Van Spare Tire Mount Finished Up and The Rat Report

Thursday November 16, 2022 Guerneville CA.

Van work on the spare tire mount

I had the new spare tire extension bracket ready to get welded on the mount. I needed a way to hold the parts accurately so the spare tire would fit on the bolts. I used clamps and magnets to get the thing in the right spot and not fall off.

The first extension is setup and ready to tack on for welding up.

All welded up and ready to get cleaned up and then I applied a coat of black paint to finish it off.

I put the spare tire on to check the fit. Fits good.

I backed the van out into the sun to help the paint dry and put away the tools in the work area that I’d used to get the job done.

Avocados

So I thought the red squirrel was eating my avocados and it was.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,But.

If they like it and eat it all, I find the seed on the ground. But if they don’t like it, like if it’s not ripe enough, I find these slightly sampled ones which I found this morning.

Here’s the red squirrel coming down the tree which my trail cam got.

But the trail cam also captured this. They were going up and down most of the night.

That isn’t no bushy tail there, eh.

So, I think I’m not going to get many of those avocados this year.

Rat report

I watched the rats at the bait station last night. I’d put two more cubes of bait out that I”d smashed up coarsely in the container on the left. They seemed to like that best and ate most of it. I refilled that with two more smashed cubes of bait. None have touched the cubes on the right.

Some thoughts on the subject

It seems what I’ve done is establish a safe feeding station that they seem to trust, so they are taking the bait. But it also seems like they have an imprint of the green cubes and aren’t eating them, maybe something they are born with as it seems to be pretty universal as none have messed with the cubes. Only a couple mice tried them a bit, but just barely.

I also think that how good the bait works or not might have something to do with just how much food they have to eat in the area. I think they are more likely to eat more bait if that’s about all they have to eat in an area and also how many other rats and critters they have to compete with for food might have something to do with it too. There’s lots to eat around here, fruit and wild acorns and vegetables just to name a few things.

So now that I’ve been able to increase the amount of green bait they are eating, maybe I’ll see some action, er, I mean less action. :O)

Nice day.