Keep The Change You Filthy Animal!

Which style of rodent trap do you use and prefer - Victory or Catchmaster (Snapper)?

I've always used Victory traps and have had great success with them.  I thought I'd add something new to my arsenal, so last year I bought some Catchmaster traps.  Initially I was reluctant they'd work as good as the Victory but they've proven me wrong.  They work just as good and the Catchmaster is super easy to bait and set.  The disposal of rodents is effortless with you never needing to touch or get near the deceased.

I've always set traps in our pool house every fall, once the pool's been closed and lawn items packed and stored away for the winter, and I'm always catching rodents.  The little buggers do too much damage if let alone, with their droppings all over the place.

To date this fall, in about three months, I've caught and disposed of, (16) mice!  They keep coming. 

*** SQUEAMISH WARNING BELOW ***

Two examples of success

A win for Victory -

A win for Catchmaster -

Winning!

Neener-neener-neener

I see you!

Do you see me?

Raccoon Infestation?!

I suspect this little fella was looking for his mommy...

I'm sure there are others out there too.  Considering ourselves lucky that they've not fussed with any of our chickens and rabbits.

"Whitey"

Nope, I'm not referring to James "Whitey" Bulger, the reputed mobster who's on the lamb, and also on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

I'm referring to monsieur skunk, pictured above, who's attraction and love of peanut butter has landed him in his current dilemma. I don't believe that white skunks are rare these days but certainly unusual and quite attractive.

I'm sure this dude has some counterparts, or partners in crime if you will, still on the loose but that'll come to an end soon enough.

You see these foraging critters have been doing a terrible number on our lawn - holes dug everywhere in search of one of their favorite morsels! They're after grubs, which apparently we have a lot of and have been raising unbeknown to us. Now, some might argue, get rid of the grubs and your skunk problem goes away. Although, this is true the damage they're causing now needs to be addressed now before they ruin the entire lawn, so we don't have the luxury of waiting until the grub solution kicks in.

Now comes the tricky part, the "skunk relocation" program. Keep your fingers crossed that Pepe here doesn't decide to give me, and the surrounding areas, a parting gift...

Baaaaa bye...

One of these two grey squirrels is no longer a local resident and will therefore NOT be visiting and pirating the birds food from our backyard feeders any more.

As you can see these two smart asses were pillaging and pilfering where they shouldn't have been. After all there was a perfectly attractive and set trap with tasty, salmonella contamination free peanut butter begging for a licking not too far away.

Well, guess who got the last laugh?! One of these dudes, I'm not sure which one and it doesn't really matter as it's only a matter of time before the other one is caught, fell to temptation and WHAM he's caught. Off he went with me to work and his new home.

This is the first grey squirrel catch of the young 2009 season and I can only imagine that there will be more (they seem to come out of the wood work), so stay tuned. Last years totals, just in case your keeping track at home, was 10 with most being relocated and a couple qualified for swim lessons. The red squirrels, if caught and we have caught several, are released here immediately - we like and prefer the red dudes and with the thinning of the grey squirrel herd (is there such a thing as a herd of squirrels? someone please get back to me on this) the reds have a much better chance at flourishing. Plus they're much more attractive and much less of a nuisance and pest.

Think Spring!

Gotcha

In the absence of a good ole fashion bird feeder this winter I hung a suet feeder out. Certainly not the same as a full blown feeder but it does the trick just the same and attracts the smaller birds, i.e. nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, titmouse's, and chickadees. However, as you can see from the first picture below it also attracted a grey squirrel this morning, that sumbitch. The ironic thing is you can see the trap in the background, which I baited and set a couple days ago, patiently waiting for a curious critter. I swear this dude flipped me the bird when I was taking this picture.



Ah, but then karma struck. The sumbitch was weak or perhaps just hungry since there were next to no acorns this fall and gave in to temptation - temptation called Peter Pan peanut butter :-)



You can see the sumbitch waiting extradition in the above picture...

Havaheart vs Blue Barrel

Here are a couple pictures of the critters that we've trapped and relocated recently. These dudes were fortunate to be caught on a work day and therefore relocated on my drive to work. Weekend captures aren't so lucky, even though gas prices have fallen, and all I will say is "blue barrel"...

Grey Squirrel

Commom Opossum

Pepe Le Pew Perhaps

We caught this skunk in our Havaheart trap last weekend - he too likes peanut butter. We didn't want to fuss with him and risk getting sprayed, so instead of trying to relocate him we quietly snuck-up and unlatched the trap locks and let him alone to work his own way out. He was gone not too long after. Since skunks eat mostly insects, many of which are pests to humans. They are therefore very beneficial to have around.

The trap has been reset in the hopes of catching more of the many (too many) grey squirrels that we have. I'm not sure where they've all come from but with the cold weather moving in we're all of a sudden overrun with the pests. We've already caught and relocated (6) of these earlier this year. Perhaps, I'll introduce them to the "blue barrel"...