Yeah, well I'm definitely afraid of vampire mice....
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Retirement........
- Thread starter Rich Z
- Start date
Yeah, well I'm definitely afraid of vampire mice....
wade
Save The Humans
I found this little guy running around in my basement!
Josh, this is what we do with killer mice.
Attachments
diamondlil
Mice! They taste so nice!
I'd guess it's a mouse with teeth that didn't meet up and grind down like they normally do.
diamondlil
Mice! They taste so nice!
My ex mother-in-law had a hamster with misaligned teeth that had to be clipped at the vet, otherwise they grew like that and he couldn't eat.
Heck, I don't know. We didn't even notice it until it was killed prior to being frozen. Had I noticed it, I probably would have kept it alive. Not often that you can have a saber toothed mouse around.... Would have been REALLY cool had it been the upper teeth that grew out like that. Thinking about it, how come the uppers didn't grow out like that as well? :shrugs:
Susan
Go Ahead, Make My Day!
I wouldn't be too concerned about getting rabies from squirrels or wild mice and rats. Leprospirosis, which is zoonotic, is currently increasing in occurrence and can be carried by the previously mentioned critters (especially the squirrel), as well as raccoons, as well as "man's best friends", the canine and the horse. It is transmitted in the urine of these creatures and then into any small cuts or abrasions in our skin. It comes in several strains, with certain strains being more prevalent now. Dogs should be vaccinated against at least 4 of the more common strains (and I think one company is about to add another strain), but many dogs do not receive it for a variety of reasons. I recall a few years ago that quite a few marathon runners that had to run through some swampy areas here in Florida came down with it, and the incidence in dogs is on the rise. So Rich, you go right on shooting those bushy tailed tree rats! It's not as if they are an endangered species and if you get enough, make a pretty good stew!
Heck, if those tree rats are going to be carry diseases that can be passed to me from handling them, well, I'm certainly NOT going to handle those suckers. And secondly, you are what you eat, and no way in hell I want to become a squirrel... :laugh:
Vinman
Vinman
Rich many people eat them . I used to kill them and skin them. I would have ate them but they are Bronx squirrels and who knows what toxins they might have. I used to give some of the bodies to this older lady that used to feed them to her python. My uncle hunts them in up state NY. He makes stew out if them
Drizzt80
Dakota Corns
Speaking of squirrels, anyone remember the good 'ole days of Oregon Trail on the black and green apple IIe screen?!?!? 
http://xkcd.com/623/
D80
http://xkcd.com/623/
D80
Well, retirement seems further away now, rather than closer, from just a month ago. Been too darn busy with stuff.
I've been talking about getting a garage built for a couple of years now, and over the last year or three, had to spend a LOT of money because of the damage rodents have been doing when they would craw under the hood of our vehicles and chew the hell out of the wiring. That was getting REALLY old. Not to mention expensive, not only for the repairs, but for all the traps and poison to try to keep the damage down as much as possible.
Well, I sold off a good chunk of my gun collection a while back, and although I had other plans for that money, I just couldn't justify it with this rodent problem. So like it or not, I had to get a garage built before every vehicle we own became reduced to junk. So that has been going on for a while. I am handling the contracting myself (since it is a really simple project), but it's really been a headache. This past week the steel building itself has been erected, and they should finish up tomorrow (Wednesday). Looks really good, and should really do the job. Now I just have to get the concrete apron on the front poured, and then get electricians in to hook up lights and receptacles. Im thinking it may be close to Christmas before we can finally pull the vehicles into the building.
Then my vette has been in the shop for weeks now getting a complete drivetrain overhaul. This again thanks to my "gun money". Been video taping the process before I came down with a bug, and so did the tech doing the work right around the same time. Then a hurricane came storming into the gulf which not only mess up this (almost messed up the delivery of the garage steel), and delayed my shipments for a week. And now I've been stuck around here because I have to pretty much be on hand during the erection of the building. But I hope to be able to run out to the shop maybe tomorrow if the building crew can get things wrapped up early on my building. Of course, they were supposed to be done on Monday.....
And then, of course, I'm trying to sell off all my animals by January. Which is going to be tough, I think. I think I started with 1600 animals or so, and am now down to just around 1,000, but still, that's a hell of a lot of animals to have to move out in a month and a half. Not to mention the holidays taking their toll on available days to ship.
Connie was asking me today if we were really even going to do an travelling. I think she feels that we will ALWAYS be stuck around here for one reason or another. Sure does seem like it now.... But I sure do hope that won't be the case. Not sure I'm ready to be put out to pasture just sitting on the porch in a rocking chair watching the grass grow.
But I will tell you, I feel like a weight has been taken off of my shoulders lately. I don't have that constant pressure of feeling like I have to speed through everything so I have enough time later in the day to finish up the chores with the snakes. Shipments still take up some time, but the daily cleaning and feeding drudgery is gone, and really GOOD RIDDANCE. I didn't realize the stress levels until they were gone. Heck, I couldn't even talk to anyone on the phone without feeling like precious time was being wasted that was needed for the animals. And the mouse colony being gone has taken a load of work off of Connie as well. Still getting more emails then I can sometimes get to right away, but at least something won't die on me if I don't get to them right away.
Well, I guess things will smooth out eventually so we can actually get this retirement thing started. Neither Connie or I really know what this retirement is going to be like, so I'm hoping it isn't going to be one of those cases where the grass just looked greener on the other side of the fence. All I know is that we have both been working our butts off for far too long, and STOPPING that workload just can't be a bad thing to do.
I've been talking about getting a garage built for a couple of years now, and over the last year or three, had to spend a LOT of money because of the damage rodents have been doing when they would craw under the hood of our vehicles and chew the hell out of the wiring. That was getting REALLY old. Not to mention expensive, not only for the repairs, but for all the traps and poison to try to keep the damage down as much as possible.
Well, I sold off a good chunk of my gun collection a while back, and although I had other plans for that money, I just couldn't justify it with this rodent problem. So like it or not, I had to get a garage built before every vehicle we own became reduced to junk. So that has been going on for a while. I am handling the contracting myself (since it is a really simple project), but it's really been a headache. This past week the steel building itself has been erected, and they should finish up tomorrow (Wednesday). Looks really good, and should really do the job. Now I just have to get the concrete apron on the front poured, and then get electricians in to hook up lights and receptacles. Im thinking it may be close to Christmas before we can finally pull the vehicles into the building.
Then my vette has been in the shop for weeks now getting a complete drivetrain overhaul. This again thanks to my "gun money". Been video taping the process before I came down with a bug, and so did the tech doing the work right around the same time. Then a hurricane came storming into the gulf which not only mess up this (almost messed up the delivery of the garage steel), and delayed my shipments for a week. And now I've been stuck around here because I have to pretty much be on hand during the erection of the building. But I hope to be able to run out to the shop maybe tomorrow if the building crew can get things wrapped up early on my building. Of course, they were supposed to be done on Monday.....
And then, of course, I'm trying to sell off all my animals by January. Which is going to be tough, I think. I think I started with 1600 animals or so, and am now down to just around 1,000, but still, that's a hell of a lot of animals to have to move out in a month and a half. Not to mention the holidays taking their toll on available days to ship.
Connie was asking me today if we were really even going to do an travelling. I think she feels that we will ALWAYS be stuck around here for one reason or another. Sure does seem like it now.... But I sure do hope that won't be the case. Not sure I'm ready to be put out to pasture just sitting on the porch in a rocking chair watching the grass grow.
But I will tell you, I feel like a weight has been taken off of my shoulders lately. I don't have that constant pressure of feeling like I have to speed through everything so I have enough time later in the day to finish up the chores with the snakes. Shipments still take up some time, but the daily cleaning and feeding drudgery is gone, and really GOOD RIDDANCE. I didn't realize the stress levels until they were gone. Heck, I couldn't even talk to anyone on the phone without feeling like precious time was being wasted that was needed for the animals. And the mouse colony being gone has taken a load of work off of Connie as well. Still getting more emails then I can sometimes get to right away, but at least something won't die on me if I don't get to them right away.
Well, I guess things will smooth out eventually so we can actually get this retirement thing started. Neither Connie or I really know what this retirement is going to be like, so I'm hoping it isn't going to be one of those cases where the grass just looked greener on the other side of the fence. All I know is that we have both been working our butts off for far too long, and STOPPING that workload just can't be a bad thing to do.
paigehi
Teaching Snakes To Read
Rich...good for you. I am glad you are starting to see at least some of the benefits of retirement, and I hope you find more free time and a rodent-free home in the very near future.
I am sorry I couldn't help with the animals...I did my best in Daytona but I'm already flirting with overdraft with the bank. However, you know the people here will do their best for you and for the snakes.
Good luck, and keep smiling!
-Lindsey
I am sorry I couldn't help with the animals...I did my best in Daytona but I'm already flirting with overdraft with the bank. However, you know the people here will do their best for you and for the snakes.
Good luck, and keep smiling!
-Lindsey
Rich, post some pics of your new garage when it's done. I would like to see how it turns out.
Sure thing! Connie picked out the color scheme, and I was quite surprised that it turned out as nice as it did. I would have chosen lighter colors myself...
Attachments
ratsncorns
Bird Nerd
I was wondering what you were putting there! It looks great! Thats a HUGE garage!
After spending THOUSANDS of dollars fixing the vehicles we have when the wiring got chewed up by rodents, I just came to the conclusion that I had no other choice but to build a garage for protection from those varmints. I would have MUCH rather spent the money I got from selling off much of my gun collection on something a whole lot more fun, but I really had no other choice in this matter.
I'm going through it now to seal up any place that a mouse can get in, but I think those rollup doors are going to be a problem to seal completely. Mice can get through darn small holes and it's just not going to be easy. Sure would suck to spend this money on a garage and then have the same problems. :bang:
I'm going through it now to seal up any place that a mouse can get in, but I think those rollup doors are going to be a problem to seal completely. Mice can get through darn small holes and it's just not going to be easy. Sure would suck to spend this money on a garage and then have the same problems. :bang: