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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Tuesday, May 01, 2007 Welcome to life in the country Our critter turned out to be not a mouse, not a rat, not a vole and not a shrew on steroids, but a juvenile possum. I baited a rat trap and went to bed. Fifteen minutes hadn't gone by when I heard it snap. But we hadn't heard the animal at all, and I wondered whether the trap might have tripped on its own. The wooden rat traps have a different cocking mechanism than the mouse traps, and I wasn't entirely certain how well that little tab of plastic was going to hold back the huge spring. And it sounded as though the trap had flown halfway across the bathroom floor, not what you'd expect if something the size of what I saw yesterday was caught in it. I turned over and went back to sleep.Just before dawn, Clarence woke me up. "I hear it," he whispered, and sure enough there was a scrabbling sort of sound under his dresser. I got up, took out another trap, baited it with the blue stuff in the little bottle (which does indeed work better than peanut butter), and set it on the bathroom floor near the one that had tripped, and which I now saw had caught an ordinary mouse. I went back to bed and waited. After a while I heard the distinct sound of crunching in the bathroom."I don't see how it could be a shrew," I whispered to Clarence. "Shrews aren't that big. But it sure sounds like it's eating that dead mouse." Shrews, the internet assured me, ate small mammals like mice as well as the other kinds of things eaten by rodents. And they had short tails. And at least some of them were gray, like our animal. But they were tiny.I crept out of bed in the increasing morning light and snuck around the door to the bathroom. Sure enough, there was the very large non-shrewish-appearing critter eating the mouse. It didn't even run away when it saw that I was watching it. I threw Clarence's shoe at it and it ran behind the hot water heater long enough for me to remove the mouse and push the other rat trap into a more tempting position.Another half hour or so went by, and the other trap went ka-boom! When I went to check, I found I had caught a possum. That was the first time I had seen its face in enough light to realize what it was.The only trouble with a baby possum is that where you have one, you usually have ten or eleven more, and if one found its way into the house, others are likely to do the same thing. This one was still of a size to be carried around on mama's back with its littermates. So when I went out to do a computer call today, I bought a can of expanding insulation foam, which I will shortly apply to every crack and crevice I can find in the hopes of at least discouraging other visitors.And now I have to do the paperwork for three days of inspections, make sure my clothes are packed, go to the grocery store so Nick will have lots of goodies to eat in my absence, get out the other computer and set it up so he'll have a computer to use in my absence, and make up his bed. At some point it would be nice to have some sleep too. I haven't knitted anything in days. posted by Liz @ 1:05 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Our critter turned out to be not a mouse, not a rat, not a vole and not a shrew on steroids, but a juvenile possum. I baited a rat trap and went to bed. Fifteen minutes hadn't gone by when I heard it snap. But we hadn't heard the animal at all, and I wondered whether the trap might have tripped on its own. The wooden rat traps have a different cocking mechanism than the mouse traps, and I wasn't entirely certain how well that little tab of plastic was going to hold back the huge spring. And it sounded as though the trap had flown halfway across the bathroom floor, not what you'd expect if something the size of what I saw yesterday was caught in it. I turned over and went back to sleep.Just before dawn, Clarence woke me up. "I hear it," he whispered, and sure enough there was a scrabbling sort of sound under his dresser. I got up, took out another trap, baited it with the blue stuff in the little bottle (which does indeed work better than peanut butter), and set it on the bathroom floor near the one that had tripped, and which I now saw had caught an ordinary mouse. I went back to bed and waited. After a while I heard the distinct sound of crunching in the bathroom."I don't see how it could be a shrew," I whispered to Clarence. "Shrews aren't that big. But it sure sounds like it's eating that dead mouse." Shrews, the internet assured me, ate small mammals like mice as well as the other kinds of things eaten by rodents. And they had short tails. And at least some of them were gray, like our animal. But they were tiny.I crept out of bed in the increasing morning light and snuck around the door to the bathroom. Sure enough, there was the very large non-shrewish-appearing critter eating the mouse. It didn't even run away when it saw that I was watching it. I threw Clarence's shoe at it and it ran behind the hot water heater long enough for me to remove the mouse and push the other rat trap into a more tempting position.Another half hour or so went by, and the other trap went ka-boom! When I went to check, I found I had caught a possum. That was the first time I had seen its face in enough light to realize what it was.The only trouble with a baby possum is that where you have one, you usually have ten or eleven more, and if one found its way into the house, others are likely to do the same thing. This one was still of a size to be carried around on mama's back with its littermates. So when I went out to do a computer call today, I bought a can of expanding insulation foam, which I will shortly apply to every crack and crevice I can find in the hopes of at least discouraging other visitors.And now I have to do the paperwork for three days of inspections, make sure my clothes are packed, go to the grocery store so Nick will have lots of goodies to eat in my absence, get out the other computer and set it up so he'll have a computer to use in my absence, and make up his bed. At some point it would be nice to have some sleep too. I haven't knitted anything in days.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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