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When I went to clear up on the deck this morning, it looked like a scene out of The Amazing Maurice and His Trained Rodents (or whatever it's called), you know, the one where the whole crew of rodents go into a bakery and raise hell.
For the past few weeks, I've been hearing the patter of tiny feet on the deck, and there was some, shall we say, "evidence" of furry visitors. I couldn't think what they were after, except I had noticed a few bite marks in one or two tomatoes, and someone seemed to be Italian, with a real taste for fresh basil. No - that wasn't the real target. I have a very heavy plastic box, in which I store bird seed, and on investigation, I discovered that the little buggers had chewed a hole right through one corner of it, and had been having a lovely time feasting on its contents. So, ready for garbage day, I dumped all the seed and washed the deck. Well. This morning, they obviously came looking for their usual cafeteria options, and not finding any, had what obviously passes for a rodent hissy fit. There were droppings ALL OVER the deck. My tomato plant has been completely stripped (about 8 ripening tomatoes gone). They'd been into a hanging flower basket, ripped bits out of it and tossed them all over the place. It was "Take THAT, human - this is what you get for depriving us of yummy bird seed!" I think tonight I may put Clio the cat on guard duty. She's always telling me she wants to stay outside at night - well she can have her carpetted cat house in a dry corner and hang out there. Let her earn her keep for a while.
Meanwhile, indoors, I've been having a Fall invasion of cupboard moths. When I began to feel like a wrangler for a horror movie every time I opened a cupboard door, I decided it was time to have a purge of old cracker boxes, forgotten bags of nuts meant for cooking or whatever. While I was at it, I had a condiment purge, as well, pouring buckets of old teriyaki sauce, walnut oil and goodness knows what else down the sink and chucking all the bottles in my spare recycling box. There was a lovely sort of Oriental soupy smell in the kitchen and now my shelves are clean, organized and moth-free. A very satisfactory way to spend the morning.
For the past few weeks, I've been hearing the patter of tiny feet on the deck, and there was some, shall we say, "evidence" of furry visitors. I couldn't think what they were after, except I had noticed a few bite marks in one or two tomatoes, and someone seemed to be Italian, with a real taste for fresh basil. No - that wasn't the real target. I have a very heavy plastic box, in which I store bird seed, and on investigation, I discovered that the little buggers had chewed a hole right through one corner of it, and had been having a lovely time feasting on its contents. So, ready for garbage day, I dumped all the seed and washed the deck. Well. This morning, they obviously came looking for their usual cafeteria options, and not finding any, had what obviously passes for a rodent hissy fit. There were droppings ALL OVER the deck. My tomato plant has been completely stripped (about 8 ripening tomatoes gone). They'd been into a hanging flower basket, ripped bits out of it and tossed them all over the place. It was "Take THAT, human - this is what you get for depriving us of yummy bird seed!" I think tonight I may put Clio the cat on guard duty. She's always telling me she wants to stay outside at night - well she can have her carpetted cat house in a dry corner and hang out there. Let her earn her keep for a while.
Meanwhile, indoors, I've been having a Fall invasion of cupboard moths. When I began to feel like a wrangler for a horror movie every time I opened a cupboard door, I decided it was time to have a purge of old cracker boxes, forgotten bags of nuts meant for cooking or whatever. While I was at it, I had a condiment purge, as well, pouring buckets of old teriyaki sauce, walnut oil and goodness knows what else down the sink and chucking all the bottles in my spare recycling box. There was a lovely sort of Oriental soupy smell in the kitchen and now my shelves are clean, organized and moth-free. A very satisfactory way to spend the morning.
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It also sounds very much like Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Two Bad Mice, one of my favorite Potter tales. If the comparison holds, they'll be back to clean your place up periodically.
Coincidentally, I'm home today waiting for the exterminator because something has chewed its way in through my wall under the kitchen sink. I'll likely blog about it later.
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I wouldn't want to throw Clio out to the less than tender mercies of a raccoon, though.
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Quite. Raccoon poop looks a bit like cat poop.
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I was imagining a raccoon /cat confrontation that would look something like the fights in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: furry mammals suspended in the air, spinning and kicking in slo-mo, balancing impossibly on the tips of your rosebushes. There's a great cartoon in there somewhere.
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On reflection, I think I don't want to risk Clio. I may even have to call in an exterminator...