The weather has been so good here. Warm days, cool nights and mornings. We're definitely enjoying this area.
Jeanne kept seeing this Roadrunner and would text me, but I wasn't facing in the right direction to see him coming. Finally the other day he appeared right outside my dinette window and I was able to get a bunch of photos of him. He was pecking around on the ground when I snapped the first shot, and he must have heard it. He looked up at my window, craned his neck, looked right at me, and then walked on to the other side of The Palms and headed away from us. I love the first three shots:
Here's Katie hiding her chew toy. She always hides them very carefully after checking out a few spots, walks away, comes back and checks to see if they are still there, then picks them back up and jumps over to her blanket to chew them up. I love watching her trying to find a hiding place. She never leaves them hidden, so it must be something in her DNA telling her to hide them.
This is the spot she chose this time, under one of her blankets.
Then she pushes the blanket with her nose for a while to cover the chew toy.
The funny thing is, she NEVER gets the toy covered. I can still always see it. Poor Katie...
Now she's picked it up again.
Back to the corner of the couch where she eats all her treats and chew toys.
Katie gets one chew toy a day. We have a couple of different kinds, and she always finishes them. I wish she would make them last a few days. Her BIG treat of the day. Mostly her treats are good for her, her joint meds, which she thinks are treats, frozen green beans and baby carrots. She loves those, too.
Not a whole lot going on - I seldom take out my camera any more, but I have a few things to post in the coming days. I'm starting to bring the camera on walks again.
Oh, yeah, and I've caught six mice. Some in The Palms, some in the engine. I've pretty much spread snap and glue traps across the inside of the engine and in front of and under my driver's seat. They get in through the engine into the driver's foot well, but I can't find the hole they are using. I got some fine steel wool and stuffed it into areas that looked like they might be openings, but the steel wool caught fire and I threw it outside quickly. Luckily nothing ignited except for the steel wool. I don't see any exposed wires up there, so I don't know what caused it to ignite. Spontaneous combustion? Scared the heck out of me, though, and I won't be doing that again.
One mouse did get into the cabin and left a bunch of calling cards, so the next night I had a runway of traps set out after Katie was in bed. Along the couch, along the rug/couch floor area, on the dinette seats, etc. He made quite a racket that night running all over the place, but I didn't catch him in the cabin. In the morning he was dead in a trap under the driver's seat, and I haven't heard anything since. I think I've gotten them, and we just moved again, so hopefully I've left them all behind. We'll see... Nothing gets your heart started like waking up to the patter of little feet in the middle of the night. One of the blessings of sleeping over the cab.
It's SUPER THIRD WEDNESDAY again - my favorite day of the month. $$$ From me and Katie, have a great day, everyone! :)
Love those birds. Especially the one with the crane neck. Scooter always wants to bury something if it's too warm. But she tries to cover it with the rug. Doesn't work. So if she glances away for a sec Skitz has it. I could not handle all the mice.
ReplyDeleteLove those birds. Especially the one with the crane neck. Scooter always wants to bury something if it's too warm. But she tries to cover it with the rug. Doesn't work. So if she glances away for a sec Skitz has it. I could not handle all the mice.
ReplyDeleteI was hysterical with laughter when a mousey came calling on us.... Not a good move with two cats on board.... Now how can we teach Katie, they are toys?
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ReplyDeleteYep third Wednesdays are wonderful for me too.
ReplyDeletePerhaps your fire was caused by arsonist mice?
ReplyDeleteCritters and birds can sure be entertaining. I love watching them and taking photos too. Congrats on the 3rd Wednesday!
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ReplyDeleteSomething to consider in the future: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=no+kill+mousetrap&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=90093726288&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7803526249931563694&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_vk31h5ak8_b
ReplyDeleteI like the Roadrunner pix!
ReplyDeleteLike your Road Runner photos & that little Katie reminds me so much of our departed little Motormouse. That is so cute how she hides her Chewys then hauls them out & chews them out. I bet those mice were smoking & accidentally set fire to things. It was nice to see you at Bloggerfest last January:))
ReplyDeleteSome animals in the wild still hide their stash of food for when they want to eat it a bit at a time. I think some dogs "remember" or have an instinct for this behavior. I think it's so cute. The roadrunner photos are so interesting. I treasure the photos I took of one of these birds several years ago.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about it being in Katie's DNA. Animals that chew bones naturally know to bury them in the dirt to find them softened because they had absorbed moisture from the ground.
ReplyDeleteIf you're getting away from taking pictures maybe you have to start traveling to other unexplored locations.
As for the rodent problem they might be coming in around the lower vents or around the wiring harnesses that pass through the Firewall between the cabin and engine compartment. Steel Wool does not just catch on fire but if it is grounded to bare metal and an exposed wire it will start to arc eventually causing a fire in the Palms. Keep searching for that bare wire for your own safety as well as Katie and the Palms.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Steel wool sometimes comes with a coating of oil to keep it from rusting. It's possible that's what ignited, but in any case not a happy thought!
ReplyDeleteAnd as to how mice move about; you may already know it, but just in case: you want to look not only for "holes" but cracks/slot-shaped openings. Mice can flatten their rib cages so much that the limiting factor in squeezing through openings becomes the skull size. If you've ever seen a mouses skull, they're not very deep, allowing the little pests to push through a slot no more than 1/4" deep. That's for common "house mice"; others have somewhat different depth skulls but in general all are shallow. So if you don't see a hole, check carefully for cracks, including rounded ones as around where wires go through. Also check, or have somebody do it, to be sure they are not coming up directly from the wheel area, some vehicles have a LOT of places for mouse highways. My son used to use some kind of colored vapor he sprayed up in there while someone watcheed the other side/sides for it.
Sarah
Haven't heard from you in a loooong time, so glad all appears well, cept for the poor dead mice!!! Haha, those roadrunners sure blend in don't they??
ReplyDeleteWell it might be time to bring a cat on board! Of course, having a cat up all night catching mice might interfere with your sleep.
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, I've read your blog from beginning to end, and enjoyed it immensely. I'm retiring the first of April (just 2 more weeks!) and will be doing some part-time RVing in my Minnie from my Mesa, AZ home base. I have really gotten a taste of what my travels on the road may be like from reading about your adventures. Thanks so much for sharing. Looking forward to maybe meeting you sometime.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed hearing from you. We love the area your at now, the Cottonwood, Sedona
ReplyDeleteareas. Haven't been back in over 3 years. A few pictures from Cottonwood would
be fun to see. I know the downtown must have changed a bit. Nice place.
Regarding the mice problem it would seem possible that a repair man for your
model of RV could give you some ideas on places they could be getting in.
Your braver than I would be..... Hopefully your readers will keep giving you
wisdom on this troublesome problem and some solutions. 😊
I have had luck with "GREAT STUFF Pestblock 12 oz Insulating Foam Sealant" (Amazon, Home Depot, etc). Have never tried it near the heat of the engine, however, but you might have luck with it if you plug the hole from the inside of your truck cab.
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