I noticed last night that mice (I think, could be baby rats) were running into the garage when I opened the door. tehre aren’t many feral cats in the neighborhood. I don’t think my house is the only one with numerous rodents.

I caught another one today in my garage, bringing the total to 22.

I have extra rat zappers coming soon with waterproof boxes so I can catch outdoor rodents. I think that may be my only chance to keep them out of the garage.

I woke up early this morning thinking I dreamt that we just elected a black president. I had to check the web. We definitely did! I’m thrilled that election wasn’t more of the same.

Well, I have caught 16 17  18 19 20 21  rats rodents so far (6 for the day). I’m also just past 10,000 words on my novel and aiming for more.

Dead rats.

More rats. This time I caught a baby rat–about half the size of the smaller rats I caught a couple days ago.

Total:  14

No killed rats overnight. I think I caught all of the rats that were living in my garage. I did catch at least two adult rats.

I hope the garage stays free of rats. I found a couple of places where they could get inside and blocked those. It’s chilly outside, so they may come in when the garage door is open, but I’m ready to catch them. I still have to deal with the rats in the tree though.

Here’s the overnight body count.

Killed:  3

That brings the total to 11 rats killed in my garage.

Nasty. I had no idea there were so many. I thought 2, maybe 3 were in there. It’s cold and rainy here, so more rats may get into the garage. I’ve had such success with getting rid of those in the garage that I have placed one trap outside to catch the ones in the tree. Those rats in the tree are likely to either come in my garage or get under the house. I often hear rats running around under the house. Somehow they get in the walls and floor.

Afternoon report…

1 adult rat

Total kill:  12

Evening report…

1 adult rat. Total:  13

Any bets on there being more?

Well, I’ve been updating the total catch all day. Rats don’t really come out until mid-afternoon, so the morning catch was nil. I haven’t even gone to bed yet, and I have caught 8 rats since getting the traps working and all other food out of the garage.

At 6, I thought perhaps I got a pregnant rat first who had babies. I’m still wondering. I have yet to catch a rat the size of the ones outside in the photo. All of them have been rather small. Half-size rats.

Just knowing that there were at least 8 rats in my garage is enough to make me sick. My cats were worthless in catching them. The rats are too quick and can hide too easily behind all the stuff in the garage.

One more found in the trap this afternoon.

Total kills:  3

And now another one. And another.

Total kills:  5

And another. That’s 6.

Gross…

Well, the trick-or-treaters will get a treat tonight as they walk by the tree in front of the house. It’s full of rats. One of the neighborhood cats is camped out watching the rats roam the tree. I saw 3 rats in the few minutes I spent looking. I also captured one on camera. You can just barely make out his beady eyes.