That’s a packrat nest!
Or perhaps more accurately a whole series of them, raked together after I pulled up the floor of the old woodshed yesterday. I killed well over a dozen rats in this area over the winter, since the space between the shed and the Lair was by far the most productive kill zone. Packrats like wood piles, I guess.
Will Blog for ISP Time, Glaucoma Meds, or Cheap Booze.
Free! (and worth every penny)
Scary Manifesto that keeps getting pushed down on the sidebar by filthy capitalism!
They say that Louis XIV had the inscription Ultima Ratio Regum cast into all the cannon of the French Army. It means “The Ultimate Argument of Kings,” and that always struck me as one of the most honest and up-front things any ruler or would-be ruler ever said. “We can dress it up prettier than this, but when it comes down to the unvarnished truth this is what it’s about: You’ll do as I say or I’ll send my goons to kill you.”
I thought about that for a long time. If there’s an ultimate argument, it seems only logical that there must be an ultimate answer. For years I thought the ultimate answer must be the bullets in my rifle, but it never seemed quite right. I’ve got bullets – he’s got frigging Cannon Balls. I mean, if there were three hundred million rifles throwing bullets at him, then maybe. But we all know that’s not going to happen. So if there’s an ultimate answer to his ultimate argument, it sure as hell ain’t bullets.
It finally came to me – and that’s when I abandoned the city and most of my stuff, and gave all that was behind me a good stiff Randian Shrug.
The ultimate answer to kings is not a bullet, but a belly laugh.
Our Founder
Our Late Editor
Little Bear 2009-2018
Our Late Cattle Wrangler
Laddie the Amazing Torso Boy 2011-2020
Blogroll
- 357 Magnum
- 5 Acres and a Dream
- 90 Miles From Tyranny
- A Day in the Life of a Talk Radio Blogger
- Adaptive Curmudgeon
- Armed & Non-Violent
- Bayou Renaissance Man
- Bill St. Clair
- Borepatch
- Carl Bussjaeger
- Claire Wolfe
- Commander Zero
- Dio's Workshop
- Eaton Rapids Joe
- Forgotten Weapons
- Freeholder
- Home on the Range
- Instapundit
- Irons in the Fire
- James Zachary
- Kent McManigal
- Nails and Sawdust
- Never Yet Melted
- Resistance Library
- Say Uncle
- The Price of Liberty
- The Smallest Minority
- The View from North Central Idaho
- The Vulgar Curmudgeon
- The War on Guns
- The Zelman Partisans
- True Blue Sam
- View from the Porch
- Weer'd World
- Wendy McElroy
- You will shoot your eye out
- Zendo Deb
Previous OPSEC Violations
Perhaps that might be a reason to locate the new woodshed away from the house and the Jeep?
Perhaps also with some sort of packrat-unfriendly floor? Patio stone or solid blocks come to mind. Yes, yes I know. It all costs money.
Well, yes/no. The issue with the woodshed’s location isn’t money at all, but convenience. I know I’m not the only person here who heats with wood, so feel free to jump in with other opinions, but I like my woodshed as close to the stove as I can get it without actually moving it indoors. And of course the area where the firewood is processed for storage needs to be convenient to the woodshed, and the area where wood is stacked for processing needs to be convenient to that, and so it goes. At least in my case, I end up with this sizable space devoted to screwing around with firewood and it’s all – but especially the woodshed – attractive to packrats.
As to the floor – I could easily build a woodshed floor that rats wouldn’t want to burrow under and it wouldn’t cost a dime. We’re up to our collective ass in shale here. That wouldn’t stop them from nesting in the stacks.
During the winter I have used a wheelbarrow or sled (when there is snow) to transport wood from wood pile, which is a respectable distance from my house. Seems to work OK. It’s also possible to have major pile away from the house, with a working small pile (too small for any nests) next to the house, to be re-supplied from the main pile when the weather is tolerable .