Last Stand at Packrat Gulch

[Bailey Guns]

"There was lots of things that mighta done 'im in, I guess. Being a no good squatter, not respecting other's property, he didn't have no thumbs...or a gun. Mighta been any of those things but it weren't none of 'em. It was me. And I did it for the love of a woman. I ain't never killed for no woman before. Thinking 'bout 'im as a rat instead of a man made it easier to pull the trigger. Cuz that what he was...a low-down, no good, stinkin' rat."- from Last Stand at Packrat Gulch

About a week ago we discovered a packrat had begun nesting under the hood of the wife's Traverse. Little bastard tore most of the fiberglass insulation from the firewall and carried in about 10 pounds of grass, twigs and leaves to build a nest. We tried all the non-lethal methods we could find or think of to get rid of him. Then I tried to flush him out to the Terriers. He decided there was no way he was gonna leave the relative safety of the inside of the engine, even while being sprayed unmercifully with a hose, for certain death in the jaws of 3 yard sharks. At that point I was afraid the Terriers were gonna dismantle the entire car, piece by piece, in their quest to kill the rat. So, nothing worked, and I couldn't flush him out. Then, this morning, I found he'd started chewing on the tape around a wiring harness and I decided enough is enough. Last thing I need is a big repair bill on the wiring of her car. Wife pretty much gave me the "if you can't take care of a rat, what good are you?" look.

I started looking around inside the engine compartment and finally found him. He was under the plastic engine cover, right on top of the block. Good, solid backstop, no hoses, no wires, no plastic to damage. I loaded up some .22 shotshells in my little revolver and ended the threat. One shot, one kill. I generally don't like to kill animals...even mice and rats. But woodpeckers drilling holes in the house and packrats eating the car are pretty much where I draw the line.

[spqrzilla]

Wife pretty much gave me the "if you can't take care of a rat, what good are you?" look.

I've seen that look.

[buffalobo]

They can cause alot of damage in a short time.

I've seen that look.

Applies to snakes, bats, skunks, mice,... too.

[Hummer]

Great quote and story, BG. I've done battle with pack rats many times and usually end up live trapping them, but that takes patience. They sure can make a nasty, stinky mess.








Yesterday, I had a similar chase to capture a juvenile marmot that was in an auto repair lot in GJ. We think it came into town with a towed car that had all it's wiring chewed up. We worked more than 2 hours trying to dislodge it from under vehicles, on top of fuel tanks, transmissions and spare tires. It had gotten dunked in an open tank of used motor oil so it kept slipping out of the capture noose. Biting at everything. I tried to dislodge it by spraying with water which at least gave it a good bath. Poor thing. Eventually we grabbed it by the tail and yanked it out so we could blanket it and put it into a carrier. Rescued alive, we took it up to the mountains to release. Whew, one for the books as the most difficult wildlife capture we've ever done.

[crays]

Great quote and story, BG. I've done battle with pack rats many times and usually end up live trapping them, but that takes patience. They sure can make a nasty, stinky mess.








Yesterday, I had a similar chase to capture a juvenile marmot that was in an auto repair lot in GJ. We think it came into town with a towed car that had all it's wiring chewed up. We worked more than 2 hours trying to dislodge it from under vehicles, on top of fuel tanks, transmissions and spare tires. It had gotten dunked in an open tank of used motor oil so it kept slipping out of the capture noose. Biting at everything. I tried to dislodge it by spraying with water which at least gave it a good bath. Poor thing. Eventually we grabbed it by the tail and yanked it out so we could blanket it and put it into a carrier. Rescued alive, we took it up to the mountains to release. Whew, one for the books as the most difficult wildlife capture we've ever done.

No offense meant Hummer, but after reading your post I had to chuckle a little bit, because all I could think of was "yeeyeeyee LIVE ACTION!!"

[Jefe's AR]

Just the circle of life. You did him a favor. You think he would rather have been mauled and eaten alive by a fox or swooped up and picked apart, while alive, by hawk.

Did you toss it out in the field to complete the circle?

[Bailey Guns]

^^ If that's directed to me? That's exactly what I did. Something will feast on the carcass.

[Skip]

Good shoot!

I vid of you firing a revolver into your open hood would be comical.

[Bailey Guns]

Good shoot!

I vid of you firing a revolver into your open hood would be comical.

I know...it sounds like "ammo" for the "WTF were they thinking thread". But I thought it thru pretty well. It was only .22LR bird shot. Barely penetrated the body of the rat. Didn't think it would damage the car and it didn't. Damaged the rat pretty badly though. I'm happy that at least it was an instant, humane kill.

[bobbyfairbanks]

Use red vines for bait. That will get them