9-11-09 mugshot

I almost took this rat to work. I forogt to drop him off in the wash and didn't realize it until I was on the interstate almost to work. He ended up being dropped off on the road to Mission San Xavier Del Bac.

9-9-09 mugshot: a very special one

Today's pack rat is very special. His mugshot sign numbers are all nines for the the special date 9/9/9. The next time I will have a pack rat with the same single digit number in it's mugshot sign will be 1 January 2101 for 01.01, 1-1-01.

9-8-09 mugshot

This one is a small male.

9-6-09 mugshot

Another male. I'd rather be getting rid of the baby producing females.

9-3-09 mugshot

Another male pack rat.

9-2-09 mugshot

This fellow wreaked havoc in my garage. He was elusive to catch and was taunting me. I once heard him say "and I shall taunt you a second time-a you silly english kniggit". Before I caught him he chewed the rubber seal along the bottom edge of the garage door, started to chew the seal at the bottom of the door going from the garage into the house. I haven't parked in my garage this week because he chewed the wire in half leading to the safety sensor so the door won't shut automatically. I finally caught him using peanut butter (smooth not crunchy) on a club cracker.

Finicky eaters are we now?

Two nights trapping and no rats. Maybe they don't like crackers, time to use the tried and true popcorn or Cheetos as bait. (But if I buy Cheetos I'll be tempted to eat them and they are evil so popcorn it will be.)

They're Back!

It's time to start trapping pack rats again. They're back and chewing my irrigation lines. I set out two traps tonight so maybe tomorrow we will have another mugshot or two.

3-25-09 mugshot

This was a big male

3-24-09 mugshot

This one is a small young rat.

3-23-2009 mugshots

The weather has warmed up and the pack rats are back. The 2009 prison season starts off with two in one night.

New Year's Pack Rat Reprieve

Although I could easily get at least one rat in my traps I am not putting them out at night because it is too cold and they would die of exposure. I live trap and then drive them down the road to go live either in the desert or at the house of someone else - the choice is theirs once I release them.

(This is just some random image of a rat looking for a new home)

12-22-08 mugshot

8-21-08 mugshot

I almost forgot to release this guy on my way to work.

8-20-08 mugshots

Pack rat nest between two young saguaros

This is a pack rat nest on my property. It is away from the house by the fork of the two driveways so they can stay there. I just don't want pack rats living on my roof or next to the house or in the fenced in area.

8-19-08 mugshots

I had the time to edit the pictures and I didn't like the iPhone posting as well so I replaced those with the regular mugshots.

Cages still empty but that is a good thing.

While I like the rat pictures with prison signs it requires editing them using Illustrator & Photoshop. The next rat pic will be posted by emailing a picture taken with and from my iPhone directly to a blog post. We'll see what that looks like.

Let the Trapping Begin Again

Now that I've finished the major floor project and the grill area it's time to start trapping pack rats again. I set out two traps last night but did not catch anything.

Pack Rat Reprieve

I have been negligent in setting out the rat traps at night. I have been extremely busy with ripping up old carpet and installing hardwood floors upstairs . I simply didn't want to have to deal with taking the rats down the road to release them and posting the captured rats since my office was dismantled. When my floor is done pictures will be posted on my "Adventures at Lazy C" blog and I will resume the pack rat trapping.

6-21-08 mugshot

I captured this pack rat but Bob dropped Cazie off in the morning and without me knowing it she got the cage and carried it into the dog yard to try and get the rat. The rat got away since I found no evidence that Cazie "crunched"it.

6-17-08 mugshot

I've reached pack rat #10 since I started taking pictures.

6-16-08 mugshot

While transferring to a bucket (easier for the drive by drop off) the rat got out before I put the lid on completely. It ran into the laundry room door so Fringe (the dog) and I went after it. Fringe would grab it in her mouth several times but kept dropping it until I finally got the bucket over it. I guess Fringe is not a very good rat dog. The rat was released having the end of it's tail sheath pulled off (a defensive mechanism for pack rats to escape).

6-10-08 mugshot

I think I have captured the healthy pack rats and now the unhealthy weaklings are moving in to take their place. This one has a lump that looks like it may have taken out its right eye. This may also be a bot fly larvae.

6-9-08 mugshot

This pack rat had an enlarged scabbed over swelling on its neck. It looks like the home for a bot fly larvae but the larvae is not sticking out and the black area looks more like a scab.