Glove Chewing Critter

[3RRL]

The last couple of times up to the property my tractor has been visited by a "Glove Dhewing Critter". I used to find rat's nests under the hood but that has stopped since I started leaving the hood "UP" when gone. So naturally, I thought it was a rat that was chewing my leather gloves.

 

[California]

The last couple of times up to the property my tractor has been visited by a "Glove Dhewing Critter".

Maybe its a Plywood Eating Porcupine, like we had problems with on our gold claim in Plumas County.

 

[knute_m]

I never did find out what kind of critter ate the gas line off my tractor and the plastic nozzles off my gas cans. I don't know if it drank the gas or not, but it also ate a whole case of de-con over about a month!

I was always worried I was going to meet the thing!

Knute

 

[Thurd Ferguson]

Maybe voles?

 

[HomeBrew2]

You're just down stream from Marmot Country and I've heard they're moving down hill. Do a search for marmots and Mineral King. The running joke/advice to tourists visiting Mineral King is, If you park your car to go hiking, make sure you wrap it in chicken wire, or you'll come back to a car missing all the wiring, belts and hoses. I'd be thrilled if it was just my gloves that got chewed
Something I like to tell newb's to the country is, besides the normal stuff like scorpions, centipedes and spiders, mud dobbers and the little black bees like to build mud nests in gloves and clothes that are left laying around. Two weeks ago I found the beginnings of a nest in my welding glove - in the shop! No harm done, I anticipated it cuz I usually put my gloves in a plastic bag but noticed that I had forgotten. Some years ago, they made a nest in my welding shirt, I wasn't so lucky then

 

[chili]

I had a critter chew up my water hoses in about 7 places. At first glance i thought somebody cut up my hose but on closer examination, i could see bite marks on it. I live out in the country with no dogs around that i am aware of. I think it may have been a bear or racoon. We did have a black bear come on our back deck last year about this time that came up to our door of our bedroom leading out onto the deck. My wife was here alone when she heard something on the deck. She opened the shudders in front of the door, the bear was on the other side of the door staring at her. The door was open but the screen door was closed. Scared the you know what out of her. The bear moved on.

 

[3RRL]

Porcupines? Voles? Marmots? They all have incisers that could leave those bite marks. Probably could have been any of them. At this time though, I still thought they were rats. So Loretta bought a bunch of rat traps and I set them on the tractor and all around hoping to catch the varmint. From the looks of the teeth marks on my gloves, it looked it had some pretty good incisers! Probably a BIG rat.

The next morning I went to the tractor tent and sure enough, one of the traps had sprung. But to my dissapointment, I had caught nothing except the flap of the tent...



I felt (and looked) like an idiot. My wife could not stop laughing because she knows I think I'm some kinda big hunter or something...

 

[HomeBrew2]

Between you and Highbeam working the transition from ultra-city to rural life, I have constant entertainment!
If you're predisposed to the varmint being a rat, get some of those little flat boxes of rat/mice bait ... that will give your native toads a nice nest box. The poison will kill the rats and field mice but you'll have to sweep the excess bait back into the box cuz the toads like to make a comfortable bed. If you ever wonder what those big turds on your walkways or whatever are ... they're from the big ol' native toads.

BTW, is that cave still open to the public near the campground at the end of Southfork Rd.? Umm, I mean can you still shimmy around the bars that supposedly block the entrance to the cave?

 

[3RRL]

Steve,
I get a big kick out of Highbeam's posts as well. He is a real character and it's a joy to read his posts.

Couple of things...
I don't know about the cave near Ladybug?? campground. I've only driven to the parking area but not hiked around there. For a little river, the SouthFork is ripping right now.
Also, I didn't know those turds were from them big toads??? I would never have guessed that in a million years. I've got big fatties that come out at night all around the campsite too. Their turds are on the road and boardwalk all the time. I thought it was a Skunk turd or something about that size...interesting information.

OK,
So now back to my story. I had caught a Bat in the tent the week before but I knew it was not him. He was way to small and his teeth were too little and too sharp to leave those marks. So yes, I still thought it was a big rat at that time.





Those rat traps kept getting set off but they never caught one...and I had caught rats before in them in my tool tent. So I finally figured it just HAD to be something BIGGER than a rat. I sent away for a live animal trap and got 2 sizes. A small one and a medium one. I didn't want to set the medium one in case I caught a Racoon so I set the small one. I put my gloves in it along with fresh veggies, some dogfood, meat scraps and a bowl of water.

 

[BB_TX]

I have no idea if this works or not. But I got an e-mail the other day giving a lot of unusual uses for Bounce (you know the little sheets your wife probably puts in the clothes dryer?). One of the uses was to put a sheet wherever you have a mouse problem and the mice will leave. Another claimed they would repel mosquitoes. Just put one in a belt loop when you are outside and the mosquitoes will leave you alone. Old wives tale? Who knows.