Well, I'd like to say this is the final straw but if I'm realistic, I know it isn't. Remember that only yesterday morning I dug a tiny twig and some fuzz out from under my car hood? So today after lunch, I drove down and rearranged my gates, them came back and parked the truck and decided I'd better check under my car hood, even though it seemed a little soon to be finding anything else. Oh my goodness!! I opened up the hood and not only was there a large, almost completed rats' nest but there was a big rat perched on top of it!
Not a mouse, mind you, but a full-grown rat. He sat there staring at me for about 2 nano seconds, then scampered away. I don't know which one of us was the most shocked.
I left the hood open, went and scrounged around and found an old wire cage/trap, perfect for the size. It had been years since I'd used it so it took me some time to figure out how to set it. The tripper is rather ingenious and the trigger is delicate so I have no idea whether it will stay set long enough for the rat to go in or whether it will trip if he does go in. I went out to the cube cart and got a few cubes to put in it. I also set a bucket half full of water nearby (all right next to the car), as I once caught a rat that way--it got into the water and couldn't get out. When I got back to the car with the trap, I could hear the rat down under the engine bumping and banging around.
I would leave the hood open, since that is what some people do as a deterrent, except I know that raccoon is always messing around and I don't know if it would tear up wires, etc. There's also been a squirrel or two (not sure if one or two) scampering around the yard all day but I hope he's busy enough with the pecans to keep him distracted. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. Even if my present trap works for this rat, there's no doubt others will quickly replace him. Thanks for listening. I imagine some of you are thinking, "Enough already!" But pouring out my frustration here seemed better than standing on the side of the hill and screaming. And Manda, for what it's worth, it's 77* right now and I was feeling pretty hot while out there fooling around with all that.