This post is as much a heads up that I may be out of the picture for a few days longer than normal. Harmonica Joe is coming to visit!
The Rat Pack (2 dogs, 2 cats and I) went on a photo mission last Sunday. The goal: come home with photos of pack rat nests. These critters are elusive unless you find them floating in a tub of water but their nests can normally be found everywhere out here in the desert. Not this Sunday however. The five of us hiked a half mile down the road but found nothing. I had one chance left and that was under the mammoth boulder right behind the barn, the very one which bested the Cat D8R last Fall.
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This is when I discovered that both ditzy Daisy and Brou love to have their photo taken. I squatted down on my haunches to take a photo of the rat nest filling the crevice under the boulder and both dogs immediately filled the view finder. The real target is between their feet..
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Above is what I was really after. You can see a tightly woven collection of twigs and debris to the left of Daisy's tail. This is your basic pack rat home.As Slim will attest, pack rats do love to abscond with shiny items. He has yet to find the key to his Bobcat after laying it down on a salt block in his tack room. He disassembled the huge twig nest in one corner of the room but never found the key. Must have been a visiting pack rat who took the key home with him.
This is not just an impromptu desert nature tour here. I am going somewhere with all this so hold these thoughts and don't wander off on me, okay?
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I have been receiving some abuse lately for not exercising my truck. No one can accuse me of leaving my little carbon prints all over the place needlessly, that is for sure. Admittedly, the last time I used my truck was probably to chase a renegade cow off our pastures last summer. Now that I think of it, this mission is what prompted Mark to see if the truck still fired up last week - cow chasing!!!.
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From inside the Rat, I heard that loud tick, tick, tick and then nothing. Dead battery. Not good. But it's funny how some things that appear to be not good at the onset turn out to be blessings.
Mark's first natural inclination was to remove the battery and bring it over for a recharge. The next loud exclamation I heard was "Ohmigawd! Hey, you have to see this!" I got a premonition of what he had found and grabbed the cameras on the way out the door.
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Just as I had suspected! Some pack rat had decided that this long stationary truck would make an ideal home - off the ground and rain-proof. What a mess ... what a rat's nest!While I am no where near as vehicle fussy as I used to be, I was completely aghast at what this ... this ... little ... creature ... had done to my lovely red Dakota!
Mark and I simultaneously exclaimed that it was a very good thing that the truck hadn't started up, what with all that dry compost to jam belts and ignite.
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While Mark trotted the battery over to the shed, I began grabbing handfuls of sage and chico brush out of the compartment. Who, I mean WHO would have thought that a pack rat would also drag in prickly pear cactus parts?!? I held my stinging hand up to the light to see the fine, hair-like needles which added to the fair-haired fuzz already there. Mark and I have had to deal with this misery before and I wasn't looking forward to myopically tweezing away at these needles, only to have them break off flush with the skin as usual. I cannot understand the nature of such a frail structure which is strong enough to penetrate calloused skin yet has absolutely no side-to-side strength. I suppose it is this quirky survival skill which makes them ever so memorable to anything which dares disturb them. But why a pack rat would be granted immunity to upholster his/her nest with them is even more of a mystery..
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I threw a pair of leather work gloves over to Mark and retreated to find the tweezers and work for the next half hour, using the long, hard rays of the afternoon sun as very necessary back-lighting.Moral to this story? If you're not going to use a vehicle out here, at least start it up every couple of weeks and park it somewhere else - keeps the pack rats wondering where their perfect condo went. And DON'T leave your keys around!
Now remember, please, I might be gone longer than normal this week, okay?
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27 comments:
Aiiieee. It's a great good thing your battery WAS dead. What a mess... and I hope the teeny-tiny needles came out successfully.
Remind me to tell you the detailed story about my brother's cat who found a nice warm spot to have a snooze. Unfortunately his truck DID start up but the cat lived for another 12 years even though it walked funny.
Working as a technician, I found many, many interesting things under hoods. Leaving aside the never ending imagination of a man who thinks he can outsmart all the engineers in Detroit, mother nature herself likes to comment with fickle abandon.
The single incident that trumps all others... a small GM car was brought to the shop, running terribly. The vehicle owner had left his home about ten miles away, found the car running poorly, and come straight to us. Lifting the hood I found a very alive and VERY ANGRY woodchuck.
I backed the car out to the field and let him leave under his own power. I've seen woodchucks seriously wound dogs.
The beast had gnawed wiring and hoses, which was why it had run poorly. The unusual smell was from marmot hair burned to the exhaust manifold.
Did I mention it was a seriously pissed off woodchuck?
Absolutely hilarious! Here's an answer. Lots and lots of wild cats to eat the rats. Only don't parkk the warm truck outside and then come out and start the thing up without shakin' the cats out of it. They don't leave quite the mess the rat left. Absolutely hilarious. What a mess.
I feel for you. I took my Kia to the garage this week and while it was there, they opened the hood. They took out three big handfuls of hay and insulation that we had in the garage.
At least they didn't chew my wires this time:)
Hi Lin. I'm having another thought now (No smart cracks please.)
It is entirely possible you might have a job for yourself (You know how how I feel about your profile). Now let me figure out how to advertise your cotton-pickin', er, fuzz pickin', er, nettle pickin', oh, whatever.
But I'm sure you're not the only one who who forgets about the prickly pears. ( I am NOT admitting to anything, either.)
Holy crap! At least you didn't get a face-ful of angry packrat when you opened the hood!
I've had squirrels pull a similar number on me, but cleanup was much easier.
Enjoy your visitors. Who knows? Maybe one day you could say Mr. and Mrs. Craver dropped by... just not in the dead of winter.
The pack rat left he nest and the needles so you would get the point. And I think you did. LOL
Hope you check the INCOMING AIR-vents REAL good, before you crank-up the blower!
Although by now, you've probably already found that out, since the fan comes on with the key---D'-OH!!!
Never had anything like that, even living on a farm at one point. Did open the vent of my Cessna 172 once on final to have a small crowd of pissed off bees come out.
Not my best landing.
Jeez, they really went to town in there didnt they. Regular old rat town actually.
Buck, I have never been so grateful after the fact to find a dead battery!
Right AFTER the cactus needle event, I received an e-mail tip about applying Elmer's glue to splinters and then pulling the glue blob off after it has dried. The splinter supposedly comes out with it. Worth a try on these needles although I must be getting better since I had no residual, festering torments this time - yay!
Babzy, that cat in the warm engine compartment thing has always been one of my concerns. It's definitely another reason why I don't mind keeping the cats inside 99.9% of the time since we moved here. Peace of mind is good!
Oh, my word, Carteach! After having been through groundhogs wars myself, I'd say you are a VERY wise man for letting the thing leave on its own volition! My old dog friend once backed out of a tight spot in the barn, wearing a large woodchuck like a pendant from her throat ruff. If she hadn't been so densely woolly under her neck, that thing would have ripped out her juggler. Luckily the thing noticed the rage in my eyes, let go and retreated. NASTY little creatures.
My buddy Sarge tells a hilarious 'watch this' story about an airbase woodchuck, a bet and a bunch of stitches.
FHB, I don't know if I could stand the attrition rate of barn cats out here though. Between coyotes, bobcats, hawks and eagles, they face more predators than a political candidate. Boils down to me having to be more proactive about using my truck, I guess.
Goddess! You should consider putting some D-Con around the garage before they get into your wiring again. You wouldn't believe how many boxes of the stuff I went through in the moving trailer ... and how many mouse corpses I found in the dresser drawers (they LOVE the pricier lingerie, by the way ... grrrr).
Cat, I wouldn't say a thing about your thoughts. The occasional thought is a very good thing in my estimation - I'd like to do more of it myself some day but only as a mild hobby.
I like your idea of cactus needle remediation as an itinerant career. Thing is, like restoring antiques, people would probably only call you AFTER they have tried and made the situation worse and irreparable.
Christina, you know, that thought had crossed my mind as I dug into the debris ... VERY gingerly. I was hoping that all that loud clicking had sent the rat scurrying away long before that point. But still, who wants to deal with a rodent with a bad attitude?
Oh, don't get me going on squirrels, Craver! The rewiring jobs they have forced me into the the damage to stored antique projects ... grrrr! So glad they didn't do more damage to your stuff. Don't ever let them get comfortable!
Moose Ouch ... I got his point all right. Hopefully he won't be able to do it a second time!
Bruno, thanks for that idea. Mark didn't say anything about getting hit by vent crud but maybe the fan motor was on 'off' at the time or it didn't have enough juice to really blow things in. I will certainly check that out before getting too comfortable in the cab. Thank you for reminding me - I need all the reminders I can get these days!
Oh gross, LinM!!! I would almost rather have a groundhog come shooting out of a vent than a bunch of annoyed flying stingies! And it had to happen during a landing ... wasn't that just lovely.
Snort ... Alex, that really was a sort of Rat Town II, wasn't it? Guess I can't blame him for feeling at home then.
eek! Freaky, using cactus for bedding material. Maybe he was a stuntman pack rat, sleeping on a bed of nails to impress the chicks.
EWWW!! I hate rats. And mice, and other rodents. They get into the tractors and pickups and chew up wires, too.
Sorry I haven't stuck my nose in here for a while. It's been crazy around my place! LOL!
Jenny, yes, I bet you would have that same problem with rodents in the machinery!
I was wondering what happened to you but I figured that with calving and now branding season, it might be a while before you were able to break loose again.
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