| Author |
 Topic  |
|
pitta
head gardener
Australia
1209 Posts |
 Posted - 11/01/2009 : 13:55:19
|
Story by Faye . Posted by Pitta.
Sleepy Sunday - Rat Extract
So it's 7am Sunday - no sleeping in this morning. Up bright and early, let the dogs out. See the wet ground - some rain in the night - not enough yet - but - it's a start! Satellite web shows it's heading this way. The ground waits.
Bring the bin in - a day late - passing the shed - think I'll investigate the odour - the car has had a slight pong coming through the air vents -thinking of native rat or marsupial mice. Get trusty rat terrier and open bonnet. Phew what a stench!
Searching, searching ... nothing but the smell. Spot a hanging tube from window washer - eyes track to left - a decomposing rat head protrudes through a small metal hole in the bonnet. Maggots make it move a little - spooky - and very very malodorous.
Almost hurl breakfast. Close bonnet. Drive to house. Prepare for extraction.
Eucalyptus oil, rags, plastic gloves, rubbish bags, chux cloth torn in strips, face mask and various surgical tools. Leave squeamishness inside. Soak mask in eucalyptus. Approach vehicle. Go inside for a drink of water. re-approach vehicle with determination. Attempt whole removal. Unsuccessful! To decomposed. Breaks apart! Yuk! Remove in bits. Use tools to probe and remove all - hopefully. Maggots escape - retrieve and bag. So glad mask is working. Go inside to get insect spray as flies are massing. Kill all flies!
Remove the carcass to other side of block and discard. Return to smelly car. Soak chux wick in eucalyptus oil. Insert in hole and pack as deeply as possible. Pull out with attached rat fur and various bits. Insert more wicks until all emerge free of debris. Put in a final wick and leave in situ. Will remove pro tem.
Mission accomplished.
Is it time for breakfast?
If you want to live and thrive, let the spider run alive.
Gwen
Cooktown
|
|
|
The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2009 : 14:28:02
|
 what a way to start the day off LOL
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
 |
|
|
Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2009 : 15:15:59
|
Who wants breakfast after that?
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
|
|
|
Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10810 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2009 : 16:03:09
|
Yuck I would not be able to eat either..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
|
|
|
The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2009 : 16:04:08
|
Fricassee rat on toast 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
|
|
|
Betty
assistant gardener
Australia
159 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2009 : 16:28:33
|
| I really don't think I could have done that. Eeewwww, YUK!! |
|
|
|
Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2009 : 19:06:36
|
YOu need my help. Having NO sense of smell has its advantages (I lost the part of the brain dealing with smell in a brain haemorrhage 5 years ago). I have encountered a dead rat in a garden shed and removed it with no probs although there were no maggots.
But I am sure in my old days, with smell, I would have been equally revolted.
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
|
|
|
otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2009 : 11:59:23
|
oh that's gross faye, the only thing worse than a dead rat (apart from a live rat that is ) is a dead rat with maggots! yuk
a few months ago I was standing in the kitchen and I heard a clunk in the ceiling exhaust fan and it stopped for a second and started up again. I thought what the heck was that, then a few seconds later I heard a rat coming out under the roof tiles of the back room squealing its head off. It must have stuck it's head in the fan. I sort of felt sorry for it but not too much being a rat and all. I hate them. |
|
|
|
tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2009 : 16:58:29
|
oh ota. i simply can't abide animal suffering...even a rat's. that's a sad story.
faye's story, on the other hand, i found rivetting. i couldn't put it down. what a great new emerging author.
what?
you mean it was real?
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
|
|
|
otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2009 : 19:48:31
|
It was sad but I cant afford to feel sorry for them, our place has been overrun with them since we moved here and everyone in the immediate area has the same problem. We find rats nests all over the place and we cant get rid of them out of the ceiling, you even see them walking around in the middle of the day which is apparently a sign of a large population when they do that (not to mention that it's just plain creepy to see them wandering around).
They also climb into the pipes sometimes and get stuck and die, they block up the plumbing and the smell is horrendous and I get sick of repairing things they've chewed holes in. Every person who has been in my roofspace tells me about the rat poo up there which grosses me out no end. Nope I just cant afford to feel sorry for them, I did feel bad for the rat sticking his head in the fan but then I would have been happier if it wasnt up in the ceiling at all 
If I felt sorry for them at all we would have a much bigger problem than we do and I would just have to move and let the rats take over  |
|
|
|
medburygardens
gardener
New Zealand
639 Posts |
Posted - 26/01/2009 : 03:10:40
|
Thanks for the chuckle pitta,one worse smell is going sea fishing and leaving fish bait in the boot for three weeks
As for rats,hate them ,our four cats and one dog do a great job at keeping numbers down  |
|
|
|
tessa
head gardener
Australia
3682 Posts |
Posted - 26/01/2009 : 08:18:32
|
ota...go to your council and see if they provide free baits.
mine does...and they are really good.
cranky people live longer. i'm going to live forever! perth, wa |
|
|
|
otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 26/01/2009 : 09:36:15
|
our council doesnt supply baits. which ones does your council give out? are they the wax block type ones? we've used heaps of those in the roof but I think once the population gets out of control in an area they are just breeding too quickly to get them under control again. no sooner are one lot gone and another lot just move in. 
medbury maybe I need to get a heap of cats LOL |
|
|
|
Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10810 Posts |
Posted - 26/01/2009 : 10:36:22
|
Ota do you know where they are getting in, if so is it possible to block it up..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
|
|
|
Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 26/01/2009 : 10:54:26
|
Ota, mice and rats don't like the smell of camphor so throw a few blocks around in your ceiling regularly... it is also cheap. It worked for us before Charlie the carpet python moved in. Whenever we heard the patter of little feet we would chuck some camphor around up there and we wouldn't hear them again for a few months... which reminded us to throw more around.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
|
|
|
otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 26/01/2009 : 13:26:07
|
ma when we moved here the eaves on the back of the house were open for ventilation, and one of the first things we did was seal them up and went right around the roof to make sure there were no gaps thinking it would keep them out. after we did that they just started pushing their way under the edge of the tiles to squeeze through, you can hear them going in and out at night because you hear the tiles shifting.
where do I get camphor and what does it look like gail? is it flakes or blocks, geez I wish I had a carpet python in my roof! I could set him free in the garden to take care of the ones out there too. we used to have a hawk hanging around picking a few off but I think it got scared off with some development going on around here. I havent seen him in ages. I am so careful that they dont get access to the compost etc, I spend all summer going up and down a ladder to get the pomegranates off the tree or else it turns into a rat fest up there but they seem to eat anything. Ive even seen them outside the window at night digging in the garden beds and eating I dont know, grubs or worms or something. |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
Extract a Rat