On 5/31/2013 9:18 PM, Derald wrote:
Frank wrote:

We caped it out and found buck shot and
bird shot in its neck.
So, now we know there're idiots in your part of the country, too.


Yup, we're a blue state

On 5/31/2013 4:56 PM, songbird wrote:
Frank wrote:
...
I'd tag it with a .22 or catch and release. Pellets can penetrate and
animal could suffer.

one pump won't penetrate. i can see the
pellet bounce off. i never aim for the head
for the first two warning shots. next shot
it won't survive. eight pumps put the pellet
through 1/4-1/2" plywood at 30yards. .20
cal with a good scope on it...


songbird


If you're getting that good a shot, I'd put 'em down.

On 5/31/2013 11:28 PM, benj wrote:
On Wed, 29 May 2013 14:22:36 -0400, Frank wrote:

Groundhog, little tough, but taste like chicken.

People do eat ground hog but I never have. They are cute as can be
especially the little ones. There are lots of them in the park where I
ride the bike. But a few years ago we had a bumper crop of ground hogs.
They were EVERYWHERE!

And one decided to dig under the foundation of my house! So I filled in
his hole and he'd dig it back out! I shoved bricks down his hole and he'd
shove them back out! I even poured concrete down his hole and he dug a
parallel hole right next to it.

Sorry, cute or not when the foundation of my house is at stake it's no
more Mr. Nice guy. Can't shoot them in the city, so I start digging out
his hole with a shovel but was making no progress. So I took the hose and
shoved it down there and filled his hole with water! Pretty soon he
sticks his head out and I give him a good whack with the shovel! He
shakes his head and takes off running down the street at top speed with
me chasing him like a mad man swinging the shovel. He got away.

Then I filled in his hole and he never came back. I can hear him telling
his ground hog buddies about the mad man that lives over where he had his
hole.

Speaking of trap and release, my house is old, full of holes in the
foundation and before I had a cat, every fall zillions mice would move in
looking for a winter home. So I set up a trap with this tall barrel and
peanut butter where they'd fall in and couldn't get out. Pretty soon I
had maybe 15 mice in there!

So I was going to take the barrel down to the railroad tracks and release
them, but it was cold and snowing and I only got as far as the vacant lot
next to my neighbor's house. A couple of weeks later, I'm talking to my
neighbor and she's telling me that she can't understand it, but suddenly
all these mice appeared in her house from nowhere! I say nothing and
just lay low.




The groundhog I ate was one I popped with a bow while at a friend's
hunting camp. I took a couple since in the same manner but left in the
field.

Around the house, I trap and release but before I had a trap, I dumped a
pint of chloroform down his tunnel which being denser than air would sit
there as a cloud and put him to sleep permanently if he returned.

Mice, you have to seal all holes into your house and trap those inside.
They're all over the place outside and your neighbor probably would have
been hit anyway.

Pat Kiewicz wrote:
songbird said:

Ma said she'll put out the live-trap, but
then i reminded her that i finished off the
p-nut butter and we just used up the last
of the romaine lettuce and carrots too. i
wonder if they like bananas?

Their two most favorite things IME are apples and mulberry leaves.
One time the first sign that a groundhog had gotten past the fence
was the defoliation of the young ("bird planted") mulberries on the
garden side of the fenceline.

we don't have either of those here, but thanks
for the E in IME.

i've not seen it since the other day so i'm
hoping the pellet "stings" were a good enough
message.

once the peas/beans are up further in the
auxiliary strawberry patch and the strawberries
begin to ripen i expect more challenges out
there as that is unfenced and closer to it's
home.


songbird

Frank wrote:
....
Groundhog, little tough, but taste like chicken.

in the realm of "You know it's bedtime when..."

i just misread that last word as "children".


songbird

Frank wrote:
....
Mice, you have to seal all holes into your house and trap those inside.
They're all over the place outside and your neighbor probably would have
been hit anyway.

mice are all around here constantly. even with
the wide border of crushed limestone mulch they
still venture along the exterior foundation where
i keep traps set all year now. once i find places
they get into the walls i plug those up, but they
seem able to get in other spots too. the crawl
space i sealed up very well from the rest of the
house (making sure that all gaps were sealed and
covered with metal mesh). they rarely get into
the house itself (two times in 16 years) those
are brought in boxes taken from the garage or
garden shed.

which also reminds me of the time i had a mouse
family shipped to me at college in my model train
boxes (that were stored in the rafters of my
brother's garage). figured out i had mice when
i left a hot chocolate cup (empty with a little
bit in the bottom) on my desk and woke up the
next morning to find a few mouse nerds in the
bottom of a very clean mug. opened up the boxes,
found the nest (and a large cache of dry dog
food). had to trap the adults. peanut butter.

ok, really, i gotta get to sleep... naps in
the early evening play havoc on a schedule.


songbird

On 6/4/2013 3:29 AM, songbird wrote:
Frank wrote:
...
Mice, you have to seal all holes into your house and trap those inside.
They're all over the place outside and your neighbor probably would have
been hit anyway.

mice are all around here constantly. even with
the wide border of crushed limestone mulch they
still venture along the exterior foundation where
i keep traps set all year now. once i find places
they get into the walls i plug those up, but they
seem able to get in other spots too. the crawl
space i sealed up very well from the rest of the
house (making sure that all gaps were sealed and
covered with metal mesh). they rarely get into
the house itself (two times in 16 years) those
are brought in boxes taken from the garage or
garden shed.

which also reminds me of the time i had a mouse
family shipped to me at college in my model train
boxes (that were stored in the rafters of my
brother's garage). figured out i had mice when
i left a hot chocolate cup (empty with a little
bit in the bottom) on my desk and woke up the
next morning to find a few mouse nerds in the
bottom of a very clean mug. opened up the boxes,
found the nest (and a large cache of dry dog
food). had to trap the adults. peanut butter.

ok, really, i gotta get to sleep... naps in
the early evening play havoc on a schedule.


songbird


I've sealed any opening I could find but still catch a few mice per year
in traps in the house. No need to refresh peanut butter bait as they
still go for it when old and rancid. I put poison bait in the attic.
Discovered poison in the house is a bad idea when one died leaving a
faint aroma in the basement for weeks.

In article ,
says...


figured out i had mice when
i left a hot chocolate cup (empty with a little
bit in the bottom) on my desk and woke up the
next morning to find a few mouse nerds in the
bottom of a very clean mug.

--I assume they passed out and fell asleep right where they were.

On 6/4/2013 2:19 AM, songbird wrote:
Frank wrote:
...
Groundhog, little tough, but taste like chicken.

in the realm of "You know it's bedtime when..."

i just misread that last word as "children".


songbird


oh that's funny!

--
Natural Girl

Frank wrote:
....
I've sealed any opening I could find but still catch a few mice per year
in traps in the house. No need to refresh peanut butter bait as they
still go for it when old and rancid.

yeah, they can still smell it even when
it's down to almost nothing and still poke
their noses in.


I put poison bait in the attic.
Discovered poison in the house is a bad idea when one died leaving a
faint aroma in the basement for weeks.

i dislike poisons too for much the same reason.
plus i hate the idea that a snake or other creature
might catch a poisoned mouse and then be affected.
just seems better to snap trap them if i have to.
we've used bait stations and poison blocks to
keep the population down in the past, but the
raccoons discovered a taste for them and would
get the bait stations opened. even after we'd
pile large rocks around and on top of the bait
stations they'd still figure out a way to lever
the rocks away and raid the bait stations. so
i've not wanted to put any more out. it just
seems so pointless. mice are all over, killing
a few here or there isn't going to get rid of
them, instead it just means more will come in
from the fields all around us. i much prefer
encouraging owls, snakes, etc. to come feast.
the limestone mulch gives an owl a clear contrast
to catch a skittering mouse...


songbird