What are you doing these days?

[Azincourt]

Watching a Brad Pitt movie from 2000 called Snatch, and wondering at how magical Hollywood is with it's make-up and digital technology.

[Happy Lemming]

3 hours ago, Ruby Slippers said:

I made a few calls, and animal removal companies charge $200 to trap it...

Conibear 110 trap is only about $5...

Problem solved.

[Ruby Slippers]

Thanks, Happy, but I'll leave it to the pro. His price is right for me not to have to handle any critters!

I just filed my tax return, knocked it out in one punch, getting $50 back, woo hoo! Yay, I'm glad that's done. Now I feel like I accomplished something this weekend so I can just have fun.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Ruby Slippers

[preraph]

For wildlife to move around, it has to be quiet and for that one dark. I imagine if it's still got a mother that the mother is trying to get it. my sister used to have a big possum that used to come in and eat the cat food through the cat door. 

[Ruby Slippers]

Oh, he was tottering around my sun room in broad daylight with me and the cat peering at him through kitchen door. There's no food of any kind in that sun room, so I'm not sure why he was there. 

[schlumpy]

2 hours ago, Ruby Slippers said:

Oh, he was tottering around my sun room in broad daylight with me and the cat peering at him through kitchen door. There's no food of any kind in that sun room, so I'm not sure why he was there. 

Ok Ruby I had my fun so this is serious.

I think you can wait the possum out. I've had a few hang around over the years and they never stayed more then a week. Stuff something in that hole like foam rubber to keep him out.

The squirrel should leave also as long as there isn't any food. If you want to kill it and make certain then you can get poison peanuts.

[major_merrick]

Well I had a baby, so that kept me down for a while.  I'm looking forward to going back out into the world once I regain my strength.  Haven't gone anywhere really since COVID began.

So I've been sleeping a ton.  And teaching a teenage girl how to reload ammunition and take care of babies.  Probably get back out into the garage and start working on my cars again. 

@Ruby Slippers  For your possum problem, all you need is a live trap ($20 at a farm store) and some eggs.  Possums love eggs more than anything else, and are not trap smart at all.  Live traps are easy to set, as there are no springs.  Just a pedal in the cage that causes the door to drop.  Possums aren't vicious, so you can just take him somewhere and let him go.  I actually had a possum as a pet for a few years.  If you get them really young, they're a lot like cats and you can litterbox train them 😉

Edited June 28, 2020 by major_merrick

[Cornholio12]

Silently sitting in the darkest corner of my room lost in thought contemplating the very meaning of life. 

[Angelle]

20 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

Conibear 110 trap is only about $5...

Problem solved.

You don't need to kill a possum. Or the squirrels.

I rescued a baby groundhog once. I actually hated to take it to a rehabber, but it needed help, not just to be released outside of the garden. That baby snuggled into my neck all day, though. The woman who took him, has several of them living with her as adults, because they couldn't be released (her name is Molly Ryan - she uses them to educate people on groundhogs). 

[Happy Lemming]

1 hour ago, Angelle said:

You don't need to kill a possum. Or the squirrels.

 

You do when they start chewing on the wiring of your car and house, or invade your attic and defecate/urinate all over the insulation.

They will also do damage to outside plants and shrubs.  Presently, I'm fighting with some ground squirrels that are destroying the roots of a large prickly pear cactus.

[Happy Lemming]

I went to the feed store this morning (put on my mask) and picked up 2 big bags of bird seed for my quails.

I got there right after they opened and was the only one in the store, which was GREAT!  In and out, social distanced and re-stocked my supply of wild bird seed.

When I got to the register the clerk said the seed was on sale, as well... so that was a WIN-WIN!!

[preraph]

I just love visiting feed stores but rarely have occasion to.  I used to buy bird seed there too but then I quit as they got bugs over there in everything, plus at home I got rats and can't really store it well anymore except in small quantities.  But the feed store I like, I love smelling the horse tack, because I miss it.  And it has bins right on the floor of dog treats so you can bring your dog and let them run up a bill.  

[Angelle]

1 hour ago, Happy Lemming said:

You do when they start chewing on the wiring of your car and house, or invade your attic and defecate/urinate all over the insulation.

They will also do damage to outside plants and shrubs.  Presently, I'm fighting with some ground squirrels that are destroying the roots of a large prickly pear cactus.

My parents raised a baby squirrel they found on the ground. We don't kill things around here, we re-locate them.

[Happy Lemming]

Just now, Angelle said:

We don't kill things around here, we re-locate them.

OK... no problem, come get them and you can re-locate them to where ever you want.

[skywriter]

What I'm doing these days?

Well, I'm gradually getting some work. I'm still trying to be available for my daughter, as she has needed me so that she can work.

I'm juggling taking care of my six year old grandson and also providing in home care giving. I do this privately, not for any big 

business or healthcare company. i have worked for an outreach ministry through the dept. of social services in the past. I'd rather work for myself, frankly. 

it was so weird, the woman found me through a conversation she had with a friend. She said, I was floundering desperately, trying to figure this out.I said something to a friend and they said, Oh you need, this woman I've heard of that provides care and is highly recommended, but I don't know her name , however I know where her boyfriend is employed. LOl! 

So she goes to my boyfriends job and they asked how they can help her and she tells them and they're looking at her strange like.Lol! They took her name and number and lucky for her start talking about it and my boyfriend just happens to hear and says oh they're looking for Skywriter!

I called her an goodness did she ever need me. I worked 27 hours straight with an hour of broken sleep. 

 

 

[Cornholio12]

Still leaning back against the darkest corner of my room in the bowels of hell. Grasping my pillow tightly. Crying myself to sleep.

[Ruby Slippers]

My birthday is coming up and I got a cute houseplant in the mail from a friend. She says a planter is also on the way.

I've always had a vision of my house with cute plants everywhere. Right now I have 7 of them, and I'm planning to add to the indoor garden. Yesterday I watched a few videos of houseplant tours. Some of these people have dozens of plants, even 100+.

I just took two clippings from existing plants and rearranged them all for better light exposure. Soon I might visit this awesome nursery in town and pick up a few more.

Edited June 29, 2020 by Ruby Slippers

[regine_phalange]

Annual leave during lockdown is...interesting. Got extra time for grownup things like financial documents etc.

(My employer asked everyone to take as many days as we can so we don't lose them. I got around 15 days left until  the end of September. Need to hurry! 😬)

[preraph]

4 hours ago, skywriter said:

What I'm doing these days?

Well, I'm gradually getting some work. I'm still trying to be available for my daughter, as she has needed me so that she can work.

I'm juggling taking care of my six year old grandson and also providing in home care giving. I do this privately, not for any big 

business or healthcare company. i have worked for an outreach ministry through the dept. of social services in the past. I'd rather work for myself, frankly. 

it was so weird, the woman found me through a conversation she had with a friend. She said, I was floundering desperately, trying to figure this out.I said something to a friend and they said, Oh you need, this woman I've heard of that provides care and is highly recommended, but I don't know her name , however I know where her boyfriend is employed. LOl! 

So she goes to my boyfriends job and they asked how they can help her and she tells them and they're looking at her strange like.Lol! They took her name and number and lucky for her start talking about it and my boyfriend just happens to hear and says oh they're looking for Skywriter!

I called her an goodness did she ever need me. I worked 27 hours straight with an hour of broken sleep. 

 

 

Thanks for what you do, Skywriter!  The world needs more people like you caring for those who need care.  You'd be my first choice and I'm not far from needing it, some days more than others!  It's not for everyone and it's hard and emotional work.

[preraph]

Funny thing.  I have copd in the form of chronic bronchitis and it's all up in my throat usually.  I'm always congested in my airway there and it's tight and some days more than others.  During this whole time of covid, it's been worse, real hard to cough up the phlegm so I can' breathe right.  I just have to drink lots of water and take guafenisen and work on my allergies and drainage to keep it to a minimum.  

 

So everyone hear about this Egyptian dust cloud that traveled over here and came up into the gulf and into the southern states?  I was dreading that, but it's come and gone -- and oddly, the last two days (right as it was leaving I guess) my chest is looser than it's been for 3 months.  Odd, huh?  

[Piddy]

On 6/27/2020 at 7:12 PM, Ruby Slippers said:

Thanks, Happy, but I'll leave it to the pro. His price is right for me not to have to handle any critters!

I just filed my tax return, knocked it out in one punch, getting $50 back, woo hoo! Yay, I'm glad that's done. Now I feel like I accomplished something this weekend so I can just have fun.

I use Tomahawk traps.  I trap stray cats and kittens and get them fixed and to a shelter.  Feral cats I just release them back after getting them fixed and feed them. When I first started trapping I'd leave the trap out all night and trapped possums and raccoons. 

Possums needed a little nudge to get going when I released them.  Raccoons hit the road quick. I know you probably don't want to do it yourself, but you can save a lot of money trapping unwanted critters yourself.  Once you do it it's a breeze.  Just don't trap any skunks. 🦨

[preraph]

I'm trying to trap a big rat right now and it set the trap off already and may be too big for it.  It's one of those cage traps with the hair trigger.  I think it's too big for my little rat catcher dog to be enthused about too, although it isn't very fast moving, so maybe...she's good at it but she developed a bad habit of barking instead of stalking after awhile 🙄

[Piddy]

2 minutes ago, preraph said:

I'm trying to trap a big rat right now and it set the trap off already and may be too big for it.  It's one of those cage traps with the hair trigger.  I think it's too big for my little rat catcher dog to be enthused about too, although it isn't very fast moving, so maybe...she's good at it but she developed a bad habit of barking instead of stalking after awhile 🙄

That must be a big rat. 🐀   

[preraph]

It looks big and matronly, if that's possible.  Like big, slow and healthy.  I hadn't had any for months because the neighbors use an exterminator.  I haul them off to a field. 

[Piddy]

10 minutes ago, preraph said:

It looks big and matronly, if that's possible.  Like big, slow and healthy.  I hadn't had any for months because the neighbors use an exterminator.  I haul them off to a field. 

Sounds like a Norway rat.  They're bigger than Roof rats also called Fruit rats (they like fruits and nuts).  She could be pregnant.   Roof rats are arboreal meaning they like to live above ground.  Many people here in Florida have Roof rats and may not know it.  They live in their attic and come out and eat at night.