Friday, August 17, 2012

Squirrels. I hate their guts!

             
                                                                     Catharsis

Res Ipsa Loquitor

I posted this 6-7 years ago,  and it's only gotten better with age.  From the wonderful Perry Bible Fellowship collection (winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize)


It was just in April that, of a sudden, my car's fuel line burst.  No, it wasn't Obama sabotage like I suspected (although if Dolphins can be trained to sink submarines, I guess squirrels ... .)  Anyway, the fuel line had been gnawed by squirrels, and it cost me over $100 to repair, not counting a tank of gas.  Guess what?  It just happened again, this time the bill was $125.67.  Squirrels. 

I asked the mechanic why the lines weren't made of something squirrel proof. 

Him:"you'd think so, wouldn't you? 
Me: You'd  think squirrels would hate the taste of gas in the first place.
Him: Maybe has something to do with the lines being made with a soy based compound
Me:  NO!
Him: Yes
Me:  Soy?  That's food.  WTF?
Him: Yes

He  recommended that I get the pellet gun out.  I told him that my squirrels are so spooked by my presence that they scamper as soon as I touch the window.  He tells me his partner Mike had the same problem, and got traps from the county.  He catches them and releases them a few miles away.

So what good does that do?  They probably come right back 

"No, he spray paints them day-glo yellow so he can recognize them if they do,"  Presumably the second time around they go into the Inter-Coastal waterway.

What I've done then is put rat killer pellets on a tarp under the car.  Before I drive off I pull the tarp out and cover it so other animals don't get it.  In the old days I could just kill them with a shotgun, and that in fact is what we all did.  Before we was all  pussey'd-up. 



18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, yes soy based products in modern vehicles...2,000+ damages on my Expedition 1,000 on my dad's Chevy p/u...Thanks Sierra Club! We have top build car corrals out of corrugated metal roofing to keep the pack rats and mice at bay. tomcat poison pellets zip tied under the hood attract them more that the soy coated wires... my son's 92 Bronco sets unmolested; good old fashioned plastic coated wires...

Anonymous said...

"Transported" 47 of the little bastards to the ritzy neighborhood near the river over the past 2 years. 6 miles away. Thought I was getting a handle on them because I seem to be catching fewer of them the past few months.

Nope. Sweetie was talking to the neighbor at the other end of the block when she walked the mutt the other night. Turns out he has the same "transporter" device I do and he's caught 40 of 'em since Spring.

Hate 'em. Think I'll take them to the Fish and Game access site from now on.

Anonymous said...

Dude, they're rats. Be a man and kill them.

Casca

Anonymous said...

I love Billlls (I hope I have enough "L"s to make him happy) squirrel trap. Check it out at http://billllsidlemind.blogspot.com/2010/05/squirrel-trap.html

Haven't used it yet, but it is an option if I move back to town. Right now the .22 works on rabbits and lots of poison on the other critters invading the house, plus a crapload of rodent traps in the basement.

Mike the EE

toadold said...

Well country squirrels are good eating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuTo8eQTYIA
My concern about city squirrels would be what they had been feeding on. I suppose you could capture them and fatten them up on corn or something. They might be best used as compost.

Anonymous said...

Put the meat on a skewer, powder it with paprika, then cook it over a grill and sell it at the county fair as monkey on a stick. Who's gonna know?

Casca

P.S. You can sell their tails too. They're very popular.

rickn8or said...

Rog, didn't you used to have a squirrel launcher on your deck?
I seem to remember something with bungee cords and a colander. Or maybe something like a clay pigeon thrower.

Anonymous said...

They do make big-ass rat traps. You could put them on trees and bait them with peanut butter....

Nah. Forget I said that.

jd

Anonymous said...

Boss, I'm think something more sinister is going on here, . . . .
I think Queen O'Malley has been lurking out there somewhere reading your comments. Juss sayin'

One word of advice for ya:

Fucking Claymore's!
[yea I know that's two words]

Geo

Rodger the Real King of France said...

The local word is that O'Malley thought he had a good chance to replace Biden, LOL, (For out-of-staters, MD's Gov. O'Malley is called the "White Obama")

Jess said...

Materials:
One rat trap
one 2" galvanized drywall screw
1 teaspoon peanut butter
Directions:

Start the drywall screw into the rat trap.
Place the rat trap latch down on the trunk of a tree and continue screwing until the trap is secure
Place peanut butter on the latch
Set trap and wait.

Rodger the Real King of France said...

rickn80r- I had forgotten this 2007 squirrel catapult!

Anonymous said...

My Minister had trouble with them at the church. We trapped 'em and baptised 'em. We only see them at Christmas and Easter now.
Tim

David said...

Five gallon bucket of water, six feet of 4 in dia plastic pipe standing upright in the bucket, Wipe some peanut butter on the inside of the pipe about the length of your forearm down inside the pipe, lean the whole thing up against your car so the top of the pipe is easily accessible. Empty regularly.

Kristophr said...

Fuck the automakers and their attempts to be politically correct:

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=steel+braided+fuel+line

You need a better mechanic, Rodge.

Anonymous said...

"The local word is that O'Malley thought he had a good chance to replace Biden, LOL" - The Boss

The O'MalPal proby did have a shot, up till you started bad mouthing him around here.

"He could've been a contender".

Geo

Rodger the Real King of France said...

were that I had a fraction of that influence Geo.

Cheesy said...

Scoped single pump 1000fps Winchester pellet rifle works well.

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