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Rodent Wrangling


A trail of birdseed meandered across the work bench and then stopped.Upon examination, there was a cleverly chewed hole in the bottom of the seed bag. Not too big and not too small. Something was helping themselves to a feast. Looking further to the table saw that sat next to the bench, seed was neatly arranged in piles according to the type of seed. Millet in one, sunflower in another, corn in yet another. The marauder was at least organized.

An assortment of traps were then set to catch the criminal critter, but alas to no avail. The mousetrap with its peanut butter and cracker were left untouched and more seed disappeared. Suspicions arose that the critter was too big for the the regular sized mousetrap, so the larger "Have-a-Heart" trap was dusted off and placed on the workbench with tidbits of juicy apple and peanut butter displayed temptingly inside. Nothing! The creature was far too clever to be taken in by these crude methods. Seed continued to disappear and frustration rose. The rodent was momentarily observed peeking from behind a cabinet in the garage. Perhaps it was taunting the frustrated man who huffed and puffed with irritation.

The heavy artillery was mustered and a dish of poison was positioned next to the traps. It was time to get serious. Once again more birdseed was found the nooks and crannies of the garage--under the storage cabinet, between containers even though the seed was now safely stored in a covered container.  The poison remained untouched.

The man began to suspect that the shop vac was a wonderful place to spend the winter. It was cozy, dark, out of the elements and a great place for seed storing. It was unceremoniously dumped outside. Lo and behold, a nest had been built inside, but no packrats were in residence. However, all indications at the present time are that the Neotoma devia (Arizona Woodrat) has taken its eviction with grace and left the premises.

It there are any lessons to be learned from outwitting rodents, I'll leave it to the reader to make the proper application.

Comments

Debbie R said…
The story is well told, and sounds ever so familiar ... substitute laundry room for workbench, chipmunk for Arizona
Woodrat and it was the same story here not so very long ago.
November 15, 2011
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