This morning I got confirmation that Hotel ITP for wintering critters is once again open. Last night I thought I heard noises when I got home from work so I went out with the chainsaw and started cutting back the branches which could be used at a roadway for rats and squirrels. Today I found out that I am too late. Anyone want to guess what will occupy most of my weekend? Sometimes I wonder about being a homeowner.
Return To Hashing
After doing my best lumberjack impersonation, at least as much as the dark would permit, I knew that I was in no mood to run. However, as luck would have it there was a Full Moon hash last night and not only did I know the start, I knew the end. I was more than a little surprised at the amount of pavement we traversed, but at least I did get a fairly-decent, I’ll say 3.5-mile run in.
Unlike previous nights I was so tired that I immediately went to sleep when I got home from the hash.
ITP Flickr Pic
I was goofing around with some lighting the other night.
I’ve had this bottle of Coke since the weekend of the Big Pig Jig. I couldn’t bring myself to drink it until I photographed it.
The DOT Wants My Opinion
This morning as I pulled through the toll booth on GA400 I was handed a survey (two actually) to fill out. The cynic in me says that this is the DOT’s way of raising the toll. I can hear them now… “Well, our survey clearly indicated that drivers want better roads, therefore we’ll have to raise the toll to $0.75 in order to satisfy their desires.”
We’ll have to see what this brings.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Yesterday I heard of two deaths, completely unrelated, but both part of my life.
Eighty year-old Dr Robert Cade passed away yesterday. While you may not recognize his name, you will most certainly recognize the name of his invention. In 1965 while working at the University of Florida Cade invented Gatorade.
Fifty-two year-old Kevin DuBrow was found dead in his house Las Vegas on Sunday. While you may not recognize his name, you will most certainly recognize the name of the band he led (at least if you are an old man like me). DuBrow was the lead singer for Quiet Riot, who in the mid-1980’s were all over the radio with their version of the song “Cum On Feel The Noize.”
No George’s For Me Tonight
Sad but true. Even if I do get out of work early enough to run, I’ll have to go home and continue working on the plan to eradicate my new residents.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – angry, frustrated
Current Music – Sirius Satellite Radio, Channel 26 playing Wolf Runner — “You’re A Runner” (why yes I am!)
Website Of The Day – You’ve heard of YouTube so naturally someone would create FoodTube — a website for food preparation videos.
Exercise (b)Log – running/walking, 3.5 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage – 43.5 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car
November Goals
1) Run no fewer than 25 miles
2) Not worry about running the Atlanta Half-Marathon
3) Read at least one book
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
If you would like I can send one or both of the boys over, I’m sure they can sniff out whatever maybe lurking in the attic. I’m not sure how we would get them in the attic, then you’d have the problem of bassetts loose in your attic…oh well maybe your idea is better.
I’m not sure if it was the cold or just me last night but Hansel and I were struggling through a 5 mile run last night when you drove by…I was not impressed with my preformance.
Had the same problem a couple of winters ago. We have a couple of leftover rat traps (watch your fingers) and a small box of poison pellets if you want to save yourself a trip to Lowes. Good luck!
I thought about trapping one of the local cats, but figure out that was a bad idea.
Hansel? Were you following a trail of breadcrumbs? I wondered why you were walking, not the usual Martha. 😉
I was a bit frustrated when I passed you because that wasn’t the route home I wanted to take. I couldn’t work my way over to I20 because traffic on the connector was so damn thick. After getting caught by nearly every light I decided to head through Grant Park.
!st – why don’t you have a cruise card?
2nd – I thought I had a herd of squirrels in my attic, but they were just on the roof. Are you sure they are inside?
Brenan, I am going to see what I have in stock (unfortunately this is not the first time that I am going through this). I’ll let you know if I need anything that you can supply. Thanks!
I’ve started to name all the inanimate objects in my life…
Hansel is my GPS, Gretel is my new bike…I wont publish the name of my tv but he got his name because it just sits around, sucking up energy and most of what comes out of it annoys me….
Wow, there must be another problem with email notifications… I am so behind.
@Barb:
No cruise card because I don’t think that I should have to pay for the device, especially if I receive no discount for using it. Also, the toll booth is how I get rid of my change, except for pennies which I have been know to drop on the ground.
I am positive that they are in the roof. Right now they are in the carport area. I know that when I go up into the attic to set traps there will be droppings everywhere. Who knows, I might finally finish my insulation projects — four years after I started.
@Martha:
Naming your inanimate objects? That’s crazy. Just wait until I tell Jill (the GPS).
I didn’t realize you have to pay for the cruise card now. I have the big ugly one from MANY years ago in my car that was free, and I’ve replaced one battery so far.
Work on plugging all the holes first (or as you catch/kill them). I like the humane traps just because you know they aren’t going to stink up the house. (and you can release over in someone else’s yard far away). I hear they like peanut butter.
I *think* that there is a one-time $10 charge. That’s twenty trips through the toll. Since I only go through once a day (except recently) that’s one month’s worth of tolls just for the honor of having the device.
I’ve looked for holes in the past and never found them. I think part of the problem is the fact that the rear of my house is two stories and I am afraid of heights.
I am thinking of getting live traps. However, knowing my anger toward these critters I’m capable of letting the first one caught die in the trap so that I can set an example for the others. Besides, a little stench in the attic might convince the rest that my attic is not as nice as they thought.
I think we have won the rodent fight at our house- finally. I have noticed a difference in the quality of the traps I purchased and had to modify the ones I got from Ace (don’t start with me about building a better mousetrap). I had to make them a little more sensitive on the trigger, so the little buggers would stop eating all the peanut butter and not setting off the trap. We never had much success with the poison, except the evening that Zoe ate a bag of it thinking it was dog treats… that was an expensive trip to the vet.
-FP
a.k.a. The Rat Slayer
Allan says if they die in the trap that somehow the stench stays ‘forever” and the others won’t go near it.
What do you think, Mr. Rat Slayer? Is that true?
Paulie – find the holes from the inside silly……….. don’t go on the roof unless ya have to.
When plugging your holes in the attic you might want to consider using that spary can foam insulation. Not only does it help keep the critters out but makes your house a little more weather-tight in the process. Seemed to work at our place though a determined rat could gnaw through if they really wanted to. (hey, they can chew through concrete). As for the poison, it kills them but you have to make sure they don’t crawl off to die in a wallspace or something. A couple of weeks after baiting our attic we noticed a horrible stench coming from from the crawl space. Turns out a poisoned rat crawled down from the attic and decided to go belly up on top of the nice toasty warm )and difficult to access) furnace unit. Didn’t need to tear down any plaster thankfully but it still wasn’t fun to retrieve. Oh, I have a non-lethal trap too if you want to borrow.
I have tried to find the holes from the inside, but the way my roof is shaped it is really difficult to get to the edges. I know because I had a hell of a time trying to run speaker wires from my outdoor speakers about five years ago.
I’ve been concerned about the creature dying inside the house, but I am more concerned about the damage they can do living in the house.
I don’t think that “forever” lasts forever. When I started the insulation job in the attic four years ago I found an entire intact rat/squirrel skeleton up there. Man I wished that I had kept that.
I didn’t leave the rat in the trap very long… I would set them and check them the next day… I was 3 for 4 on next day, and after I modified the other trap, went 1 for 2, so overall a pretty good average.
-Rat Slayer
I can say it works for sure but I have heard that placing dog hair in the attic will also deter the critters…there is dog hair all over my house and I’ve only seen one mouse in the house in almost 6 years…I’m sure I could find some for you if you like.
Oh baby, we’ve got dog hair… a couple of extra dogs worth at least, but our rats seem to find it comforting and welcoming. Too bad we’re moving, because if I ever caught the Rat Slayer victory dance on tape and put it on YouTube, Steve would become a world wide phenom!
Well if it isn’t the dog hair, it must be the vicious, blood lust seen in Toby and Ruben’s eyes that scare away the critters….
Operation DeSquirrel will be happening in our attic this weekend too. 🙁 I also briefly considered throwing our two dogs up there for some furry friend playtime but I think hubby has other (much more sensible) plans.
We also had a cruise card from when hubby had relatives living in Alpharetta, but I got angry and ditched it when we started getting nasty letters insisting we put more credit on it or else. I thought this was a bit much as it still had over $10 on it and it would probably take us about 5 years to us that amount. Ridiculous.
Martha: They are probably afraid of getting licked to death by Toby
Kay: Best of luck. The credit issue is another thing that I’ve found out about that I don’t like.