HOME INVASION!
Our house is on a floodplain (not a
floodway which is scary stuff). Therefore it has to be on a mound which is above a one in one hundred year flood (Considering records have been kept for about 100 years here, thats a real comfort... not to worry, I can swim.
floodway which is scary stuff). Therefore it has to be on a mound which is above a one in one hundred year flood (Considering records have been kept for about 100 years here, thats a real comfort... not to worry, I can swim.The house though, on top of the mound is flat to the ground which worked so well for Don's wheelchair... no bumps.
There ia a tidal creek behind the house, which is a bit overgrown with people's offcuts from the years before... but its a creek. A bit smelly at low tide but I make sure people know its not the toilet... we have an econocycle sewage system and it works well. Also our own tank water and solar hot water...
thats not the point... I digress.
Its 90%humidity here most days of late, in summer. Its been raining almost non stop since January. Things that creep and crawl and pounce and jump and fly are searching for higher ground. Not even game to look in the shed today... it stays shut till I get the tractor slasher in to mow the 3ft high grass which hides all the snakes (no joke).
Never been bitten at 53 so no worries.
The other night about 3am I woke up to the sound of a scratching, chewing sort of noise. Turned on the lights... nothing.
Back to bed. It kept going. I figured it was outside and small so go to sleep.
When I opened the big sliding screen door (luckily I had shut the galss door... down the bottom was a hole aout as round and big as a bread and butter plate... THROUGH THE SCREEN!... all the bits of it were everywhere and the boggest rat poos or something all about.... Something was trying hard to get in... must have been awfully disappointed... a bit freaky... screen fixed and just have to hope that it learned how futile it was to chew holes in our house....
Till I got it fixed had to keep the glass door shut so none of the red bellied black snakes we have slid in as they have done...
And I love this place we found. In the early morning I walk down to the front fence for the paper about an acre, the mist lays low and the sun touches everything so gently in almost makes me cry. The old red dog just watches me after walking a bit with me... and then comes to me as I get back... he's not really up to extra walking these days. There is a peace, worth the spiders and snakes and rats... Don and I lived together in a sort of solitude which we liked, and I see no reason to change. People are for outside and that works for me.
So rat traps etc to be bought.. have to hope its not a small possum or bandicoot or some other such just desparate for a warm night.
9 comments:
Ugh -- no thanks to the rodents. We had rats in the attic in a rental house once ... creeped me out. A friend told me to think of them as "squirrels with skinnier tails". Did NOT work. Your place sounds gorgeous.
I wonder if it was a wombat or something Therese?
You know, gro3wing up in the country us kids weren't ever scared of snakes or anything. We just went out and played in the grass, on the mounds of rocks (the area wasn't called Rockbank for nothing!) and well, we never got bitten. Wearing the right footwear all year round, when walking to the bus stop in Summer ,before the grass was burned back by the CFA ..we would walk with a stick and bang it on the ground to ward of snakes. We would leave said sticjk on the ground ready for our return journey from the bus stop to home then.
We too had a septic tank, yes, it could smell sometimes...but I guess we learned to live with it. Nothing like plunging the tank when something was stuck in the loo, haha.
I loved where I grew up, and I am green with envy you live where you do. It is your piece of Heaven on Earth..and it has Don all over it too. You will be fine
how do you do it?? i hate the mice in the winter that try to find warmth... i'd go crazy!
More Cowbell - with rats its the nuisance value the most...they chew through wiring and stink when they ie ...how dare they... our daughter had a pet one called Cloud and he was lovely, clean as and very intelligent.
Cazzie, Same here... I was just gobsmacked at how much it had chewed through. I have a big strong stick at the side door which is the main one. I really don't worry about it, but it does give our foreign visitors a bit of a thrill... mentioning our wildlife huh.
Coty mouse - see above Citymouse...we are a pack of twisted people down under. We love to tell stuff like this...but its all true anyway.
We hear horror stories about your Aussie snakes and stuff.Life is an adventure ain't it!
Happy hunting MC!
leave an apple?
if it's a possum/bandicoot, the apple will be eaten.
snakes eat frogs and small lizards, so don't leave any of those out ...
Yes, it sure does give them a thrill, we have a Germaqn girl here wsith us at the moment and the first thing she said to me as we went to sit outside and enjoy a BBQ was, "Should I wear my shoes?" I asked her why and her innocent reply was, "The creepy crawlies, the wildlife of course"
Ah yes, the dreaded snakes...but the country is worth the risk for sure. A peace you cannot find elsewhere; a bit of freedom no city has to offer.
We are going to have floods here when all the snow melts, which is soon. We are safe for now, but I expect mud slides from many a mountain in these parts.
To watch the sun rise, the birds sing their morning songs, the mist as you say, rising up, sounds beautiful...how glorious MC!
I extend my heart and love to you....hugs
what a wonderful place, mc. as for snakes, it's the two-legged variety you gotta be careful of, not the ones you mention. you know where you are with real snakes.
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