Over the years, we've had our occasional run in with a variety of pests in and around our home. We expect it, I guess, as there are so few natural predators to control the population. I really believe, these animals only need our intervention when they are destructive or a serious nuisance to our lives.
Cases in Point:
1.) Chipmunks. If you are a regular reader, you'll recall my battles with the chipmunks last summer. After those little ones tore up my deck herb garden a few too many times, I declared war on these furry creatures. I think I finally won that battle, as fourteen chipmunks were successfully relocated from our property. This summer we are at only three. But that could be because of our next problem animal. The Raccoon.
2.) Raccoons. Last summer we planted a nice plot of sweet corn in our garden. Raccoons are pretty smart animals, as they waited until the corn was at it's best, then in one night, demolished the entire crop. It was difficult to wake up to, and even Thinker who saw it had tears brimming in her eyes over it. Raccoons too have found our chipmunk trap and confiscate daily the sunflower seeds we use as bait. They too, find their way into our outdoor garbage cans and make a crazy mess out there.
3.) Mice. For the past few years, the autumn weather has always brought a few mice to squeeze their way into the house, normally just under my kitchen sink along the pipes. Some years, our mice traps have captured entire families of mice, and my Carefree Knight, so fearless, has been my hero in removing each of these little pests from my sight. Thankfully, this year, HH has found the problem areas in our basement, and has plugged those holes...so far....no mice.
4.) Moles, Foxes and Possums. These have been far less destructive, however providing interesting 'discovery center' type science lessons during the summer months. We learned Moles are pretty blind with big claws, foxes have bright orange fur and like to play with possums.
5.) THE MYSTERY DUNG CREATURE. For about three years now, I've swept daily, a pile of excrement on my front porch. Every summer we try something new, as this same animal returns to the exact spot on my front porch to make their mark. We've lined the concrete with mouse traps, and even live animal traps. We've bought coyote urine to mark each corner of the porch, in hopes the smell of a predator would get them to leave. We've placed pest poison on the porch, and it got eaten, by what we don't know.
Last summer, HH commented jokingly that perhaps we need to put up a small camera on the front porch, as each and every night this animal comes to leave their poo. We didn't do it last year, as our investment in traps, urine and poison...well, I guess we thought we were getting a bit neurotic about it, and a camera just might put us over the edge.
This brings us to this summer. Once again, I am sweeping the daily deposits off my porch, even washing the desired spot in hopes to remove the smell so the animal couldn't find their way back. No luck.
You guessed it, the decision was made to buy a small camera that would activate upon movement on our porch. A week ago, it was hung and pointed at the exact spot we find the piles of dung. Each morning I'd rush to my computer screen and see the most recent video, which would show moths flying in and out, small bugs roaming about, birds and even cats and some dogs made an appearance....and yes, just like clock work, our piles of poo seemed to magically appear, as if from thin air.
This animal had to be a super slow mover or super fast mover to not even be captured on the night camera. HH changed the sensitivity on the camera to hopefully capture the pesky animal which has alluded us for three years now. It became a challenge. We will conquer you! We are smarter than you! I was convinced it was a bird, however HH knew this type of poo was quite different than your normal white, watery substances we find on cars and bushes.
After the sensitivity was increased, we finally saw exactly how each little drop of poo found it's way onto my porch. It FELL! On camera video we saw these little drops of excrement falling in slow motion.
Next step? Move the camera to focus on the overhang directly above the pile of dung. We would capture on film, exactly what we have been battling for so long......
I guess, we should have known it, we should have thought of it ourselves, but with the number and variety of pests we have dealt with, we just couldn't imagine a new kind of species infiltrating our home.
(Now you can imagine just how thrilled I am to have figured out how to convert these video files from this overnight-motion-sensitive camera to a file you can actually see on blogger!!)
Little Brown Bat. Now, I am in a conundrum. Bats will consume hundreds, possibly thousands of insects each day, controlling the mosquito population for us. Most people actually build bat houses, in order to attract these little bats to their yard in order to protect their gardens from pesky insects. What to to do. Simply sweep the poo daily, for another five or so years, as I've read they live quite a while, or somehow remove the bat, or modify our porch overhang?
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While we feel a slight victory in actually figuring out what the animal is, even staying up all hours of the night to keep watch, take pictures and video, the real victory will be when I don't have to clean up after this so-inconsiderate-animal each and every morning.
Aaaah, the adventures in pest control, it's a chore, but always interesting, always a bit of 'discovery center' and science class all rolled into one.
Cases in Point:
1.) Chipmunks. If you are a regular reader, you'll recall my battles with the chipmunks last summer. After those little ones tore up my deck herb garden a few too many times, I declared war on these furry creatures. I think I finally won that battle, as fourteen chipmunks were successfully relocated from our property. This summer we are at only three. But that could be because of our next problem animal. The Raccoon.
2.) Raccoons. Last summer we planted a nice plot of sweet corn in our garden. Raccoons are pretty smart animals, as they waited until the corn was at it's best, then in one night, demolished the entire crop. It was difficult to wake up to, and even Thinker who saw it had tears brimming in her eyes over it. Raccoons too have found our chipmunk trap and confiscate daily the sunflower seeds we use as bait. They too, find their way into our outdoor garbage cans and make a crazy mess out there.
3.) Mice. For the past few years, the autumn weather has always brought a few mice to squeeze their way into the house, normally just under my kitchen sink along the pipes. Some years, our mice traps have captured entire families of mice, and my Carefree Knight, so fearless, has been my hero in removing each of these little pests from my sight. Thankfully, this year, HH has found the problem areas in our basement, and has plugged those holes...so far....no mice.
4.) Moles, Foxes and Possums. These have been far less destructive, however providing interesting 'discovery center' type science lessons during the summer months. We learned Moles are pretty blind with big claws, foxes have bright orange fur and like to play with possums.
5.) THE MYSTERY DUNG CREATURE. For about three years now, I've swept daily, a pile of excrement on my front porch. Every summer we try something new, as this same animal returns to the exact spot on my front porch to make their mark. We've lined the concrete with mouse traps, and even live animal traps. We've bought coyote urine to mark each corner of the porch, in hopes the smell of a predator would get them to leave. We've placed pest poison on the porch, and it got eaten, by what we don't know.
Last summer, HH commented jokingly that perhaps we need to put up a small camera on the front porch, as each and every night this animal comes to leave their poo. We didn't do it last year, as our investment in traps, urine and poison...well, I guess we thought we were getting a bit neurotic about it, and a camera just might put us over the edge.
This brings us to this summer. Once again, I am sweeping the daily deposits off my porch, even washing the desired spot in hopes to remove the smell so the animal couldn't find their way back. No luck.
You guessed it, the decision was made to buy a small camera that would activate upon movement on our porch. A week ago, it was hung and pointed at the exact spot we find the piles of dung. Each morning I'd rush to my computer screen and see the most recent video, which would show moths flying in and out, small bugs roaming about, birds and even cats and some dogs made an appearance....and yes, just like clock work, our piles of poo seemed to magically appear, as if from thin air.
This animal had to be a super slow mover or super fast mover to not even be captured on the night camera. HH changed the sensitivity on the camera to hopefully capture the pesky animal which has alluded us for three years now. It became a challenge. We will conquer you! We are smarter than you! I was convinced it was a bird, however HH knew this type of poo was quite different than your normal white, watery substances we find on cars and bushes.
After the sensitivity was increased, we finally saw exactly how each little drop of poo found it's way onto my porch. It FELL! On camera video we saw these little drops of excrement falling in slow motion.
Next step? Move the camera to focus on the overhang directly above the pile of dung. We would capture on film, exactly what we have been battling for so long......
I guess, we should have known it, we should have thought of it ourselves, but with the number and variety of pests we have dealt with, we just couldn't imagine a new kind of species infiltrating our home.
(Now you can imagine just how thrilled I am to have figured out how to convert these video files from this overnight-motion-sensitive camera to a file you can actually see on blogger!!)
Little Brown Bat. Now, I am in a conundrum. Bats will consume hundreds, possibly thousands of insects each day, controlling the mosquito population for us. Most people actually build bat houses, in order to attract these little bats to their yard in order to protect their gardens from pesky insects. What to to do. Simply sweep the poo daily, for another five or so years, as I've read they live quite a while, or somehow remove the bat, or modify our porch overhang?
While we feel a slight victory in actually figuring out what the animal is, even staying up all hours of the night to keep watch, take pictures and video, the real victory will be when I don't have to clean up after this so-inconsiderate-animal each and every morning.
Aaaah, the adventures in pest control, it's a chore, but always interesting, always a bit of 'discovery center' and science class all rolled into one.
Comments
And my kids would love your mission to find the bat...it smacks of the "Finding Big Foot" show they've been watching on Animal Planet. (Awful stuff, that show...but so funny--and not supposed to be)