It is finally Fall, wonder of wonders, and all of nature is settling into a new routine. For some reason, a large amount of it has found its way into our house.
1.) I woke up a few days ago to this little fellow trapped in my bathtub.
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The little guy was jumping frantically, trying to get out. He could almost reach the top when he jumped, so I felt like it was only a matter of time before he managed to get lucky and scramble out.
I ended up trapping him under a steel bowl and sliding a binder underneath,
then setting him free outside.
We've been killing MULTIPLE mice with mouse traps lately. Last night, Chris and I found the mouse hole where they'd been coming in and sealed it up with steel wool and foam sealant, so hopefully that's the last of them for a little while.
2.) Did you know some praying mantises can fly?
We found that out one night when we noticed one hanging out on our stove, then it randomly flew onto a picture hanging on the wall.
This is what we get for using the screen door in the evening, I guess. All sorts of bugs are attracted to the light inside the house, and find their way in and around the screen.
3.) Someone gave us two dead pigs.
When you live in the country, dealing with feral hogs can be a serious pain in the neck. Left alone, they breed like crazy, compete with native wildlife for food and resources, and have even been known to attack and kill ranchers' cattle. They have long, sharp tusks and can be incredibly mean and aggressive-- if you see a feral hog and you don't have a gun, you need to get away from it as quietly and as quickly as you can.
Because they're such a dangerous destructive force and an invasive species, there's no hunting limit or season on them-- you can shoot as many as you want, whenever you want.
Now, the big old ones (which can reach several hundred pounds) are gamy, tough, nasty, and not good for much other than bragging rights for taking one down.
Below about 100 lbs though, and they can be some pretty good eating.
A friend of ours ended up with two 50 lb ones cleared from a nearby ranch, and asked if we wanted them. We said yes.
When they arrived here, iced, in a massive cooler, they had been beheaded, gutted, and the feet were removed, but all skinning and butchering had yet to be done. The guy who brought the pigs over very generously stayed to teach us how to process them.
So Chris and our friend strung them up in a tree and skinned and cut them up, tossing the pieces in a cooler.
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| This is one pig's worth of meat. |
They brought in the first one so I could put it away while they worked on the second one. I cut it into even smaller pieces, then bagged it up in freezer bags and saved bread bags and put it all into our chest freezer. Then Chris came in and bagged up the second one while I wrangled kids and got dinner on.
It was a lot of work, but we don't have to buy meat for at least a couple months.
4.) We have a rat problem.
We've had a rat problem off and on for awhile now. Things get more intense in cooler weather - they always want food, but once the temperatures start to fall they start looking for shelter as well. As it turns out, between the insulation and the flooring under the house, alongside the A/C ducts, is prime rat real estate. There have been nights where it's hard to fall asleep because I can hear them scurrying around.
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| "I have found the perfect lair! And the Dog and Chicken food will be forever MINE!!! MWA HA HA HA!!" |
So Chris found this nifty dunk a rat trap online, via this guy who has a YouTube channel devoted totally to mouse and rat traps.
We currently have it set up off of our back porch over an old rain barrel, baited with leftover Laffy Taffy from the homecoming parade.
Stay tuned for updates.
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It's been a bit of a zoo around here lately, but then again, when has it not?
Find this (well...last week's, I linked a bit late) week's quick takes here.
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