Fiero was parked for a week unattended in my carport... I went out to take it for a drive and opened the engine lid to check the oil only to find what appeared to be a very cozy nest of dead oak tree leaves behind the driver's side strut tower. Now it's a cozy nest in my ShopVac. I went over the rest of the car but that was the only place I found anything out of place.
I sprinkled peppermint oil all over the engine compartment as recommended by the internet to keep pests away and now the car is crammed Tetris-like into my over-stuffed two car garage... learned a lesson about parking a car outside!
The upside is that my garage now smells like Christmas. Mmm, peppermint.
[This message has been edited by exc911ence (edited 12-24-2019).]
Pay for the BC Ferry ride and I'll lend you my cat. This semi-feral cat moved into my yard/life 1 1/2 years ago. She's a rodent eradicator. With no exaggeration, she's executed well over two dozen rodents in that time span. Most of them end up outside my back door as an "offering".
In this photo, I put some food in a bowl so she'd stay put beside her prey long enough for me to get a shot. The rat was 16 inches long from tip to tip (yes, I measured it)... and not a mark on it. This cat was well trained by her momma.
Pay for the BC Ferry ride and I'll lend you my cat. This semi-feral cat moved into my yard/life 1 1/2 years ago. She's a rodent eradicator. With no exaggeration, she's executed well over two dozen rodents in that time span. Most of them end up outside my back door as an "offering".
In this photo, I put some food in a bowl so she'd stay put beside her prey long enough for me to get a shot. The rat was 16 inches long from tip to tip (yes, I measured it)... and not a mark on it. This cat was well trained by her momma.
Here I was thinking he was exaggerating with rat and it was just a little field mouse like we get here.
But damn, you guys got those along with all the snow. Poor cars.
Here I was thinking he was exaggerating with rat and it was just a little field mouse like we get here.
We've also got mice of course, but most any port city will have rats as well. Down at the docks here, where the trains with the grain cars from the prairies end up, the well fed rats are freakin' HUGE.
A few years ago I needed to replace a hose on my mom's LeSabre. She was only driving a few days a week at that point. I found a nest under the engine cover. The car was always garaged.
[This message has been edited by Quadfather (edited 12-22-2019).]
Pay for the BC Ferry ride and I'll lend you my cat. This semi-feral cat moved into my yard/life 1 1/2 years ago. She's a rodent eradicator. With no exaggeration, she's executed well over two dozen rodents in that time span. Most of them end up outside my back door as an "offering".
In this photo, I put some food in a bowl so she'd stay put beside her prey long enough for me to get a shot. The rat was 16 inches long from tip to tip (yes, I measured it)... and not a mark on it. This cat was well trained by her momma.
I'm surprised that we have rodents around since there are a large number of outdoor cats in our neighbourhood who regularly prowl by the house. And we have an indoor cat ourselves.
I have found one complete dead rat once in the backyard, and another day I found pieces of one scattered around the driveway but this is my first "live" example. Hoping it will be my last as I now have two large rat-poison traps by my house...
[This message has been edited by exc911ence (edited 12-24-2019).]
I'm surprised that we have rats around since there are a large number of outdoor cats in our neighbourhood who regularly prowl by the house. And we have an indoor cat ourselves.
Not all cats have the ability to hunt and kill effectively. Apparently it's not an innate skillset, it needs to be learned from the mother cat... and that's only if she was taught by her mom! Otherwise, they just end up "playing" with their prey.
When I long term store a car, I put pellets inside little "cups" of aluminum foil in key areas and around the car on the ground. I will also spray a borax solution in the wheel wells and around the car as well to keep the ants out. Now I wouldn't have done that for a WEEK thats crazy fast fro them to settle in.
------------------ 86 Fiero SE 5 Speed - Junkyard 84 Fiero SE 4 Speed- Sold 86 Fiero SE 6cyl 4 speed M19 - Sold 86 Fiero SE 6cyl 4 speed (25,000 miles) - Sold 87 Fiero SE 4cyl 5 Speed - Sold 86 Fiero GT 4 Speed- Sold 88 Formula 5 Speed T-top - Sold 87 Fiero SE 6cyl $ speed swapped - Sold 88 Fiero Formula 5-Speed - Sold 86 Fiero GT 4-speed - Sold 87 Fiero GT 5-Speed - Sold Countless parts cars
What are the "pellets" made of, that you put in the foil cups? Rat/mouse poison? I've heard some people use mothballs (because of the odor they emit). I don't know if mothballs are effective or not.
I am a life long user of fabric softener sheets. I even put them in the corners of the garage and near door openings. They go in spare tire wells, trunks/frunks, and under seats. My vehicles always smell fresh, and I have not ever had a rodent instance on a car that I have owned.
I am a life long user of fabric softener sheets. I even put them in the corners of the garage and near door openings. They go in spare tire wells, trunks/frunks, and under seats. My vehicles always smell fresh, and I have not ever had a rodent instance on a car that I have owned.
Pay for the BC Ferry ride and I'll lend you my cat. This semi-feral cat moved into my yard/life 1 1/2 years ago. She's a rodent eradicator. With no exaggeration, she's executed well over two dozen rodents in that time span. Most of them end up outside my back door as an "offering".
In this photo, I put some food in a bowl so she'd stay put beside her prey long enough for me to get a shot. The rat was 16 inches long from tip to tip (yes, I measured it)... and not a mark on it. This cat was well trained by her momma.
Congratulations, dude, that cat likes you, and considers you family.
One of the Fieros I recently revived had sat for 13 years. A mouse had made itself a nice cozy apartment on top of the ECM...
Originally posted by exc911ence: I have found one complete dead rat once in the yard, and another day I found pieces of one scattered around the driveway but this is my first live example. Hoping it will be my last as I now have two large rat-poison traps by my house and the Fiero is crammed into my garage. It's been a busy day...
Can you poison the neighborhood cats if they eat the poisoned rats?
I found the start of a mouse nest on top of my STI engine a few months ago in the garage. Put glue traps in the corners and bought a Goodnature A24 trap, caught two mice, no new ones since.
Can you poison the neighborhood cats if they eat the poisoned rats?
The newer poisons claim to be 1 generation meaning they only poison the rat and nothing beyond that.
No doubt, spayed outdoor female cats are really efficient killers...and yeah, they really like to leave you their "trophies" by the door. I won't forget the morning by brother stepped out of our house and stepped right into a pile of squirrel guts....heard some new words that day.
Can you poison the neighborhood cats if they eat the poisoned rats?
That's always been my fear.
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Originally posted by RWDPLZ:
...bought a Goodnature A24 trap
I watched a couple different videos demonstrating that trap. Very impressive... but damn, it's over $200
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glue traps...
As much as I hate rodents getting into my stuff, I'm too much of a softie to use something that forces a living creature to try and escape by chewing its own leg off. Yes, I've witnessed the end result of this.
I wanna kill the buggers, but I want to do it quickly... like I did with the large rat trap below. It did indeed catch two rats at the same time!
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Originally posted by fierobear:
Congratulations, dude, that cat likes you, and considers you family.
Oh man, you don't know the half of it. This cat adores me! However, when she first started hanging around my backyard, she wouldn't make a sound and I couldn't get within 10 feet of her. She's very skittish, afraid of everyone. All it took though, to win her over (after several months of her coming and going), was one dish of tuna. She immediately began talking (meowing and trilling) a blue streak, and also then allowed me to pet her. Now, a year and a half later (with steady meals to help earn/retain her trust)... she recognizes the sound of my Fiero pulling up to the house, jumps up on the gate to anxiously wait for me, and if I take too long getting out of the car, she'll come right out to where I've parked on the street. She follows and sticks with me everywhere I go in the yard. If I could find a woman this devoted, I'd take her in as well.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 12-23-2019).]
Oh man, you don't know the half of it. This cat adores me! However, when she first started hanging around my backyard, she wouldn't make a sound and I couldn't get within 10 feet of her. She's very skittish, afraid of everyone. All it took though, to win her over (after several months of her coming and going), was one dish of tuna. She immediately began talking (meowing and trilling) a blue streak, and also then allowed me to pet her. Now, a year and a half later (with steady meals to help earn/retain her trust)... she recognizes the sound of my Fiero pulling up to the house, jumps up on the gate to anxiously wait for me, and if I take too long getting out of the car, she'll come right out to where I've parked on the street. She follows and sticks with me everywhere I go in the yard. If I could find a woman this devoted, I'd take her in as well.
That sounds like one of my outdoor cats. When I pull into my driveway, she comes running from the corner of my property (I have an acre), runs round the house and greets me at my car. It amazes me.
That sounds like one of my outdoor cats. When I pull into my driveway, she comes running from the corner of my property (I have an acre), runs round the house and greets me at my car. It amazes me.
It is amazing... I had no idea that cats could be this way. I always thought that cats were so aloof. However, I haven't had a whole lot of experience around cats, as all my life I've been severely allergic to them. Then this cat turns up... and I realize I'm not reacting to her. It seems that after 60+ years, I've grown out of my cat allergies. I'm pretty happy about it.
Originally posted by Patrick: ... In this photo, I put some food in a bowl so she'd stay put beside her prey long enough for me to get a shot. The rat was 16 inches long from tip to tip (yes, I measured it)... and not a mark on it. This cat was well trained by her momma.
16 inches? Unless the rat looks smaller due to the perspective of the photo, that cat is huge! Nice pet!
Cleaning up rat/mouse nest w/ a shop and other vacs are bad idea. Rodent and other Nests can hold many germs/virus that can put you in ⛑ hospital or ⚰️ morgue goes thru most vac types and pollutes you home etc.
A "new" nest can still hold enough crap. Don't take a chance.
Clean out the vac Outside before using again and spray everywhere w/ very good foaming disinfectant Including inside blower and hoses. If has a "paper" filter, reusable or not, most are not rated for wet things so just replace them. You may dry them out but media is "damage" w/ disinfectant and often fails to filter later so more crap goes thru the blower.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
16 inches? Unless the rat looks smaller due to the perspective of the photo, that cat is huge! Nice pet!
Honest to gawd, 16 inches! I agree that the perspective in the photo is a little deceiving. I straightened the rat out (fresh kill, wasn't stiff yet). The tail was 9 inches and the head/tail was 7 inches. The cat's not really all that big, although when she spreads out her razor sharp claws, she has impressively large mitts. But as deadly as she is with rodents, she's never ever scratched me.
Friends that I play hockey with, who know that I've been looking for a new home outside of the city, asked me if I was going to take her with me when I move. Without any hesitation, my immediate response was... "Of course!" As fierobear commented, she's family now.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 12-24-2019).]