A few days ago I went into the powershed to see that:
a) I’d left my toolbox open, and
b) sockets were scattered all over the place and several were missing.
I’ve known from the clutter for some time that I had a packrat in there. I try to relax about them as long as they’re not chewing through my food tubs and pissing on my bulk food, but stealing my damned sockets is the last frickin’ straw. I’m bad enough about losing them without help from an overgrown mouse.
Well, this afternoon I found the missing ones.
The tub that goes in there contains more than 100 pounds of rice and pinto beans, the food I hope will never be eaten. If you make me move it, we are no longer friends.
You may be sure I was wearing gloves and a mask as I sorted through this pile of crap looking for my shinies.
Wow. What possible use would rodent have for a socket?
Just shiny, I guess.
In areas where it grows packrats will use pieces of cactus to defend their homes and trails. Looks like yours doesn’t have much access to that kind of armament. I’Ve seen packrat dens in the wild entirely covered with Teddy-Bear Cholla – and I’ve seen a few cars and other shelters taken over by packrats that were easier to approach with a shovel and tongs because of the cactus. As much of a PITA that they are I can’t help but find their behavior pretty understandable – other than the larceny and squatting, I suppose. They’re a constant around here and to change that would change this place enough that I might not like it. Packrats will assume anything that resembles a ceiling and walls in their scale is an apartment waiting to happen once it doesn’t move for a few days. Knowing what I know about their behavior I just try to make sure not to let them get to my shinies! I’ve only trapped a few serious offenders – live and otherwise – but they’re a numerous bunch. It’d take some bad-ass barn cats to make much of a dent in the population – an imperfect solution for me.
One thing that can help a bit is that they don’t like light. (they’re generally nocturnal) I’ve rigged solar LED marker lights to shine in engine compartments with the panels on the hood or roof – just put as much (within reason) small gauge wire between the two components as needed. Some solar lights are easier to do this with than others. You could fab it from parts but the solar marker lights are cheap and have all the parts but the speaker wire. Doing all this doesn’t mean that at some point the packrat won’t chew though the wires though!
D-CON liberally applied to your powershed will end the thefts but you’ll have to remove the dead rats – with gloves and a mask. Rats carry so many diseases and have fleas and mites. Why would you want a walking, thieving disease reservoir around to infect you and your animals?
Thanks to this post’s title, I now have Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” going through my head.”HEY! PACKRAT! Leave those tools alone….”
That would have been a much better title, now that you say it.