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The tragedy of "R. I. S. D.".
5 years ago
Hello Fellow FA Artists, Friends, Fans and other highly creative people.
Sorry for being quiet for far too long. January saw the end of my temp job at the Griffith Park and Southern Railroad, and the crew and I celebrated a sort of bittersweet end to the year's Festivities on the 5th, where we all took that one last ride in the night, and enjoyed the glow of all those beautiful lights and displays. I did get called back in a couple weeks later though to help take down Christmas lights and stow away props, but I had a bit of a scare as I was bending over and standing up repeatedly when taking the lights off a low fence, which raised my blood pressure and I got dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. My Brother drove me back to the house where I got some rest, and on the plus side, they hired him back the very next week. Sterling and our housemate Noah put in the good word for me, and there might be a chance I could go back, as the Railroad is hurting for manpower, and there's still a lot yet to be done, getting the attraction ready for the Summer, and ultimately the next Festival of Lights coming up in December of 2020. News is that they need some restoration work done on props, cast concrete figures, and touch ups on the buildings around the attraction. So they might rig me up a bench I can work at in the shop, or give me jobs that I don't need to bend over a lot at. As long as I can get a good set of rollers and a pole, painting the buildings in the "Ghost Town" will be a breeze.
Unfortunately, through the whole month of February I have been affected by a disorder which I have labeled "R. I. S. D." which is short for "Rodent Induced Sleep Depravation" A Rat, or a series of rats has been gnawing on the walls just inside the doorway that leads into the room I'm staying in. I have tried spraying the baseboards with strong ammonia scented cleaners and pine sol, but that only drives the rodents away for maybe a night or two. I have even gone so far as to don heavy clothes, knee pads, breath mask, cap and headlamp to confront the creatures in the attic space, but unfortunately the area where the critters are chewing is under heavy floorboards that I might have to pull up to get to the affected area. So each night, it's kind of like the Oriental Water Torture where I lay in bed, waiting to hear the dreaded scrape of rodentine incisors against wood. Sometimes I won't be able to get to sleep until almost dawn, but the critters usually strike just after Midnight, and after pounding on the walls. yelling and spraying some more ammonia I finally wear myself out and get some sleep.
Of course this has also proven to be disruptive to the sleeping habits of my housemates as well. Noah has taken off and is staying at his Lady Friend's place, and my Brother's room is on the opposite end of the house. On the mornings after the assaults, I make an effort to apologize to my housemates, and we've been discussing methods seen on YouTube about deterring rodents and driving them away. My major concern about using baits that cause Rodents to become Hemophiliac is that the Roof Rats will retreat to the surrounding grounds during the day, where there's a chance Schirm's cat "Alex" or the wildcats in the canyon might eat the poisoned rodents and thus get sick as well. Using Kill Traps will be my last resort, as I've had some success with that. These Norwegian Roof Rats are pretty clever though, and have upon occasion used sticks or pieces of paper to trigger the traps and steal the bait. It would be difficult to rig up electricity into the attic space for electronic "Squealers" that use high frequency sounds to drive rats away, but in the past I've had success with that method too. Unfortunately, I can somewhat sense a disturbance in my middle ear that can give me headaches when the devices are on.
I have read someplace that Bay Leaves are poisonous to rats, but they'll eat them anyway. Anything that will save me from crawling into that attic space again will be more than appreciated, and it might smell a bit better than Ammonia cleaners. All I need is a good night's sleep, and once rested, I might come out of this Sleep Depravation induced depression, and maybe even get back to drawing again.
"Peace."
Sorry for being quiet for far too long. January saw the end of my temp job at the Griffith Park and Southern Railroad, and the crew and I celebrated a sort of bittersweet end to the year's Festivities on the 5th, where we all took that one last ride in the night, and enjoyed the glow of all those beautiful lights and displays. I did get called back in a couple weeks later though to help take down Christmas lights and stow away props, but I had a bit of a scare as I was bending over and standing up repeatedly when taking the lights off a low fence, which raised my blood pressure and I got dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. My Brother drove me back to the house where I got some rest, and on the plus side, they hired him back the very next week. Sterling and our housemate Noah put in the good word for me, and there might be a chance I could go back, as the Railroad is hurting for manpower, and there's still a lot yet to be done, getting the attraction ready for the Summer, and ultimately the next Festival of Lights coming up in December of 2020. News is that they need some restoration work done on props, cast concrete figures, and touch ups on the buildings around the attraction. So they might rig me up a bench I can work at in the shop, or give me jobs that I don't need to bend over a lot at. As long as I can get a good set of rollers and a pole, painting the buildings in the "Ghost Town" will be a breeze.
Unfortunately, through the whole month of February I have been affected by a disorder which I have labeled "R. I. S. D." which is short for "Rodent Induced Sleep Depravation" A Rat, or a series of rats has been gnawing on the walls just inside the doorway that leads into the room I'm staying in. I have tried spraying the baseboards with strong ammonia scented cleaners and pine sol, but that only drives the rodents away for maybe a night or two. I have even gone so far as to don heavy clothes, knee pads, breath mask, cap and headlamp to confront the creatures in the attic space, but unfortunately the area where the critters are chewing is under heavy floorboards that I might have to pull up to get to the affected area. So each night, it's kind of like the Oriental Water Torture where I lay in bed, waiting to hear the dreaded scrape of rodentine incisors against wood. Sometimes I won't be able to get to sleep until almost dawn, but the critters usually strike just after Midnight, and after pounding on the walls. yelling and spraying some more ammonia I finally wear myself out and get some sleep.
Of course this has also proven to be disruptive to the sleeping habits of my housemates as well. Noah has taken off and is staying at his Lady Friend's place, and my Brother's room is on the opposite end of the house. On the mornings after the assaults, I make an effort to apologize to my housemates, and we've been discussing methods seen on YouTube about deterring rodents and driving them away. My major concern about using baits that cause Rodents to become Hemophiliac is that the Roof Rats will retreat to the surrounding grounds during the day, where there's a chance Schirm's cat "Alex" or the wildcats in the canyon might eat the poisoned rodents and thus get sick as well. Using Kill Traps will be my last resort, as I've had some success with that. These Norwegian Roof Rats are pretty clever though, and have upon occasion used sticks or pieces of paper to trigger the traps and steal the bait. It would be difficult to rig up electricity into the attic space for electronic "Squealers" that use high frequency sounds to drive rats away, but in the past I've had success with that method too. Unfortunately, I can somewhat sense a disturbance in my middle ear that can give me headaches when the devices are on.
I have read someplace that Bay Leaves are poisonous to rats, but they'll eat them anyway. Anything that will save me from crawling into that attic space again will be more than appreciated, and it might smell a bit better than Ammonia cleaners. All I need is a good night's sleep, and once rested, I might come out of this Sleep Depravation induced depression, and maybe even get back to drawing again.
"Peace."
When it comes to pellet pistols I can't be of much help... I do know you will have to try out different pellets to find ones your pistol or rifle is the most accurate with. Then practice and practice some more till you can hold nickel sized groups at 20.
I will suggest starting with a 2 inch bullseye, when you master that move to a smaller bullseye till you can cover a 6 shot group with a nickel. It's all about building up the muscle memory so you don't think you just do.
A good first step would be to start sealing up all the little holes that the rodents and other unwanteds can use to get in. One of those "expanding foam sealers" can be of great use in this respect. Larger openings can be blocked with "chicken wire" and then the expanding foam over/through the chicken wire, that way there's a framework to hold the foam in place while it cures, as well as providing a second barrier if the rodents try chewing through the foam. My preferred "chicken wire" is wire mesh (square openings, not hexagonal) with a 1/4" spacing between the wires. Some mice can squeeze through the more common 1/2" spacing.
With their home gone and no time to go find a new one before the snows, the mice all ran to the nearest shelter: MY house! I spent that whole winter and partway into the summer fighting the invasion, finally eliminating enough of them that the rest (if there were survivors) fleeing for greener yards.
But yeah for a while I was looking at the price of FLIR cameras so I could predator-vision hunt them with a dart pistol.
Until I found out how expensive they were and just went with the traps.
Bear in mind, I have no idea whether this would actually work in real life.
Thanks Gen. I really appreciate your offer.
That, or just use earplugs.
She probably wanted to check if I am still alife before eating my face
It might be useful for your little guests.
And in my opinion, these aren't guests. They're Invaders.
I guess everyone eventually meets a situation where they finally exclaim "I Have Had ENOUGH!" and seek something better. My Brother used to work in ERs and has told me of dealing with many gunshot wounds and victims. I usually tease him about working at a miniature railroad in Griffith Park. We laugh sharing those "If I could tell you five years ago where you'd be now..." type stories.
As mint is volatile it does require reapplication from time to time but I used this time to "herd" them to a portion of the house where they could be exterminated.
I realize now the way I stated it makes it sound elicit
Your Journal reminds me of my own trials and tribulations with Rodent In-Frustrations. Folks who may be interested can read my 100% Natural Rodent Elimination Journal.
Normally I use a large, rubber mallet to pound on the floors and walls because the metal headed ones can do considerable damage to the plaster and wooden floors. I also have a small, short club for dispatching rodents. The trick is getting into close enough range to hit the rats effectively, and put them out of MY misery.
And for sleep in the meantime, try leaving on music to drown out the noises, or some form of white noise like a fan, radio static, or recordings of rainstorms.
http://www.orangefreesounds.com/cat.....nature-sounds/
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us.....9-7e39c1373f3e
Or a good supply of beer and morphine. Gotta get your rest if you're gonna be patching holes and making headshots in the morning.
And I'll let you in on this: Attic squirrels. :P They are pretty cute though, as plagues go.
ETA; As usual, FA mangled the URL. You'll have to do your own patching. And btw, haven't heard the skittering stampeding chewing little beasts since a good application of the mint oil solution, and it's still the sub-freezing season out here when they really prefer to be in nice warm houses.
also, poisoning has the disadvantage that they might die inside the wall, festering there, and letting the place smell like "many days dead".
when my brother was employing an air rifle it was loaded with little lead things called "Diablo" shots. essentially a funnel end with a flat front, barely goes through a cardboard target. one variety has pointy heads, which penetrate wooden targets... or living animals at shooting range. my brother tested that out at one of the city doves that keep visiting the suburban places looking for food... went through the animal and killed it within two or three seconds. but I see you prefer life traps, and I can somehow relate, pest or not.
the rat-inside-house thing reminds me of one of Carl Barks' many stories with Donald, where he encounters a rat (in germany named "exchange rat") which would leave somethign behind, only bigger. a little snap trap was replaced with a larger one... and so on. until a big firecracker became a dynamite bar. and lit, too. (Carl never explained how, but the story was so absurd at this point I doubt anyone minded).
Over here in the Southwestern parts of the US and Desert areas, we have "Pack Rats" that have a habit of exchanging things that catch their interests. So one might awaken one morning to find say a gold ring replaced by a shiny rock, or the other way around. These rodents carry their prizes in their front paws and run on their hind legs. If they see something shiny or good tasting they drop what they are carrying and pick up the new item and move on.
The guy who does this series has a lot of other ideas too.
Much as I hate to kill just about anything, there's times when enough is enough. Rodent Induced Sleep Deprivation is a thing, official or not, and that is officially the point where critters have gone too far.
Bucket dunk-traps look like a great solution because they're toxin-free, VERY effective, and, horrible as it sounds, very humane.
Also important: They're looking for something, either a home or food or both, so you'll have to make being in the walls or under the floor less attractive. Chemicals can harm YOUR health in the long run, and rodents just eventually get used to them.
Screamer devices are worse than worthless, because they usually operate at the extreme range of human hearing, and that could possibly make your sleep problems worse, maybe even damage your hearing.
The sooner you address the problem, the sooner you'll be sleeping sound once again.
Good sleep is yummy.
It might just drive them off.
If anything, if the Giant Rats know the Firesign Theater Routine, they'll have a good laugh.
BTW [plug], I recently got some NOT INSANE 2020 bumper stickers, which came with a nice autograph note from Dave Ossman...[/plug] 7@=e
Never had that problem, but I have had two bats that got into the house. One was chased by two of the cats and perched on a curtail rail in the bedroom, before I caught it with a bowl and magazine and threw it out the window. Another was chased into the bathroom where Mr. Bubbington smacked it a few times on the floor of the shower. Also caught with a large bowl and threw it out the window. Cute things, but could bite and give rabies.
Now to get my eye and fingers re-trained into "Plinking" mode.
Besides... The figure now also serves as a souvenir of the great time Roz, my Brother, my friend Sherry and I had that Sunday when we went to see the movie "Onward."