Welll .... damn.
short ( is it posssible from me ?) background:
In the ongoing battle with mice and packrats, I was slowly gaining ground ....
House is built on a mild slope, in the semi-rural cedar , pin-oak, and piney woods on the eastern slopes of the Sandia foothills
east of ABQ. I have had to concrete and wire mesh over any openings to keep the little visitors out of the crawlspaces...as well as the "gentle zephyrs" up to 50 mph. Prior to Mrs Marvels; back surgery / double fusion in mid-july I had imrovements made for easier walking.
Had the rickety lumber front porch/deck torn out, a new level and smooth concrete porch poured and had the gravel drive redone and a concrete apron and pad poured in front of the 2 car garage, with a gentle sloping concrete sidewalk leading seamlessly to the
new concrete porch.
This was a major improvement as it removed habitat for the entire zoo of critters trying to live ( and die) under the porch, some of whom were tunneling their way into the largest ( but shallowest) crawlspace.
Until October I was enjoying the aroma-free happiness therein ... theeeen the stink started leaking into the Master BR closet...
Ok. tear out the baseboards, caulk & seal the ( massive) floor-to-wall gaps, stopping the smellification. But something got into
or got trapped in the crawlspace ....
In the event you have never dealt with them, packrats are, well ... remarkable ... critters.
If there is a plus side -
they are cute as hell. When I catch one in the live trap ( baited with peanut butter), I swear the look they give me is
"more please?"
like the pet rats or hamsters my friends have.
When they find some shiny screws they want, the ones here don't steal them, they trade - I have left shiny plated screws on the porch table overnight (dumb) and found a mound of fresh pinion nuts the next morning.
On the downside -
They have a natural aroma that they further imbue in their nests that is beyond powerful ...
a live packrat nest has a stomach-wretching stench that would make you think something died in there ...
They burrow and chew their way thru dirt and wood and... most anything but concrete.
They "acquire" stuff that they find pretty .
they bite thru house and car wiring
They can get into walls like mice and rats and then die .... and smell worse
I usually live trap cuz their so big and relocate them ~ 15=20 miles away to where there are snakes and raptors and foxes & etc..
Sooooo ... down into the crawlspace, 8 feet high at one end and 2 feet high at the other. That why it's called a crawlspace.
Live trapped & relocated one small-to medium size rat. took him 7 miles away to where I relocated a baby rattlesnake.
Hey , it's the Circle of Life, right?
I "suited up" and got my gloves and Gasmask ( possible hanta virus you know) and several 1000 lumen flashlights and rakes and
garby bags and went in . Yup, they pulled down the insulation and built a huge nest in the 2' section. And dragged lots of catcus in to place ALL OVER the crawlspace.
I got most of the 2000 sq ft space raked out, got the contamintated insulation torn out & bagged, & the nest and 3 corpses (gag).
got all that bagged up & disposed. Set strong mouse and rat snap traps ( I had one Godzilla mouse get out of a normal mousetrap)
trapped 5 mice so far, no more rats. Fed the mice to the local Ravens. They seem to know me lol ...
Also got a crapload ( technical term of quantifiaction ) of cactus stickers in mia corpus .
Got plans now boy.... gonna get the rest of the space raked clean and level, Spray Lysol Liquid disnfectant all over in there from a tank sprayer, find and wire & concrete and foam any holes.
then gonna call my concrete contractor and have him pour ~ 18 yards of self-leveling concrete down there to form a "terraced" concrete floor about 2-3 inches thick. down here they call them "rat-pads" and it successufully keeps the icky critters out. Including the Camel Spiders and 16 inch long red centipedes .... with the light duty floor, I can use the space for storage. We succesfully did it to the smaller ~ 600 sq foot crawlspace a couple years ago, and it turned out sooooo nice I plan to use part of it as a "clean basement man cave" .
But dang, whilst doing all that I banged the back of my right hand, it swelled up and won't stop hurting... getting xrays and it looks like I may have a metacarpal fracture .....
With any luck I'll get a removable brace/splint and avoid a cast. Can't do the dishes with a cast on.
Not that big a deal, Now that both cats are healthy ( after some spendy vet bills) , and Mrs Marvel is healing up and has been walking well ( but not far) since september. She's cleared to go in for quality PT like Yoga from a back-surgery trained yoga teacher....
but it's definitely screwing with any further "work" and of course it's my dominant shooting hand and trigger & second finger.
poot.
I am thinking the message the force is trying to send me is
"hire it done, stoopid"
and
"now you can practice shooting those remingtons left handed"
yhs
prof (may all your troubles be small) marvel