Body Count

July 22, 2020 We knew there was a critter problem at the house when we first looked at it… there was a Havahart trap left behind, and the realtor informed us there had been a squirrel problem, and a raccoon at one point. There was a LOT of scat around (gross, really gross) and evidence of animals trying to chew their way out on some windowsills. After all, the unfinished house had been deserted for 3 years and untended for many years prior. We only hoped that the big animals were gone and we would only have to deal with the little ones.

The mouse wars had begun! We had few traps which we set out shortly after we closed on the house – we were catching at least a mouse a day. Bob asked for reinforcements so on my next trip to the hardware store, I bought the last four 4-packs… we now had almost 20 traps… Bob was thrilled, because he was definitely On A Mission from God. We were gone for the one week, but now he was refining his bait techniques, running the trap line every morning, and keeping track of his kills. Yeah, I know, just a little sick. But I was out there too, plugging holes with bits of steel wool (that they can’t chew through) and it really was turning into the mouse wars. I could show you photos, but you probably don’t really want to see them. 🙂

Walk the Plank. What about our chipmunk problem? (Warning: sensitive readers should leave the blog now.) The rock walls around the house are basically chipmunk condominiums! There are so many holes, trails, and burrows (and acorns from the oak trees) that chipmunk heads were popping up here and there all the time, and they boldly ran right across our paths – Bob was ready to play Whack a Chipmunk. They are pretty quick and clever, but I thought I could be even more clever… searching the internet and learning techniques from friends. First I tried a little Havahart trap but that was useless – bait was gone and the trap unsprung. The walk the plank method of drowning the critters in a bucket seemed like a reasonable next step compared to other methods that could adversely affect other animal life. Well, I can report success on the second night, tempting the critters with sunflower seeds on the plank and sprinkled on the water (sadly, they can’t swim). I also was able to attract a mouse or two! We will see how this goes…. today’s Body Count is 19 mice and 1 chipmunk… I suspect I will be writing about the critter count again. 😉