Critters in the basement

[odduc]

I'm hoping that someone can offer some advice...

I have a critter or two in my basement. I think it is either a squirrel(s), a ferrett or a big fuckin rat. So, if it's a rat, I don't care about killing it, but if it's either of the other two, I'd rather trap it and just get it out. I say I'm not sure because I've seen it, for a split second, only a couple of times. It's sort of long and slender, with a dark coat. It might be about 6-8 inches long. It moves around the upper concrete sections of my basement. I've already trapped one small mouse in a glue trap, but this thing, apparently shrugs off the glue traps as I've had to pick them up off the basement floor. It has to go before the bastard starts chewing at wires......

Any advice is most appreciated...

Thanks

[need4speed]

Go down to Home Depot and buy a Have a Heart trap. this way if it is a squirrel or ferret you can realease it back into the wild. You will need to find their point of entry or they'll just return. a friend of mine did this and he kept on catching squirrels. I told hi that it was the same one, so we spray painted the tail red and sure a shit he caught the same one again.

[Stoneman]

Have you seen any turds? Seriously, have you? That'll help determine what it is anyways...

[odduc]

Yes, I did see turds. They were mouse turds and I cleaned that up after I caught the mouse and haven't seen 'em since. But, I have not seen any turds from this bigger creature....

I'll go get a trap and something to seal the entry...wherever that might be.

Thanks

[R7]

Just get one of them big rat snap type traps. Whether it's a rat or not, the longer you try and be a nice guy and save it, the more costly damage by chewing on shit, pissing and shitting in your house is being done. A hole the size of the animal you describe can't be hard to find, find it and seal it up

[Stoneman]

Yip, my thought is to just plain ol' kill it too. Fuck it...

[highsider]

Do you hvae any pets? I have this device I'd be happy to send you, it emits some sort of awful noise that is too high pitched for a human to hear, but severely pisses off critters and snakes. Obviously, if you have a dog or a cat, they wont be happy either.

If you have a cat, shoot it, because its not doing its fuckin job.

When all else fails, a .20 gauge shotgun with varmint rounds usually does the trick nicely.

[ChrisNoF4i]

Originally posted by highsider
I have this device I'd be happy to send you, it emits some sort of awful noise that is too high pitched for a human to hear, but severely pisses off critters and snakes. Obviously, if you have a dog or a cat, they wont be happy either.

Will it harm cats, or just piss them off? It sounds fun.

As far as the squirrely goes, you need to send a message to other squirrels that your house is off limits. I had a flying squirrel issue. I trapped him in a room and went Bo Jackson on his ass. I swatted him with a tennis racqet and then bashed him with a baseball bat. Then I put him out on the front porch.

[RandyO]

whatever it is KILL IT, if it's a squirel, it's just come back in again


I didn't know ferrets were a native species

yo you live near a swampy area.... could be a muskrat or mink

[Phate]

I've had a huge problem with squirrels before in my house. They were a nightmare but got a trap and started catching them. Apparently you have to release them many MANY miles away from where you caught them or else they are extremely good at coming back. Side note- use peanut butter in the trap, worked like a champ.

[odduc]

I just got back from Home Depot and I got a trap. We'll see what I come up with...

After he's caught, I'm going around the entire foundation and sealing up ALL holes.

[odduc]

Randy, I only said ferret because I thought it might be someones escaped pet....

[Ecooke21]

make sure you post pics!

[odduc]

...still nothing in my trap, despite the smell of peanut butter in the basement from what I put in the trap. He hasn't even touched the bait, yet.

If it's a rat, I have my pellet gun ready to fill the fucker with lead!!!! Anything else is gonna have a new home, many, many miles from here.

[theothersean]

My motheri n law had a mouse in the basement and I shot it with my brother in laws peletgun I only pumped it twice, just enough to get the pellet out of the gun. Well I hit the fucker and it completely exploded fur everywhere. What a mess to clean up in the basement.


I know they make decon pellets for mice, and that works pretty well , not sure if they have them available for larger critters. The theory is that they will eat the poision and go out of the house in search of water. But if for some reason they die in the walls you could have a stinky problem. I have mice and lay out the decon in the bulkhead where they come in, I find the pellets outside in the wood pile 100ft from the house in the nests. I just wish they would eat it instead of hording it.



I would say that if you do get the bugger in your friendley trap, you fill a bucket with water and drownd the thing in the trap and dispose of the body. It will keep coming back time after time.

[ssg]

Originally posted by theothersean

I would say that if you do get the bugger in your friendley trap, you fill a bucket with water and drownd the thing in the trap and dispose of the body. It will keep coming back time after time.

...or just shoot it?

[benVFR]

Careful could be one of these just not fully grown yet! Make sure to use the buddy system when you go after it.

[mikeb]

Originally posted by Leebo
Wanna borrow my 12 gauge? That should do it.
If you dont want to make a mess use a have a heart trap then put a hose to you car exhaust and throw a tarp over the trap....
Oh yeah before any bleeding hearts start . fuck off.

Lee

waste of gas.

just do what my old man did. catch them in a have a heart then shoot um. my sisters were REAL impressed with that

[ancosta]

So you could be like my dad, who I find at his house one day with a skunk in one of those friendly traps. He used to commute all over so he'd put the trap in the bed of his truck, and pull over off the pike or some wooded area, and let the animal out. Since his commute has shortened, he's somewhat converted it into a death camp. I come over to see a tarp in the middle of his law with a 10' section of gutter poking out, rested against the lawmmower's exhaust siliencer.

Me: "What the hell are you doing"
Hiim: "These skunks are non-stop, this is the last time he'll be a pest"
Me: "Uh, isn't that cruel, you are going to give the thing a headache with this rickety seutp"
Him: "Last week, big racoon, dead as a doornail in 2 minutes. They just fall asleep and that's that"
Me: "Uh, ok when are you going to fire this up"
Him: "These animal lovers are always getting in your business, I just wait until it's dark"
Me: "No one find it strange you are mowing your lawn when it's dark out?"

[roso]

how long has it been siince you have seen it.
sometimes these things leave on their own
some say that they just come in the winter when it is cold and when spring comes they leave
one thing no one mentioned is an ermine
they are almost like a mini weasel but i wouldnt mind it they kill mice they are the size you mentioned about 8 in skinny
if it is a rat call me, i hate those fuckers and would take great joy in utilizing my 22

[odduc]

I still haven't caught the fucker !!!!!!!!!!

I'll have to see if the trap worked when I go home, today. I pulled the trap down, yesterday, to find that the s.o.b. had been eating the peanut butter, but the trap did not close. So, it's only a matter of time...............

YES, I checked and double checked the trap to insure that I set it up properly. I read the instructions included....

[bump909]

Originally posted by odduc
Randy, I only said ferret because I thought it might be someones escaped pet....

i doubt it's a ferret.. although they do like to get into places they're not supposed to be. still, it'd be fairly easy to catch. ferrets like to play, if you got something like a toy on a string.. it will be all over that. pick it up by it's scruff and put him in a box or cage until you can find the owner. if you release it into the wild it won't be able to survive. either that or you can kill it.. but that would suck if it turned out to be someone's pet.


my wife's got two.. that's why i have a little bit of ferret knowledge.

[dhuze]

They sell these nifty little traps that look like tubes. When the Stupid squirrel, rat, weasle, mink, or kitten crawl inside it unsprings twisting them and snapping their spines . Thats what you need. Not that pest feeder you now have . Me I would just sit quietly until they poke their head out and shoot em betwixt the eyes.

[odduc]

I was waiting for one of our resident gun collectors to chime in. Sorry Dhuze, I only have a pellet gun. I will shoot the bastard, if it's a rat. But, I don't want to sit down in the basement for hours waiting for the thing to show itself and then shoot it only to have even more of a mess to clean up. There's gonna be enough to clean up already......

[benVFR]

If it's a mouse or a rat go for the glue trap.

And if it is something on the small side there isn't one.. you probably have 10 different ones and you don't know. Sucks but it's true, most of those critters create babies real fast.