Hot Rods UNINVITED OVERNIGHT VISITOR IN THE SHOP

Sorta like a episode of the Twilight Zone, imagine if you will...

I was in and out of the garage yesterday working on the old beater doing some maintenance in preparation for the upcoming ALL DEUCE RUN, I had all the roll up doors open and with a approaching storm the winds were getting up and a rain band was threatening, I was about finished with what I was doing just; as the skies opened up, I didn't waste any time getting the shop closed up and made a mad dash for the house.

This morning I went out to the shop to finish a couple of loose ends, I turned on the lights and the radio , I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye.

I thought what the heck is that? I got down on my hands and knees to look under the sedan, I found the intruder and it was a big ass opossum hissing at me.

He must have been looking for food or a dry place to weather the storm, whatever the reason he wasn't invited and about as soon as I open the door on the back of the shop he quickly left. HRP

 

They have some mean looking teeth!

 

I had a similar thing happen to me, but mine was a raccoon that sneaked in. Next time out to my shop there was stuff all over the place and the gable end vent was ripped out! That was its escape route. I guess that's part of living in the country.

 

you ain't joking! HRP

 

Hello,
Electronic devices that hit the ultrasound level of animals have kept us critter free for many years. No rats, mice, or larger critters inside of our garage or house. The small lizards don't get affected, but they run free all over So Cal and our yard. Our little dog does not get affected at those sound levels, either.

Our neighbor has mice and in his backyard/roof and yard, his critter group includes Racoons, Opposums and Skunks. But, for the reasons above, the larger critters do not come into our "close to the house" backyard or garage. They certainly do not live in the attic either. The carefully placed ultrasonic devices have kept us critter free in this last house.

Jnaki
In our old house with a two car garage, there were mouse traps and all sorts of critters wandering all over our yard. It made nice movies and photos for our toddler son, but not nice when they left remnants of their nightly prowls. Ultrasound devices were not around back then.

Now, we do not see any of them, but can hear them if we are outside late at night, on our neighbors trees and roof tops. Now, if someone can invent a device that makes frogs go away, that is our next purchase. Neighbors have water fountains and water ponds, as well as pools, so that attracts all sorts of animals, including the invading frogs. There are no water features in our yard as we turned our 3 level fountain into 3 different, but, separate concrete succulent gardens instead of a water noise.

Even thought they work inside of hot rods and truck cabs as well as whole garages/attics, it is your choice to use ultrasonic devices. Also, they somehow do not affect the big pack of coyotes that run behind our backyard fence and have attacked our neighbor's dogs at will. They must be wired differently than racoons, skunks and oppossums.

But, for some, they just don't like those ultrasonic devices and continue to pick up dead animals in traps with bulging eyes straining to get out. Definitely, it is anyone's choice to use them or not... and YRMV

 

Those damn things are mean sob's.

 

I have heard that they taste like ‘Chickn.

 

I walked into the shop one afternoon, and the back door had been open all day. Saw a movement, and there was a 3-point (Western count) buck standing there, who had walked through between the 56 Bird and the Deuce truck, all the way to the front, and was checking out the Indian. I stopped, and he didn't spaz out, just nonchalantly walked back out the way he came in. Pests, they are, always hanging around

 

Trapped a groundhog ,that was making it's way under the side of my shop, vicious fucker ,I was afraid to go near the trap , LOL.
I have a couple of ultra sonic plug in devises in my shop ,never have seen a mouse.
I hear if you build a plywood box the trap fits in and the exhaust from the car , Tames them down pretty quick .

 

Same problem here mean gene

 

My best friend growing up lived across the street from my parents house .

we came home from the bar one night in a taxi quite drunk and not wanting the night to end .
Bert opened his garage door and we grabbed a few beers out his dads beer fridge .

Sitting on the driveways drinking when an opossum walked up the driveways and into the garage !!

he poked around for over an hour then walked out and away he went ! Lol.


Ugly buggers , but they don’t spread rabies or Lyme disease and kill all sorts of unwanted critters .

still ugly buggers !

 

When it comes to uninvited visitors to the garage, it is usually me, snooping at my neighbors. He does nice work.

 

Hmmm......I know some car guys that are kinda ugly, with gnarly teeth. Gotta wonder if he was possibly a HAMB'r coming over for a visit

 

Man, that could have went bad in so many ways had you startled the deer. HRP

 

I used to have a gecko that would come into my shop and sit on the fender of my 47 Ford and watch me work on it! Does that count?

 

When it comes to shop security, this cat isn't worth a hoot!

 

I found a mummified possum in a barn clean out, guess the heat was just right and he was preserved under the body of a 1930 Ford Roadster Pickup. Posted his photo, then deleted it, he is a conversation starter out in the garage.

 

Do you guys remember Chaz? he was visited with great regularity by what he called a shop rabbit, Ithink they nemed him scouper and it was said the rabbit acted like the shop was his home. HRP

 

Meet Mr. Happy Pants. He's the reason I started keeping my shed door closed when I wasn't out in the back yard. RIP.

 

Possums are definitely scary but if you want to find religion, try hearing rattles under your bench that are connected to a 40" snake.....
I didn't get pictures.

 

I don’t blame you one bit!

 

Danny, I was in the shop one day last Fall and heard someone or something coming down the alley. Looked up and here was a six point buck. Now that would be no big deal if I lived out in the country but I live right in town, a town of about 55,00 folks! He was as non-chalant as could be. I grabbed my camera and managed to get a photo after he passed by.

 

We get armadillo and possum here.

Armadillos are not particularly bright, they just wander around and dig up the flower beds and poop everywhere. They would occasionally get in round the back of the shed, sheltered under the car out back.

The possum hang out under the back deck of the house. There was a big one that would just trot along the top of the fence, give a nonchalant glance without stopping and carry on.

They got upset when my dog caught one of the babies though (was about the same size as a kitten), managed to seperate the two because she had just grabbed it by the fur on its back. It ran off into the corner and hissed at her. Bark bark bark!

 

Went out one morning a while back and had a coon laying under my work table in the carport. He had been unlucky, got hit by a car crossing the highway and couldn't hold up his rear end or use his back legs much. The wife being the animal lover she is, called the state game wardens office to see what was the best way to get rid of him. She didn't want the grandson to go out there and try to play with it and get bit because coons are bad to carry rabies. I ended up putting it out of it's misery just like I was going to do to start with, a quick head shot with my .22.

 

Had a raccoon take up residence in my garage a number of years back. I found him backed into the corner I under the bench. They get ugly cornered. Everyone gave me advice like leave the lights on all night and leave a radio on loud. After three days, still there. Finally went in with the garden hose on with a nozzle on a hard stream. I soaked him/her all the way until out the door and it finally left.

On another occasion, I had a cricket (big deal right?) who would talk with me when I went out in the evening to work on my project. Found where he lived and it was kind of cool to visit with “Davey” and watch him make his music.

 

Had the shop all opened up one hundred degree day after it started to cool off, shop got down to a nice 65-70. Closed up the shop, the back man door into the she shed part of the shop then closed the interior door to the she shed. Next day came home from work and started to open things up again and was greeted by a small Rattlesnake when I opened the door to the she shed! It snuck in on the cool concrete the night before to cool off and I trapped it in the room. Boy it was pissed!

 

Know why the chicken crossed the road ??
Show the raccoons and skunks it can be done !!

 

I used to have some raccoons that would hang out in the rafters of my shed. They still come up at night to eat the cat's food, but don't hang out in the rafters anymore.

 

I had a problem with Armadillo’ in my yard that backs up to a wooded area. They dig holes looking for food and also for dens. Supposedly they carry disease's and drove the dog crazy and wife wanted them gone. City frowns on discharging fire arms in city limits so I started live trapping and removing them to another area about two miles from the house. Pretty docile but have big claws. In process also caught a few possums which were also relocated. They are not aggressive but sure look mean showing teeth and hissing.