"coffee with a canine," mice in the attic, and the seam repair

I was asked to participate in a Q & A by Marshal Zeringue at coffee with a canine, and decided it might be fun.   He asked questions and I supplied the answers and photos, and our Q & A posted today.

I don't usually take or post photos of myself, but his site is set up to start the Q & A with a photo of the dog and owner, so this is the one I sent.  I had taken it last week, so it was fortunate I had a current shot.  The post has a little information about Katie and me that I haven't shared here - please check it out at Barbara Dewell & Katie!  Thanks Marshal for including me and Katie on your site!  :)

Our latest ISSUE is mice in the attic.  Remember when I posted that the Mountain Bluebirds have been waking me up at 5:30 a.m. every morning by running around on the roof?  Well... turns out it wasn't the birds running around outside.

"You blaming ME for all that racket?"

Beautiful male Mountain Bluebird

As beautiful as he is, his family is not the problem.

Yesterday morning I was again awakened around 5:30 a.m. by the sound of feet running around over the ceiling and PEEPING SOUNDS.  It was obvious a nest was there, and the babies had been born.  I didn't know if it was the birds nesting there, since they were around so much, or if we had mice.  I did some on-line research and emailed Andy Baird and Hazel.

I went outside at around 6 a.m. and walked away from the rig a bit and watched.  No birds at all.  I saw a couple of neighboring RVers taking a walk and they stopped and we talked for a while, and I continued to keep watch on the roof.  No birds at all in the area of the rig, but I did see the bluebirds flying in another area away from The Palms.

When I went back inside, the running around was still going on intermittently, and there were still "peeps" coming from the ceiling near where the antenna is located.  That's when I knew it had to be a nest of mice up there between my ceiling and roof.  I've had mice before, and found a nest once, but never overhead and never babies.  NOT A GOOD THING, for sure!

I checked my e-mail and Hazel had sent a message back that it was unlikely the birds were up there, since they already had an established nest.  Andy had also e-mailed back, offering his help and a tip that I might want to get some Fresh Cab.  He had a couple of packets I could use, or if I wanted to go into town, he sent me the location of a store that carried it.  He uses it in his storage compartments, and it would fit in my ceiling space.

This is what it looks like - it's all natural, and it's the odor that keeps the rodents away.  The smell is a cedar/mint combo that is not at all offensive to people.   There are 4 packets to a box and it cost me $17.99 here in town at Big R.  I looked it up on-line, and it's available at Amazon.com for $14.99 if you are interested in checking it out.  I've included a link to the right under "The Blogs I Follow" that you can click to get to the page with the $14.99 price.  I have a bag of traps and sticky pads and poisons, but I'd rather repel them than kill the little critters.

I decided to move to another site, and hopefully, as happened at Rockhound State Park, I would leave the mice behind.  I first went into town and got some Fresh Cab and when I got back to the park, I chose a campsite in another area.  I took off the little round A/C vent on the ceiling nearest to the peeping noises, which were now quiet, and put the Fresh Cab over the ceiling panel, and screwed the vent back on.

I haven't heard any noises at all since then, and this morning was able to sleep in until 8 a.m., as usual.  Either I left the Mom mouse at the old campsite and the newborn mice died from heat and no water above the ceiling, or the odor of the Fresh Cab drove the whole family out of The Palms.  Either way, I think the problem is solved.  I put another packet of Fresh Cab behind the drawer under the stove, which has been a popular place for mice in the past, so hopefully I won't be having any other infestations.  This is the fourth time in two years I've had mice inside The Palms, much more than I've read other people having.

Last, but certainly not least, The Seam Repair.

So...  :)    The other day Andy came over after I had cleaned off all the silicone from the seam split I had fixed last year.

The area was clean, and he took out the screw holding the corner piece in place and replaced it with a wider, longer screw, adding Gorilla Glue to the sides of the screw so it would expand when in place.  Screwing in the longer screw brought the split together part way.

He then brought it as far as it would come using a clamp to pull both sides together.  With the glue he had placed on the screw and in that area, we hoped when the clamp was removed it would stay.

We let it set, and that evening he came back and removed the clamp, and it stayed in place.

Per Andy's instructions, I had cut down the EternaBond to the correct size, and when he came back, he again cleaned the area and placed the EternaBond over the entire corner area.  Waaaa Laaaa!

It worked, looks great, and should be a much better fix than the Silicone that only lasted a year.

Thanks, Andy!  Not only did you DO the fix for me, I learned how to properly repair an outside split and next time I'll be able to do a proper job myself.  :)

A couple of House Finches in the yard this morning:

I hope everyone is having a nice Memorial Day.  I've watched a few shows that brought tears to my eyes this weekend, and want to remember all our fallen heroes for sacrificing their lives for our protection and safety here in The United States of America.

From Me and Katie, have a wonderful Memorial Day, everyone!  :)