |
 |
| ...hmmmmm...Bella Jo is makin' her move... |
 |
| ...and Bella Jo scores!!! |
You probably noticed that My Man is wearing a jacket...this was from way back at the first part of May...so this has been going on for a LONG time...and at this point, I'm pretty sure we're not even close to done.
Well...gotta go set the trap again...grrrrrr...
