Hot Rods UNINVITED OVERNIGHT VISITOR IN THE SHOP

We've always had a neighborhood opossum since I've lived here. Neighbor behind me works in the local Ace Hardware and I talk to him when I go there to pick up fasteners or tools. One visit he told me the opossum came into the house through their cat door. Haha

Joe

 

For some reason the local Garter snake population seems to enjoy my sheetmetal racks. Probably just because it's a good place to hide. The air nozzle chases them out without harm. Our biggest fear around here is the black bears which visit town on a regular basis raiding trash cans. I've become pretty cautious leaving the shop after dark.

 

Growing up in the rural South we lived off the land and I ate more than my fare share of deer, rabbits & squirrels, possum was never on the menu. HRP

 

Damn, I’d be loading the .06!

 

The one in the pic was about 475 lbs. I'm pretty sure I'd lose....., positively no shooting in the Borough!

 

After reading some of the responses I should consider myself lucky to only find a possum, finding a rattle snake like Tman or a bear roaming around in my yard like Koz would scare the living crap outta me. HRP

 

This has absolutely nothing to do with the garage but about 20 years ago my neighbor across the street called and ask me where did that camel in your front yard come from, I started laughing because I thought she was drunk, she insisted I look out the window and sure enough there was a single hump camel eating grass in my front yard, he or she was dragging a rope but I wasn't going to get near the animal, All I could think to do, was call 911 and they connected me with the high sheriff's office.

It seem's that there was a small circus set up in a grocery store parking lot about 3 miles away and over night the camel got loose, it had been reported missing and it had been sighted early that morning less than a mile from my house.

There was a officer and a circus truck in my drive way in less than 20 minutes, the camel had moved to the back yard and the guys with the circus had him loaded up in the truck pretty quick, we did get 4 tickets for helping them find the camel. HRP

 

Let me tell you about wildlife here in Louisiana! I have opossums, racoons, as well as coyotes
running rampant throughout our urban area. I have trapped countless racoons and opossums
over the years. I relocate them to a wooded area near the Mississippi River. It makes little difference
I may interrupt their local society for a period, however most assuredly after a few months and some breeding
periods they always reappear. I recently trapped an opossum and hauled it to wooded area for release.
I hopped out of my truck leaving the door open and dropped the tailgate. Opening the trap facing off of the
tail gate it exploded out of the trap like a Kentucky race horse! Off the truck and away is the normal pattern for these guys upon release. This one ran under the truck instead. I went to get back in the truck only to
see the little shit trying to regain access to my truck. I grabbed his tail and a heated tug of war contest
began in earnest! I did not want injure the critter, but was determined not allow him to gain entrance
back into the truck. I finally dislodged him and he scurried away into the bush. Some passing jogger
type folks found this quite amusing. New Orleans and the surrounding areas have multitudes of these varmints literally everywhere.

 

Walked in my garage one day and felt an unwelcome tickle across my head and neck.



This particular type of alligator lizard has an amazingly long tail. This guy used to hang around (literally) quite a bit.

Now he's been replaced with geckos. Geckos everywhere. It's nice to have a little company in the garage and I don't have black widows in there anymore.

 

He used to hang around my garage too until he got famous with the insurance gig. I heard he hooked up with Flo and they bought a ranch in Wyoming.

 

Outside of an occasional woods rabbit and black snake my only other garage animal was our yellow house cat,Roxan. I always leave the drivers door window rolled down and she would jump off the rear tire into the window, on to the seat to go to sleep. She was my garage supervisor for 17 years. She passed away 1 month ago and we miss her very much. She loved this old coupe as much as I do..........

 

I like having some wild life around,kind of gives me relaxed feeling an some too watch now an then.
In 1965 I got a house for my new wife n I,at the time kind of at the far west end of Bird Road/sw 40th st. The is the same road,I grew up at on the east end in Coconut Grove Fla.{ about 20miles}. I liked it,as the lot had a fresh water canel{ part of Snapper Creek running along as back side of my lot.
Back in 65,the Everglades was really only a few blocks east of me then. Now develipments have gone up west of me,too the point of hole towns are now active for the next 10miles,were Everglades had been.
I have let a far amount of tree growth happen along my creek edge,an so a good number of creatures find it home.
I get turtles, an now n then a Gator come up mu boat ramp,all types of birds. Less rackoons n Possumms now days,ducks sre too many,with a few Iquana< who don't belong,but to late now.
Most of my own car building has always been done in this same back year{ I added a slap/padio in 1972,that was better then working in the grass. Then a 2 car rear garage,adding to the front 1 car,the house came with.
The crains n the duck will site around watching to see me get out from under a hotrod,to beg for any hand out they can talk me out of.` Today the creek is up with about 3 feet higher water then normal. Lot of rain south Fla. last few days.

 

Dana, I hope you don't have any alligators nosing around your garage. HRP

 

Had a bear walk down my driveway at my farm in Wisconsin this morning. Didn't get into my shop though.

 

Back in 1971,I had to call the gamewarden to remove a 11ft 6in. Gator who had desided to hunt my cat n dog nearly every day,good thing they were fast runners. So GW had to move Mr Gator maymiles away. Never came back.

 

I was taken by surprise when I walked out of the house to find Jack The Bear (named him after a Duke Ellington sing) drinking from the hummingbird feeder. He has been coming around every now and then for the past five years, got a number of pictures of him with my game camera. He's pretty big, but fortunately he scares off easy.

 

You win.

 

twice i have had a hummingbird in my garage they fly about for about ten minutes and then get tired and land on the wiring in the the rafters and you can walk over get on a ladder and pick them off the wire they sit in your hand for four or five minutes and then leave in a flash

 

I heard they taste like bald eagle

 

We went on a two week Bahama cruise and we got home just in time for me to go to the show in Piegon Forge, Tennessee.

I was really itching to see some friends and driving my hot rod, as I approached the garage I got a whiff of something dead, when I opened the door it was apparent the smell was coming from inside.damn did it stink so I closed the door,went in the house and started making phone calls.

I figured people that did fire & flood damage may be able to help, I called everybody in the book and one guy said he could help, I met him the next day and he went inside and found the dead animal, it turned out that it was my neighbors cat.

I don't know when the cat got in or how but I figure the cat had been in the garage for the whole time I was gone. I cost a couple of grand but the smell was gone and I never had the heart to tell my neighbor about her cat.

 

All of these critter stories have been fun to read.
But at least when they leave the beer fridge is not empty, and they don't want to borrow tools.......

 

A few years back I walked out my back door to see a 6 point buck come out of the woods near my barn. Watching him I noticed he was followed by a much bigger one with 12 points. They noticed me then, turned around and ran back into the woods.
My tenant used to walk his dog at 4am. Walked out with the dog, the dog was nosing around looking for the right spot
when a black bear walked out of the woods, across the yard into the next door yard and stole his bird feeder. Bear then walked back across my yard and into the woods. Dog never looked up.

 

I have a 22 sighted in at about 15 feet and it carries 22 shorts. You just have to get them out for a clear, safe shot. Some around here use a air rifle.

 

One night, my Mother in Law went out in her backyard to feed her outside cats. She left her glasses in the house and was complaining to the Father in Law that one of her cats had real corse fur and was hissing a lot. That’s when the FIL told her that she was petting a possum. Apparently they like dry cat food.

 

My wife called me at work. " I have a possum in the feed barrel in the barn, and I thinks its dead, how am I going to get it out of there?" I told her "its playing possum, they do that. Lay the barrel on its side and walk away for few minutes."

 

I just consider them all friends, the cats think it's one of their drunk uncle's or something, dropping in for a free meal I only eradicate the wasps and the horse flies

 

Had a possum get all comfy in a barn I was working out of. We called him Spiney.
Spiney would show up at odd times. He would watch us for hours and we did not mess with him except for one time I went to poke him on the nose and he yawned at me.
Never knew the outcome of ol Spiney, but I'm sure he had some good stories to tell his bros'.

 

Hey Mike, the state still has bounties on nutria rats last time I checked. Make a little gas $$ haha

Joe

 

Wife and I were sitting at the dining table at lunch today, looking out the double french door with the view to the back yard and the front edge of my back property. We see deer come up to the yard all the time, squirrels and chipmunks are common as well as a few rabbits and one red fox we see a few times a year. Today was different, had a couple of coyotes take a leisurely stroll right at the transition between where the cut lawn ends and where the higher grass starts. Wasn't time to get the rifle out and get out the back door before they were gone. May just have to move the rifle to the kitchen so I'll be ready next time....