Rise of the Rodents

[onlinebiker]

First off - don' t bother trying to educate me on what is and what isn' t a rodent. For my purposes any goddamned furry critter that is invading my place is a rodent.

I have no idea of the cause - climate change - environmental contaminates or how Venus is lining up with Sagittarius - but holy shit......

We have more rabbits', squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks and muskrats than I have EVER seen in this area.

I' ve shot 6 woodchucks trying to den under our barns and garages - trapped a couple - and just got one this morning with a counterbearing trap - burrowing under the foundation of our house under the bathroom....

Totally unacceptable.... If allowed this can weaken the foundations and in the house - cause pipes to freeze under the house.

I guess it' s time to break out the 22 and go on a Rodent Jihad....

Allah Akarodent..

[brewer]

How many did you eat?

[onlinebiker]

The vultures and coyotes are well fed.
...

And I don' t eat the mice I catch in a trap or eat the bugs I whack......

There' s limits....

[arewethereyet]

We also have more rabbits and squirrels this year. Luckily the opossum that used to scare the crap out of husband most mornings by wobbling out from under his truck has found a new place to live.

We have a lot more songbirds too. The weather is ramping up to normal hot-as-hell temps after allowing us a pretty decent July so far - actually the coolest July since we moved here.

But still with the damn little toads...they are everywhere. I scoop them from the pool, they have made it into the house, husband sees a bunch of them when he mows or weed eats. I used to see maybe one a year now there are dozens every day.

Weird weather and wildlife this year.

[onlinebiker]

Oh yeah - frogs... We have a surplus of those... Lots of leopard frogs - even by the house... They' re thick by the pond... I try not to kill any when mowing..... Tough to do... Some just won' t get out of the way...

And... Because I didn't cut the milkweed patch north of my hunting blind - we have a fair number of Monarch butterflies...

[zwanzig]

Agree. Tons of rabbits all over the property. Every morning we startle one from the front yard when Colby and I set out for our morning walk. 

We've been seeing lots of groundhogs too. In broad daylight. Gonna have to get my gun out and shoot a couple too.

---

@arewethereyet Funny you mention weird weather. July has been awful with the thunder and lightning storms. Back on the 7 or 8th, we had a huge lightning storm, flashing repetitively and booming over the house for hours nonstop all through the night. Knocked the power out for about two days. Ever since then, at least once a day the sky will rumble, or on a sunny day then at night, we get more paparazzi in the sky. Thankfully the power hasn't gone again.

But yes, hard agree to strange July weather.

[arewethereyet]

Oh yeah - frogs... We have a surplus of those... Lots of leopard frogs - even by the house... They' re thick by the pond... I try not to kill any when mowing..... Tough to do... Some just won' t get out of the way...

And... Because I didn't cut the milkweed patch nort of my hunting blind - we have a fair number of Monarch butterflies...

Husband does the best that he can to miss them (toads) with implements of destruction but most are the size of one of my fingernails so it's a little tricky to mow or weed eat around them.

[brewer]

The vultures and coyotes are well fed.
...

And I don' t eat the mice I catch in a trap or eat the bugs I whack......

There' s limits....

You're missing out. Chucks are yummy.

https://www.realtree.com/timber-2-table-...sandwiches

[onlinebiker]

Probably not after they have been squished in a counterbearing trap for two days in 88 degree heat....

[Ranjr]

We have normal rabbit, squirrel and chipmunk activity here.  The doe with fawn grazes on the ivy covering the hill down to the water.  Same as last year.

What's different is the lack of birds with color.  Fewer cardinal, no goldfinch, red house finch or eastern bluebird.  The bird bath is sad.  Hummingbird wars continue.  Waterfowl appear the same.  

The temperatures are around normal but the humidity is crazy.  Yesterday is was 92 with an index of 102.  It stormed overnight.  We've had 5.3" of rain this month.  3.2" is normal.  I didn't expect so much gulf influence here in the hills.