New Boat 4 Sled

[BobJ]

Up here in Solano county we don't mess around.

[Philpott]

So ... wait! Synthia, you suggest that the mice won't bother to be trapped until it becomes a sporting event for them? And, Bob! Where DO you find these photos? Every one is a keeper. Is that the starting gun for yacht clubs along the Carquinez Strait?

[BobJ]

Is that the starting gun for yacht clubs along the Carquinez Strait?

That too. Most skippers here are hard-of-hearing so horns don't do it (nor does yelling "Starboard!") It's the wild, wild west.

[sleddog]

Rats voyaging inter island have been an environmental disaster since Day 1 of Polynesian voyaging. Even remote Easter Island was not immune, rats causing the demise of civilization by deforestation of 16 million palm trees by eating their seeds leaving a barren landscape and no means for locals to build boats or fish for porpoise, their main diet...

I found a rat on the 47 foot Paul Whiting cutter SHANACHIE. TJ's Super Premium, French Vanilla Ice Cream with pomegranate arils for first correct guess where. Guesses limited to two.

1) In the spinnaker pole.
2) Under the maststep.
3) Under the anchor chain pile in the forepeak.
4) On the masthead.
5) Wedged in the cockpit thru-hull drain
6) In the binnacle.
7) In the empty bino case.

Guess quick before Ants gets back from Death Valley.

[AntsUiga]

Rats voyaging inter island have been an environmental disaster since Day 1 of Polynesian voyaging. Even remote Easter Island was not immune, rats causing the demise of civilization by deforestation of 16 million palm trees by eating their seeds leaving a barren landscape and no means for locals to build boats or fish for porpoise, their main diet...

I found a rat on the 47 foot Paul Whiting cutter SHANACHIE. TJ's Super Premium, French Vanilla Ice Cream with pomegranate arils for first correct guess where. Guesses limited to two.

1) In the spinnaker pole.
2) Under the maststep.
3) Under the anchor chain pile in the forepeak.
4) On the masthead.
5) Wedged in the cockpit thru-hull drain
6) In the binnacle.
7) In the empty bino case.

Guess quick before Ants gets back from Death Valley.

Well, Ants has returned after a delightful Death Valley 1/2 marathon and visit. The missus beat my time by 30 minutes.

My guess is the empty bino case.

As for mouse traps, the Eyrie approach has been reinforced by mouse experience in the Adirondacks. Any rotating container with peanut butter wired to the top of a 5 gallon bucket will do. Fill the bucket half full of water. The mice go for the peanut butter without log rolling spikes, so the mice fall into water and drown. A good extermination night may leave 3-6 dead mice depending on the resident population.

As for pest control in Bodfish, I started a count when I purchased the property in 2002. The gopher count, using mechanical gopher traps, is 493. I was hoping for 500 on 2022, but 2023 will hit that milestone and keep going.

Similar to the counts on Sleddog’s post, the interest and topics just continue. (7 million coming soon)

Cheers,
Ants

[sleddog]

Well, Ants has returned after a delightful Death Valley 1/2 marathon and visit. The missus beat my time by 30 minutes. My guess is the empty bino case. Cheers,Ants

Congrats on your and Marsha's 1/2 marathon!!!

Sorry, the answer is not rat in bino case. But you and anyone else can guess again. This is not "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!"

[Critter]

#5, cockpit drain.

Lots of mice here in the desert. Synthia's trap reminds me of a couple that we've built, following a design that Rebecca found on YouTube. It uses the same half-liter water bottle baited with peanut butter, but there's a wire poked laterally through, just above the middle, as a pivot. The wire is bent down and attached to a wooden base, then up again to hold a small piece of cardboard that blocks the mouth of the bottle when it's tipped down. Normally the mouth is upward at a 15 to 30 degree angle, and the mouse can get in. But if he tries to leave, the bottle tips down and his exit is blocked. The only flaw -- I assume this applies to Synthia's version also -- is that it's extremely difficult to convince the traumatized mouse to leave through the narrow mouth when we've chauffered him to greener pastures.

[Intermission]

I guess 3) anchor chain.

[Dazzler]

#5 Wedged in the cockpit thru-hull drain. Not too surprising.

OOPS!! Looks like Mr. Critter (Max) already guessed that. So I second his guess based on my own experience.

[Dazzler]

As for pest control in Bodfish, I started a count when I purchased the property in 2002. The gopher count, using mechanical gopher traps, is 493. I was hoping for 500 on 2022, but 2023 will hit that milestone and keep going.

Ants,
First, congratulations on your Half-Marathon! Well done. It’s too late for my knees and hips to even consider such endeavors.

I’m very impressed with your gopher count. When I was about 10 years old, I was a gopher bounty hunter. Armed with two mechanical traps, I caught gophers for our neighbors for 50 cents each. It was a good business. So I’m not sure what 50 cents each translates to in todays $$, but it seems to me you’ve earned yourself a significant reward.