Rats in the Villages

[SarFred]

Has anyone had the experience of rats in their car here in TV? A rat is in our car and has eaten all the spark plug wires and the air filter. We took it in to get it fixed after discovering the wires eaten. But he's still there! We put a trap in there, and he ate the peanut butter without springing the trap. We also have put poison covered in peanut butter. But he ate one of the new wires already, so we can't drive the car again. Has anyone else ever had this happen? The guys at the garage said they'd never seen anything like it.

Ironically, we did have this situation when we were living in California on a very rural ranch. But it seems like TV wouldn't have this situation. Can't figure where we picked him up.

[billethkid]

We have a nest of raccoons in our area that have become a roaming nuisance.
We have to spray our trash at the curb (with ammonia) to not have a mess on trash days.

btk

[mulligan]

Probably just a citrus rat who found a warm place to sleep during your recent cold spell. They are very common in FL, and live wherever there are citrus trees, date palms, or bird feeders.

[ceejay]

Has anyone had the experience of rats in their car here in TV? A rat is in our car and has eaten all the spark plug wires and the air filter. We took it in to get it fixed after discovering the wires eaten. But he's still there! We put a trap in there, and he ate the peanut butter without springing the trap. We also have put poison covered in peanut butter. But he ate one of the new wires already, so we can't drive the car again. Has anyone else ever had this happen? The guys at the garage said they'd never seen anything like it.

Ironically, we did have this situation when we were living in California on a very rural ranch. But it seems like TV wouldn't have this situation. Can't figure where we picked him up.

that we had the same problem!! Only it wasn't a rat, it was a mouse!:eek:

I was reading your post to my "better half" when he decided to inform me that we had the same problem a few months ago! (I don't know if I'm better off hearing about it or not hearing about it!):shocked:

When we first moved here to TV in August, we discovered that we had a mouse in the house. We figured it was due to all the new builds going on around us, called our bug people, put out a couple of traps and caught not one, but two of them! (I just wish they didn't look so much like my son's gerbils...I loved those guys!):sad:

Now he informs me that when he took his car in for an oil change, the guy discovered a nest!

The solution??? Just sprinkle moth balls around the engine, so he says. Geez, I was wondering what that smell was and where it was coming from...I didn't have a clue!!!:shrug:

[graciegirl]

NO...no no no. I have my hands over my ears. NO...Please tell me you are kidding.

[SarFred]

It is definitely a rat, my husband saw him this morning, unfortunately.

[Talk Host]

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o69/talkofthevillages/rat-1.jpg

[jjdees]

Try one of the animal traps that are a rectangular cage. I used one years ago to catch a rat that ate the hoses under a new dishwasher in a rental property I owned in Atlanta. If my memory is correct, the trap is about 18 inches deep, about 5 inches wide and 5 inches high. The bait is paced inside and the rat will have to enter it to get the bait and will not be able to leave. I bought mine at an exterminator supply store.

[tony]

Then what?

[paulandjean]

seen rats all over the villages.especially near tunnels for some reason

[Talk Host]

In six years, I have not seen one rat in The Villages. Sailed into Nassau recently and saw about a thousand around the dumpster at the cruise ship terminal.

[Bogie Shooter]

seen rats all over the villages.especially near tunnels for some reason

To cross the road.:jester:

[Dougout]

I have seen rats on the golf courses in the area of islands.

[golfnut]

doug, how do they get to the island, didn't know thet could swim...gn

[The Great Fumar]

Doggie do run's seem to attract them , Honest , Really , I heard it thru the Grape Vine .....OH they say their not rats but I know different.....

Fumar the observant ...:girlneener:

[dillywho]

Cats take care of the rat/mouse problems. One strange thing, though. Cats will eat mice but not rats. They will kill them and then walk away and leave them. I used to live in the country and that's what they would do. I have two cats and haven't seen them around here. Maybe that's why?

[Boomer]

If you have been around here forever like I have, you might somewhat remotely, vaguely remember that other time when the subject of rats came up.

Well, that time, way back when, I went on and on about my favorite Florida writer Carl Hiaasen and his encounter with rats. And, of course, when I was writing about Carl and the rats, I digressed from the subject of rats and Carl and went on and on, shamelessly confessing about how Carl Hiaasen is my secret love, and then I went on a bit about other secret loves throughout the years.

And when I saw the topic of rats come up today, I remembered about Carl and the rats and I thought oh, whattheheck, play it again, Boomer. These people need to know about this if they don't already. (about the rats, not about my secret loves, but that's in there anyway.....I used to digress a lot.)

Here goes............

I almost did not click on this one because it is a particularly hideous subject. But now I have gone and done it, so here I am, creeped out with a really bad case of the willies. And I am reminded of something that I might as well tell you about.

I once wrote here on TOTV about Carl Hiaasen's book The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport. The book is about golf, mostly.

Of course, while I was writing about the book, I felt the need to digress and so I confessed to all of you that Carl Hiaasen is one of those men with whom I am hopelessly in love. Just because he can sure turn a phrase. Ah, phrase-turning, the ultimate aphrodisiac.

I don't know why I am always confessing these shameless loves of mine to all of you. But I just do. I have told you all about Charles Kuralt and me, and also about Judd Hirsch. But I only love Judd when he is being Alex on Taxi. But I am digressing again so it seems. Anyway, back to the rats....

In the book, my man Carl has included a chapter titled "Rodent Golf." It seems that a rat chewed the wiring in his Chevy Suburban. He said that his insurance company paid for the damage. He learned that rats in Florida consider automobile wiring to be delicious and that insurance claims are common.

As it turned out, later Carl found the rat's nest and he did battle with that devil rat and won. He used something called "The Momentus, basically a foreshortened 6-iron that's weighted heavily to build muscle strength. . .and it tips the scale at a formidable 40 ounces -- a full half pound heavier than Barry Bond's baseball bat."

He went on to say that his swing was "more Lizzie Borden than Sam Snead."

Carl had bought this thing, The Momentus, from an infomercial on the Golf Channel. After he smashed the rat, who had wickedly fought back, he said that he thought about writing a "sunny blurb for future infomercials: Forty ounces of rat-smashing power! I highly recommend The Momentus Swing Trainer for anyone trying to groove their golf swing or battle a stubborn vermin infestation."

You know, Carl Hiaasen lives in Florida.

You might want to stay up late and see if you can catch the number on that Golf Channel infomercial tonight.

Sweet dreams,
Boomer

[Pturner]

If you have been around here forever like I have, you might somewhat remotely, vaguely remember that other time when the subject of rats came up.

Well, that time, way back when, I went on and on about my favorite Florida writer Carl Hiaasen and his encounter with rats. And, of course, when I was writing about Carl and the rats, I digressed from the subject of rats and Carl and went on and on, shamelessly confessing about how Carl Hiaasen is my secret love, and then I went on a bit about other secret loves throughout the years.

And when I saw the topic of rats come up today, I remembered about Carl and the rats and I thought oh, whattheheck, play it again, Boomer. These people need to know about this if they don't already. (about the rats, not about my secret loves, but that's in there anyway.....I used to digress a lot.)

Here goes............

...I don't know why I am always confessing these shameless loves of mine to all of you. But I just do. ....

Boomer

Oh, rats. For a minute there, I thought you were about to tell us you were one of Tiger's flings. :angel:

[Dirigo]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw120

[jjdees]

Tony,

You keep him as a pet or drown him. I chose the latter. He had it coming. He ate every hose underneath the dishwasher and caused a large water leak. Peta will be breathing down my neck now.

[tony]

Attention PETA: You can reach jjdees if you join Talk of The Villages and send a Private Message. I will not tell you anything else.

Now, jj, about this trapping thing. I had problems with rabbits in Mrs. Tony's garden and it seemed like a good idea to catch them in a live trap. My neighbor was my adviser in all this and he invited me to take the trapped rabbits, live trap and all, to his airfield where I could release them in the woods. He is a falconer, and we would let nature take its course. (I think PETA would be O.K. with this.)

Who would have thought the same trap that catches rabbits alive traps skunks alive?

[jtdraig]

You live in the Prairie..rats and mice are here. They get whacked by golf carts regularly...never seen one in the house, garage, or where I can see the but have seen them on the golf course scurrying into the weeds...no big deal

[SarFred]

After our disappointing discovery that once again one of our new spark plug wires had been gnawed off by our homesteading rat, I decided to check our brand new air filter which in our Toyota is located in a securely locked box with a barrel-like tunnel pointing forward as an air intake. The new filter was indeed newly-gnawed and our pal was creating a new nest with the fibers in the secure confines of the box. I cleaned out the box and then poked a long stiff wire through the intake tunnel to see if it was clear. It didn't seem to come out the front end even though, as I gauged again, it was long enough. I started poking again, looking at the front of the tube for it to appear. What I saw was the nub of a nose and I thought Wow, could this be my boy? I watched and out it came again -- I guess I was poking him in the butt even as he held his ground. I pulled out the wire and quickly got the water hose, turned it on full blast, went back to the car and pulled the trigger on the nozzle and in a couple seconds the rat came sailing out, hit the ground running back under the car and even as quickly as I could bend to look and send the spray behind him, he was gone and I hoped was in the bushes. Our neighbor, who among others was rightly concerned about a rat loose in the neighborhood, happened to be walking her dog and stopped to see what was going on and she yelled, I saw him but I didn't see where he went. We were hopeful but still concerned. Rats are tenacious and proprietary when they've chosen a home. Later, our terrier flushed him from our bushes and my wife saw the rat run between our houses and hopefully out into the field behind having escaped with a lesson learned. I put the filter back in place, spliced the one spark plug wire together and the car worked fine. I put a piece of cardboard in front of the air intake tunnel to block re-entry should our bad tenant return. Three pieces of potato chips on top of the motor and the rat trap back in place re-filled with a piece of fresh turkey sausage because the internet told us rats like fat. Went to bed with fingers crossed. In the morning, our neighbor was out walking her dog and asked if the rat was gone. I was about to open the hood to see if the chips or trap was undisturbed, signaling temporary victory, and told her about our dog routing the rat and our hope he wouldn't return. The truth under the hood was even better. He had returned home, found his front door barred, and decided, unfortunately for him, to soothe his disappointment with a tasty dinner of sausage. It had to be good because he lost his survival focus, threw caution to the wind. Halfway through, he never knew what hit him.

[Boomer]

After our disappointing discovery that once again one of our new spark plug wires had been gnawed off by our homesteading rat, I decided to check our brand new air filter which in our Toyota is located in a securely locked box with a barrel-like tunnel pointing forward as an air intake. The new filter was indeed newly-gnawed and our pal was creating a new nest with the fibers in the secure confines of the box. I cleaned out the box and then poked a long stiff wire through the intake tunnel to see if it was clear. It didn't seem to come out the front end even though, as I gauged again, it was long enough. I started poking again, looking at the front of the tube for it to appear. What I saw was the nub of a nose and I thought Wow, could this be my boy? I watched and out it came again -- I guess I was poking him in the butt even as he held his ground. I pulled out the wire and quickly got the water hose, turned it on full blast, went back to the car and pulled the trigger on the nozzle and in a couple seconds the rat came sailing out, hit the ground running back under the car and even as quickly as I could bend to look and send the spray behind him, he was gone and I hoped was in the bushes. Our neighbor, who among others was rightly concerned about a rat loose in the neighborhood, happened to be walking her dog and stopped to see what was going on and she yelled, I saw him but I didn't see where he went. We were hopeful but still concerned. Rats are tenacious and proprietary when they've chosen a home. Later, our terrier flushed him from our bushes and my wife saw the rat run between our houses and hopefully out into the field behind having escaped with a lesson learned. I put the filter back in place, spliced the one spark plug wire together and the car worked fine. I put a piece of cardboard in front of the air intake tunnel to block re-entry should our bad tenant return. Three pieces of potato chips on top of the motor and the rat trap back in place re-filled with a piece of fresh turkey sausage because the internet told us rats like fat. Went to bed with fingers crossed. In the morning, our neighbor was out walking her dog and asked if the rat was gone. I was about to open the hood to see if the chips or trap was undisturbed, signaling temporary victory, and told her about our dog routing the rat and our hope he wouldn't return. The truth under the hood was even better. He had returned home, found his front door barred, and decided, unfortunately for him, to soothe his disappointment with a tasty dinner of sausage. It had to be good because he lost his survival focus, threw caution to the wind. Halfway through, he never knew what hit him.

Thanks for the report. Ahhh, 'tis just like one of those old literary conflicts that your old English teacher used to like to talk about. "Man vs. Nature"

But in this one, you won, SarFred. In most of those stories, Nature wins. (Hey. You were smart about the bait. Fat can be truly irresistible to many species. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and seize the fat, too. I try not to. But sometimes....I just do.)

Carl Hiaasen would be really proud of you. And there was no bludgeoning necessary.

Boomer

[SarFred]

Loved the Hiaasen story. A great Florida writer. And thanks for the info on Florida rats. We feel the support of all you TOTVers. It is good to have a community to complain to and get answers from!

[tony]

Only an English major would see literary conflict in hunting down a rat.
Only an English major.

[diskman]

Has anyone had the experience of rats in their car here in TV? A rat is in our car and has eaten all the spark plug wires and the air filter. We took it in to get it fixed after discovering the wires eaten. But he's still there! We put a trap in there, and he ate the peanut butter without springing the trap. We also have put poison covered in peanut butter. But he ate one of the new wires already, so we can't drive the car again. Has anyone else ever had this happen? The guys at the garage said they'd never seen anything like it.

Ironically, we did have this situation when we were living in California on a very rural ranch. But it seems like TV wouldn't have this situation. Can't figure where we picked him up.

At home depot, it was pricey $39.99 battery operated it electrocutes them
and they slide out into the garbage. Caught 2 in 24 hours. neat & clean.:2excited::pepper2:

[jjdees]

Tony,

Don't turn Peta on me please!! They went after Obama for killing a fly during an interview. I could be road kill for a rat.

[Pturner]

Only an English major would see literary conflict in hunting down a rat.
Only an English major.

And only another English major would call her on it. :boxing2:

[tony]

I don't know nothing about English. How could I call her on it? I am being railroad by a cabal of the female persuasion.

She is very, very slippery. Very slippery.

[TomW]

In which villages did the rats most recently appear? I am thinking about putting out some tomato plants and perhaps a little garden. I'm now reconsidering because I don't want to attract the rodents.

[another Linda]

Since we bought our place, my SIL has been telling me not to plant orange trees because they attract rodents which in turn attract snakes (he knows my buttons.) For you folks who have been bothered with rats and mice, have you also had snakes? Will tomatoes be a problem too?

[graciegirl]

:grumpy: The second thing I love after my grandchildren is fresh tomatoes off my own vine.

[another Linda]

:grumpy: The second thing I love after my grandchildren is fresh tomatoes off my own vine.
Even if they come with creepy crawly slithery things?

[SarFred]

I think our experience with the rat was really unusual. We think we picked him up in the parking lot at a golf course. We also had had a rat and mouse problem in California -- took care of a ranch in the middle of 1500 acres with nobody around -- and we had a rat and mice invade the same car there. My husband washed the engine out after we got rid of the rodents, but there might have been a residual scent that attracted our Florida rat. We're buying a power washer today to wash out the engine!

I don't think there would be any problems with tomatoes. But citrus rats are really common (see the link provided in the previous pages -- all about rats in Florida, very good).

[SarFred]

IMSTP.gif cheese.wmv

Watch out!