We have an unwanted tenant apparently

[Clipper]

Kathy is freaking out. She is deathly afraid of mice or rats. When she was a kid they lived in a house next to the mill on Whitesboro St. The mill had rats so they were constantly fighting rodents. She was in the cellar one day doing laundry and a rat ran across the top of her foot. Ever since then she is absolutely petrified of any kind of rodent getting into the house.

This morning she was getting a plastic tote of Christmas wrapping supplies out of a storage closet. It hadn't been moved since last Christmas and we seldom go in that closet for anything. When she moved the tote with the wrapping paper in it, there was about 2lbs of dry dog food piled in the corner behind it. Yup! Major panic has set in. We are anxiously awaiting a visit from a pest control company.

We live in the country. It is fall. The field mice come in for the winter. No big thing other than the fact that Kathy is so afraid of them. It is an old house with a crawlspace. We always set traps and put out bait boxes in the fall. I have sticky traps all over in my workshop. Rural living at it's finest, haha.

[Ralph]

Having the same problem here this year. Got to love old houses.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

RAT'S

When I was in seminary in ROchester the place was locate just above the river. A few of us loved to go down the hill and watch the river rats> Those things were HUGE.Like a small dog!!!!!

[Clipper]

Nov 15, 2022 15:40:21 GMT -5 Atticus Pizzaballa said:

RAT'S

When I was in seminary in ROchester the place was locate just above the river. A few of us loved to go down the hill and watch the river rats> Those things were HUGE.Like a small dog!!!!!

When we used to park our busses on the lower East Side on trips to NY we would park on the side streets and we would watch huge rats scurry about. I bet they weighed about 5lbs apiece. A fight between them and a good sized alley cat would be a toss up.

[BHU]

We used to get an occasional mouse in here but it's been a couple years since I've caught one. I think the neighbors cats are earning their keep.

[kit]

I live in a large apartment building... on the 4th floor. After living here almost 11 years, so far no rats, mice, aardvarks or any other critter has been able to climb the stairs to get into my apartment. And, they're not tall enough to push the elevator button. We on the 4th floor are blessed.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

I lived on 5th floor at Bleecker St and we had mice. Had two in my apartment and one of them jumped over my bed early in morning while I was partially awake. We actually had a lot of them since they were walking in a hole in the wall in the garbage room. Eventually the pest control people found the entrance and it was sealed. Some would ride the elevator to different floors then run out. Occasionally we would hear a scream form one of the loadies as they waited for elevator door to open and a mouse would run out. LOL

[Clipper]

Nov 16, 2022 10:19:57 GMT -5 kit said:

I live in a large apartment building... on the 4th floor. After living here almost 11 years, so far no rats, mice, aardvarks or any other critter has been able to climb the stairs to get into my apartment. And, they're not tall enough to push the elevator button. We on the 4th floor are blessed.

Well, I am certainly glad to hear that aardvarks haven't become a problem in New Hartford. I wonder if there has been any aardvark infestations in Utica or the surrounding area. We have never seen a rat here, but recently a neighbor purchased some chickens and erected a coop and enclosure for them. Nothing draws rats like chicken feed scattered about on the ground or improperly stored. Our recent discovery of evidence of mouse activity is pretty much the first incident of concern, mainly because of Kathy's absolutely terrifying fear of them. I have caught mice in the garage and shop, and seen evidence of them in the old store building up in back that we use for storage. I gladly report that we have not had any aardvarks, alligators, grizzly bears, or any other furry predators encroach on our property or personal wellbeing in many years. Not long after we moved here I DID shoot a coyote that was across the road in the field, trotting along with a rabbit in it's mouth. I shot it, buried it, and have never seen another.

[BHU]

Pigeons. We have pigeons. Aerial rodents.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Nov 16, 2022 16:03:18 GMT -5 BHU said:

Pigeons. We have pigeons. Aerial rodents.

You can thank all the refugees who live around Chancellor Park and constantly feed the pigeons tons of stale bread. You would never believe the number of people involved in feeding them on a daily basis.

[BHU]

Nov 16, 2022 16:57:45 GMT -5 Atticus Pizzaballa said:

Nov 16, 2022 16:03:18 GMT -5 BHU said:

Pigeons. We have pigeons. Aerial rodents.

You can thank all the refugees who live around Chancellor Park and constantly feed the pigeons tons of stale bread. You would never believe the number of people involved in feeding them on a daily basis.

Nah, we only have a few up here that eat the seed that falls out of the bird feeder.

[Clipper]

At least rats and other rodents can't fly over and strafe the brim of your hat as you walk. I got strafed years ago as I was coming out of Sears in NH. Actually glad I HAD a hat on my head. It would have been worse to have been hit in the face, in my hair, or down the front of my shirt. As it was it was a cheap ball cap that I wore to work so I simply walked to the nearest garbage can and tossed it.

We had hundreds of the damned things that would frequent the beams and trusses over our vehicles in our motor pool in one of the old warehouse buildings with wood trusses overhead. It wasn't unusual to get into a vehicle and have to run it through the automatic car wash before you went out the door.

[kit]

There was a lady here on the 4th floor that used to throw bits of bread out her window which attracted all sorts of animals. She was told not to do that any more. Fortunately, none of the animals made their way into the building. There are no holes in the foundation here. Our maintenance man is right on top of everything. This is the Brook Apartments in south Utica. A pretty nice place to live.

[Clipper]

Years ago when I lived on Kayuta Lake my ex-wife decided to feed a duck that wandered up the bank from the lake. Pretty soon she had every duck on Kayuta lake crapping on our deck. She thought it was wonderful to be able to sit at the table in the morning and watch "her duckies" through the glass sliders to the deck.

I was equally as guilty. We had deer that would come across the ice on the lake and up the bank, through our yard. Ron Rubicki that used to run Yorkville Brake lived across the bay from us. He had a manger and fed the deer. I thought that was pretty cool so I built a manger and started putting out hay and feed for the deer. In the beginning we would have 4 or 5 deer eating from the manger. It didn't take long before there were 8 or 10 at times. It was not long before it was costing me 25 or 30 bucks a week to feed them. Come spring when the snow melted they had pawed up the ground for around 10 feet around the area and turned it into a mudhole. the following year we were content to just watch them pass through when our motion activated floods came on as they came up the bank and strolled through and across the road without stopping to do any damage.

[chris]

Nov 16, 2022 16:03:18 GMT -5 BHU said:

Pigeons. We have pigeons. Aerial rodents.

Pigeons roost on the sides of our building. They were always landing on my balcony and pooping. Havent had them on the balcony for some years now. The. other is geese. We have lots of wetlands cant get rid of them . Also seagulls every parking lot. Another is of the human kind. My apt faces the 104 xpressway and I am at the Hudson Ave intersection. It was on the news the other day there is becoming a huge issue with homeless. They camp under the underpass and are leaving all kinds of garbage plus breaking into businesses nearby. As soon as the city picks up the trash its back the next day.