This happened the beginning of August -
We've had a few animal situations at the Adams Farmette.
The neighbor's hawks seem to like our yard, with the chickens, rabbits, squirrels and birds. A couple weeks ago, one of the hawks was sitting on the shed roof, watching the chickens. We are glad we put a 6' high fence around the girls' (chickens) "play pen" and put netting across the top. We would like to find out which tree the hawks live in and offer to pay to have the limb removed from the tree come fall. Maybe they won't come back next year.
We have a chipmunk, which is adorable. Parke has seen him leave the garden with a tomato in his mouth. The chipmunk(s) sometimes are in our basement wall. They enter where all the wires and cables come into the house. There isn't a lot of space, but they get in. Parke has put steel wool in the openings, but the chipmunk takes it out. We know there is one in the wall when the cats are lined up in the family room at that wall. The chipmunks come in at ground level, but come down the inside of the basement wall. It drives the cats nuts.
Earlier this week, Parke saw the chipmunk go into the bottom of the rain spout. There's a 3' black extender pipe at the bottom. Parke plugged up the end with a towel. Because of how it is all put together, he decided it has to be disconnected at the top - at the gutter. He was on a ladder, taking it apart. I, of course, am safely on the ground, camera in hand. My job in life is to document everything in pictures. As soon as Parke had the spouting off the gutter, the chipmunk came jumping out the top, "flying" 10' to the ground. It was amazing!. Since we weren't expecting that to happen, I have no pic. :(
Yesterday I was away all morning. When I got home, Parke told me how he almost ended up in the hospital because of this chipmunk. Once again, it was in the down spout. Once again, Parke was on the ladder. I don't know exactly what happened, except Parke fell off the ladder, hearing bones in his back cracking and the wind being knocked out of him. He was a bit stunned. I told him we are letting that chipmunk alone now and he is not to be on a ladder again. Do you think he will listen? :)
Then we have a mouse issue. This is usually an autumn event. Some years we have mice coming in when it gets cooler outside. One night last week, three of the cats were laying on the kitchen floor near the back door, looking at the cabinetry. We know that means "mouse in the house." The wires coming into the house are right behind that cabinet. There was evidence of a mouse in the junk drawer, which had Lifesavers, etc in it. Parke set a mouse trap in the drawer. Bait gone, no mouse. Dumb trap. After a few nights of setting the trap, we got the mouse. Last night we were in the basement, and Zippity had a baby mouse. She was happy as can be. She'd set it down. As soon as it would scurry off, she was after it again. She wasn't trying to kill it, just play with it. She would not let us close to her. She wasn't giving up her toy. We finally got her in the sewing room and closed the door. It took about 30 minutes to get the mouse from her. They were both so fast. There is so much for her to hide under and around in that room. After that was over, Parke and I rested for 30 minutes! Zippy was walking around looking for her little friend. She was kind of whimpering. We went upstairs, only to find Doodah playing with a baby mouse in the dining room! In less than 5 minutes, we had that mouse taken care of. It's never a good thing to have a mouse nest in your house. I forget how many babies they can have, but it's a lot. There was evidence again this morning in the kitchen drawer, so there's a trap set again there. (The picture above is of Zippy with tail of mouse in her mouth. Mouse is hanging down. Rocky is waiting his turn to play with the mouse.)
See how important it is to have five indoor cats! They provide the mouse alarm, search and rescue services, and entertainment for people with no life!
So, what's new with you????
The neighbor's hawks seem to like our yard, with the chickens, rabbits, squirrels and birds. A couple weeks ago, one of the hawks was sitting on the shed roof, watching the chickens. We are glad we put a 6' high fence around the girls' (chickens) "play pen" and put netting across the top. We would like to find out which tree the hawks live in and offer to pay to have the limb removed from the tree come fall. Maybe they won't come back next year.
We have a chipmunk, which is adorable. Parke has seen him leave the garden with a tomato in his mouth. The chipmunk(s) sometimes are in our basement wall. They enter where all the wires and cables come into the house. There isn't a lot of space, but they get in. Parke has put steel wool in the openings, but the chipmunk takes it out. We know there is one in the wall when the cats are lined up in the family room at that wall. The chipmunks come in at ground level, but come down the inside of the basement wall. It drives the cats nuts.
Earlier this week, Parke saw the chipmunk go into the bottom of the rain spout. There's a 3' black extender pipe at the bottom. Parke plugged up the end with a towel. Because of how it is all put together, he decided it has to be disconnected at the top - at the gutter. He was on a ladder, taking it apart. I, of course, am safely on the ground, camera in hand. My job in life is to document everything in pictures. As soon as Parke had the spouting off the gutter, the chipmunk came jumping out the top, "flying" 10' to the ground. It was amazing!. Since we weren't expecting that to happen, I have no pic. :(
Yesterday I was away all morning. When I got home, Parke told me how he almost ended up in the hospital because of this chipmunk. Once again, it was in the down spout. Once again, Parke was on the ladder. I don't know exactly what happened, except Parke fell off the ladder, hearing bones in his back cracking and the wind being knocked out of him. He was a bit stunned. I told him we are letting that chipmunk alone now and he is not to be on a ladder again. Do you think he will listen? :)
Then we have a mouse issue. This is usually an autumn event. Some years we have mice coming in when it gets cooler outside. One night last week, three of the cats were laying on the kitchen floor near the back door, looking at the cabinetry. We know that means "mouse in the house." The wires coming into the house are right behind that cabinet. There was evidence of a mouse in the junk drawer, which had Lifesavers, etc in it. Parke set a mouse trap in the drawer. Bait gone, no mouse. Dumb trap. After a few nights of setting the trap, we got the mouse. Last night we were in the basement, and Zippity had a baby mouse. She was happy as can be. She'd set it down. As soon as it would scurry off, she was after it again. She wasn't trying to kill it, just play with it. She would not let us close to her. She wasn't giving up her toy. We finally got her in the sewing room and closed the door. It took about 30 minutes to get the mouse from her. They were both so fast. There is so much for her to hide under and around in that room. After that was over, Parke and I rested for 30 minutes! Zippy was walking around looking for her little friend. She was kind of whimpering. We went upstairs, only to find Doodah playing with a baby mouse in the dining room! In less than 5 minutes, we had that mouse taken care of. It's never a good thing to have a mouse nest in your house. I forget how many babies they can have, but it's a lot. There was evidence again this morning in the kitchen drawer, so there's a trap set again there. (The picture above is of Zippy with tail of mouse in her mouth. Mouse is hanging down. Rocky is waiting his turn to play with the mouse.)
See how important it is to have five indoor cats! They provide the mouse alarm, search and rescue services, and entertainment for people with no life!
So, what's new with you????
1 comment:
oh my! never a dull moment on the Adams' Family Farm!!
Post a Comment