Soon, Buddy is going to be eating at the table. He is so cute; I bet you enjoy having him stop by. As for other critter guests it appears that you have thought out a good plan of action and thought past the just dispatching them part. Hope you never need to use your traps though!!

One time I was tied to a log dock in British Columbia. When I arose in the AM I looked in my SS sink and there looking up at me fearfully, all aquiver, with his little nose and entire body shaking in fear, was a deer mouse with bright, round eyes, white belly and a long furless tail. Apparently he had snuck aboard by way of dock line and in his quest for food, shelter or love, fallen into my sink. He was trapped. Now I am not afraid of mice. So I carefully picked him up by his tail and on the dock saw a nice nest of floatsum. There I placed him and as he ran off I know he said thank you. Sir. So before I left I gave him a soda cracker and a bit of cheese for his daily rations. I hope he found it and true love on his log dock. Which I did not. It was raining. 1Sunseeker

Sorry, I intered the previous post twice and can't figure out how to delete one. A cheaper way to rid your self of rodents is to take a plastic pail and puncture two sides. Up near the top. Run a piece of dowel rod thru one hole have a piece of PVC that fits over the dowel rod and will rotate. The rod carries on through the next hole. The PVC must rotate freely. Then in the center of the PVC place a dab of peanut butter or other sticky bait. Fill water in the pail but below the rod and PVC. Rat/mouse will trot across the rod to the PVC and when he/she starts across the PVC for a bit of bait the PVC rotates and drops him/her into the water. Now if he/she drowns you can just empty the pail overboard and some fish will have a snack. If he/she is still paddling around either dump or dingy away to a new location and relocate the unwanted guest. This worked for me.

I get chills just thinking about those things. Remember the bat?!? That was another episode I would rather forget.

http://janice142.com/Articles/GoingBatty.html

There have been trials. Mosquitoes are the worst though. Screens help in that regard. So too does anchoring far enough away from mud flats. There are these flying vampires (basically wings with teeth) known as noseeums. Pronounced no-see-ums, the live up to their name.

They are small enough to fly through screens without slowing down. That's when having an oil lantern that burns citronella can be a life saver. Spraying the screens with bug repellent helps too.

Down here life processes at a slow pace. Cold weather takes away my motivation to do much. I am reading. My kindle is a serious addiction. Then there is a tablet with WiFi that has opened up the whole world of YouTube to me! I am enjoying that immensely. So much to do...

Got back from Earth Fare grocery store, a tale of woe times two!, all ready to go anchor in my cove. Then a neighbor laughed at me. I had not realized it was a weekend. Boating in a metropolis such as here is not for the faint of heart on weekends. Been there, done that, and frankly it is not a whole lot of restfulness! Folks that only have two short days to use their boats are all too often in a hurry. I am old. I do not do any form of Hurry!

Thanks Pam for your comment. Your friend in the south, J.

You did well captain. Mice don't seem quite so intimidating as rats. I'm glad you saved him. The best part seems to be that he was not able to cause destruction before being trapped.

I remember decades ago we got a rat in the bilge of our 40'er. It was serious and the beast did a lot of damage in the few days it took to trap him. He chewed some wires. And Tupperware in the galley too. Ugh.

Aboard Seaweed I have been fortunate. Except for mosquitoes and a couple of mullet (fish, about a foot long) that jumped into my cockpit, well life is good.

The info on how to make a trap is great. I'm going to put an addendum to the article as not everyone reads comments. It is great information captain. Thank you.

And thank you for the comments too. I appreciate your efforts. J.

Here in the Salish Sea we do not have no-see-ums. We do have Mosquitoes but is seems only when you anchor near fresh water. Nor do we have chiggers, nor ticks, nor snakes with poison fangs. We do have rain, this winter a lot of it. Last summer we did not have much rain so we had forest fires. Big ones. Some of the big fires in BC sent their smoke down South to the point the air was not fit for breathing. I held my breath a lot and developed a nagging cough. I have only seen rats around docks where there is food for them. Like fish entrails. We are supposed to have Black Widow and Brown Recluse spiders but I have never seen one. I have seen our whales, lots of them. Fun to look at but they have BAD breath so be upwind when they spout. As I write this in the comfort of my little home, propane heat on, it is raining. Still. Sid

Yes, I do remember the bat! That would be like having a mouse on board that could fly in every direction at once. Fun time for you. :)

I had no idea that whale breath would be so bad. Now that on think about it though that makes perfect sense. Pelican spit is probably similar.

Note: It is ALWAYS a good idea to wear a hat where pelicans congregate. Pelican spit consists of half-digested fish and, well, it an experience one does not want to endure first hand. There are two rules for bird watching.
1) Wear a hat, andWhen looking up keep your mouth shut!

Whales are fascinating. I look forward to spotting some again one day. Upwind preferably, thanks to your advice Cap'n Sid.

Thanks for the note. J.

As of today I have two fewer traps than I did yesterday. It is a short story (pictures to follow) however suffice it to say, having traps aboard my boat was a definite boon to a neighbor.

Said neighbor invited me up to his house. He heard noise and we traced it to behind his laundry room outside. Thankfully OUTSIDE.

I went back to Seaweed and retrieved a couple of mouse traps. They worked! I'm glad I had them on hand.

Thanks for your comment Pam. I added it to my aphorisms file because it made me smile. Thanks girl! J.

Glad you smiled! :)