[TowerTalk] Critter Chronicles

[RICHARD BOYD]

Especially "exciting" will be when your wife (or yourself) is driving down the highway and a mouse or snake drops into her (or your) lap.

A local farmer I buy corn from doesn't have much of a mouse problem, even in his grain storage barn.  He puts the ubiquitous 5-gallon buckets around, here and there, with a few inches of water in the bottom.  Mice climb in, looking for food, can't get back out, and drown.  Dump 'em out from time to time if you don't' want a really stinky mess.  You can catch many mice with one "setting" of such a trap, never have to touch 'em, they keep working after the first mouse is caught, they're free, and environmentally (except for mice) friendly.

73 - Rich, KE3Q
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joe Giacobello<mailto:k2xx at swva.net> 
  To: Pete Smith<mailto:n4zr at contesting.com> 
  Cc: towertalk at contesting.com<mailto:towertalk at contesting.com> 
  Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 9:48 PM
  Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Critter Chronicles


  Pete, you're not alone, although my problem is not ham radio related.

  I just converted a barn on my property to a garage, which is far removed 
  from the house.  After I was finished (of course), some of the local 
  farm folk warned me that you have to be concerned about mice getting 
  into the car and eating everything in sight.    Consequently, at their 
  recommendation, I put D-Con in all corners of the garage.  I've only had 
  the barn-garage in use for about three weeks and moved the car from 
  there about twice.  Each time I saw a mouse on the ground under where 
  the car had been parked.  There was also a bat tucked into the space 
  between the sliding door and the jamb of the doorway.  Obviously, the 
  D-Con was, as the local farm folk say, as useful as mammaries on a male 
  bovine.

  My XYL just drove the car to NJ and reported en route that the AM/FM 
  radio went out as if there were no antenna.  Hmmmmm....

  73, Joe


  Pete Smith wrote:

  >I just went out to the base of my tower to check out the 160 shunt feed -- popped the top off the Rubbermaid box, which is side-mounted on my tower, and was amused to see the bottom of it virtually full of a mouse nest.  I poked at things a little, and eventually discovered three mature mice and three babies - suckling mightily on their mother.  One by one, they bailed out into the tall grass, including mama with the babies still attached.  I hope they all made it OK.
  >
  >Looking at things, the only way they could have gotten in (and brought their nest materials in) was through a hole in the bottom of the box where the feedlines come in - it is at least 5 inches from the face of the tower.  Considering that the biggest of these mice was no longer than 2 inches long, that gives you some measure of the lengths to which critters will go in search of a sheltered place to nest.
  >
  > From now on, ALL holes in my boxes will be either caulked or screened.
  >
  >73, Pete N4ZR
  >The World HF Contest Station Database
  >was updated on 18 August 2005
  >2988 contest stations at 
  >www.pvrc.org/WCSD/WCSDsearch.htm  
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  See: http://www.mscomputer.com<http://www.mscomputer.com/>  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.

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