I'm about to bring in the heavy guns - haven't a clue what they are but I need help big time. With damage by pack rats now topping over $1,000 I'm far less inclined to find a humane solution to what has become a plague.
Since early September, between the professionals and myself , we have trapped and removed more than 23 of the critters. I've lost count. I'm neurotic and fast becoming obsessed! I look for signs of them everywhere. Chris from Animal Experts has broken up with me, "it's never ending"
he says, "Suck it up and accept that you live in the desert."
Sometimes my traps spring without catching one, at other times the bait disappears but the trap doesn't shut. The last one I caught was massive and probably a Norwegian Rat as opposed to pack rat - it rattled the cage and gnashed its teeth at me. Nothing daunted, I took it the mandatory six miles and released it in the wash - or did I? Now I'm convinced that once out of the trap it hopped under the undercarriage of my car and hitched a ride right back "home". That will explain the extensive damage to wiring in my vehicle that knocked out turn signals and compromised steering. The dealership called with the good news, bad news - "not a fault in the car - but significant pack rat activity under the hood." I can just hear that wretched rodent telling his buddies how sweet is revenge... and copper wiring.
Since the initial and horrifying in-house invasion of 18 months ago when they ate the inside of the wine fridge and lined their nest with the fringe from a Turkish rug, to the take-over of the garage where washing machine is housed and its subsequent destruction - I've been nice. I've been reasonable. I've offered bribes, free trips out of the area, vacations in the desert, woolly jumpers for the little ones, ostrich feather boa's for mom - but now it's all out war. I'm open to suggestions.
Purpose vs Intention & Creativity
-
Purpose implies product. Product implies a plan and the expectation of
succeeding at that plan. But that mindset can often be antithetical to both
writing ...
good stuff here.....
ReplyDeleteWe had a deer mouse or something living in our glove box, but I think we lost it on the way to California last year. Yay.
ReplyDelete