Can’t remember what cartoon character from days gone by exclaimed this, but I agree with him. Could it have been Tom and Jerry? Anyway, I found some ‘evidence’ that there was a rodent roaming around in the cabinet below my entertainment center, so I set a trap with peanut butter. I decided to check the cabinet this afternoon, and the trap was tripped, but no varmint! I also found some droppings in one basement storage area today as I got my bin of birdseed out to refill one of the bird feeders. I put another trap in there. I know this is a wildlife refuge, and as long as the wildlife stays out of my rig I’m fine with that. However, the gauntlet has been thrown! I choose not to live with wildlife inside my little castle!
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a strange, disgusting odor emitting from the air vents when I would start up my car. I opened up the hood and took a look inside. Everything looked fine to me, but then I’m not a mechanic, so what do I know? Last week, Denny got wind (
Today we had 110 fifth grade students from one of the local school districts descend upon us for a field trip. This school district will be sending another 350 students our way over the next three days. I’m giving the talk and activity on nesting Mississippi sandhill cranes five times each day. Sure wish I had the energy and exuberance of those youngsters! After I dressed up one little boy in a crane costume today, he kind of went berserk. Looks like I chose the class clown. Oh well, I’ll be a little more careful tomorrow in my selection.
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Didn’t have too much time today for photos, but I was able to find a little hummingbird in a more natural setting than a feeder. Yesterday, the first chimney swifts were overhead, and this afternoon the first great-crested flycatcher made it to the refuge. Spring migration is certainly upon us. I hope this will give heart to those of you still up north dealing with the snow, ice, and cold temperatures of the remnants of winter.
Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later, Judy
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Choosing the class clown for dressing up is perfect! Gives him an outlet for his tremendous energies. It would take a class clown to let himself be dressed up as a bird anyway.
ReplyDeleteWith all the stormy weather, I wondered about you...we were rockin 'n rollin in the wee hours this morn. I agree -- no varmints in my house either -- EEEKKK!!
ReplyDeleteOh, oh. Once you see signs of mieces, you almost certainly have more than one! Good luck with your traps - that is one task I am grateful to pass off to my partner.
ReplyDeleteWhich reminds me, I love your take on solo travel. When I was much younger (30 years ago), I did a lot of solo travel. Although I would have loved to have someone to share the experiences and memories, I didn't at that time. So, like you, I traveled alone - far better than not at all! Since this was in the pre-computer, pre-blog dark ages, I didn't have that outlet, either. Although there are some downsides to technology, I sure do love the ability to connect with the wider world while on the road. Blog on!
Yep mice come in large families, and the kid's are sure to enjoy themselves at the refuge rather than being in classrooms.Be safe out there. Sam 7 Donna...
ReplyDeleteHi Judy,
ReplyDeleteI sure do enjoy your blog and pictures. I have been reading you for over a year and look forward each day to your blog.
We fulltime in a vintage Airstream. Several years ago, before fulltiming, we got infested with mice. We even have a cat.....who is afraid of mice! We kept our Airstream at a campground in the North Georgia Mountains and with great effort we defeated the mice for the most part. At Home Depot we saw one of those ultra sonic devices that claims to keep mice away. Bought one and it really works. The original one stopped working after about 4 years and we had mice again....got a new one and the mice are gone. So you might want to try this. It does not bother our cat at all. Sure beats the traps!
Claudia
We had a major issue with Roof Rats last year. They destroyed a lot of stuff in our sheds and nested in our BBQ. Needless to say, we had to got out and buy a new one.
ReplyDeleteWhat? No video of the class clown crane???? The hummer is sweet!
ReplyDeleteFifth graders are a treat. I'll bet the teacher knew when you picked the class clown, he'd make the costume come to life.
ReplyDeleteGood luck getting rid of those mices. I dislike them immensely. Above writers are right, if you have one, you likely have more, so keep on setting traps.
ReplyDeletemieces to pieces?..hope you catch your new residents soon!..nothing worse than rodents!..well maybe snakes??..eww!!
ReplyDeleteWell, that was driving me crazy, so I hunted it down. Mr. Jinx (cat), Dixie and Pixie (Mice, er, meeces) .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie_and_Dixie_and_Mr._Jinks
ReplyDeleteAhhh. Now I feel better!
Well, remember the Irish Spring? :)
ReplyDeleteI think the cartoon character you are thinking of is Elmer Fudd - "I hate those mieces to pieces"!!
ReplyDeleteI have been trapping mice every day in the garage. One day a mouse got double caught. He must have thrashed about because he was caught in two traps! Peanut butter is the best. Snap traps are my favorite.
ReplyDeleteDid you have any doubt that I would recommend getting a cat?
ReplyDeleteI remember that cartoon & thought maybe it was old Snagglepuss who said that. Only had one brief encounter with mice & that was a couple winters ago. Kelly put a picture of me in the one bin & that seems to have scared them off. No mouse problems with mice here at home when we got back this year but last year the little critters had been in the drawers etc. A Crane costume....now there's a thought:))
ReplyDeleteMui put a sonic sound emitter in the basement of our rig ... hope it really works as advertised. So far, we've not had any encounters of the mice kind, but wanted to be proactive.
ReplyDeleteYou need to figure where they are getting in at, and in a motor home, there are lots of places. Al uses a course steel wool and stuffs it in any holes or cracks. He found some areas around where the water pipes come in, the engine compartment and where any electrical wiring comes in. We have cats, but that was absolutely no help when we had mice. No mice so far (knock on wood) this year.
ReplyDeleteSo far the only mousie I saw was the deceased one under the rig last month. I got a pack of those sonic emitters at Lowe's, put one in the rig and one in our office. So far, no little buddies. I also spray Bug Stop on the ground around the perimeter of the rig and did the inside thoroughly last summer when we got ants. (Hate ants.) No more ants. Interestingly, the mouse was found the morning after I had sprayed around the rig. I do have steel wool at the ready, tho, to do other entry ways into the rig.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have beavers AND muskrats! Have not seen the resident bears (hope I don't for their sakes) but we also have deer and, I've been told, otters occasionally.
Cheerio! Keep fighting the good fight with the critters!
Don does the same thing that Karen talked about, but he also adds calking on top of the steel wool. They will not chew through that. The car is a different story though.
ReplyDeleteWhen we stayed at Falcon Lake people set mouse traps under the hood of their car too. Those critters could chew through the hoses and stuff...You may want to do that too!! The only cartoon mouse I likes was Mighty Mouse..maybe you could book him in to fight the evil bad mice:-)
ReplyDeleteAfter a mouse invasion in Colorado two years back , I keep bait bags in various places inside and outside the coach and check them everyone in awhile. If I am staying in one place for a longer stay, I put them near he generator and other clusters of wiring on the chassis as they just love to eat wiring insulation.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good.
Yes, I agree, wildlife (including rodents) should stay outside. Always good to be vigilant in that area.
ReplyDeleteOur first year out here, we had them in another rig...not ours and it was infested with them. I swore we would never have them again in our own rig, so now we have bars of Irish Spring all over, Bounce sheets everywhere, the electronic thingy always plugged in and if we are parked for awhile we surround the vehicle with comet. Oh yea, Jerry also foamed all holes and continues to do this all the time.
ReplyDeleteNot sure which one works the best but we do know that so far we have NEVER had one in our rig!
LOL that is so funny!!
ReplyDelete