Hit the road Jack and never come back...

Yesterday, we caught rat with a tail number 2. Mr Animal Tracker man was here to collect and I told him when he first arrived that I SWEAR that there were two (including rat no 2) -

I told him that NO ONE believed me in the beginning and that when I heard the playing on Wednesday that there were sounds on both sides of the soffit at one time and I was betting that there were 2 playing...

VINDICATION once again... While he was here removing rat no 2 with a tail, he got to hear yet another one... Ah, being right feels so good (also knowing that I am not NUTS)!

So, here is the 'juvenile' removed yesterday

So now we are on the hunt for rat with a tail number 3 - 'it' was quite active after Mr Animal Tracker left yesterday - totally ticked off I presume...

The other cool thing was that he had located and confiscated a runaway Ball Python - they are smallish - 3 to 4' - Bree got to mess with it - NOT me.... It got loose in an apt when a guy was moving out and they couldn't find it - it was under the burners of the stove (in the ledge that separates the oven) - good thing someone didn't cook on the stove...

He also had a 'dead' brown bat, a couple of possums, and a raccoon in the back of his truck, and his trusty Golden Retriever mix, Max, in the back seat! The next door neighbor boys and Mom came over and the kids got a pretty decent science lesson on the evolution of snakes, the python breed, bats and the like - it was actually pretty neat (why I didn't take pictures is beyond me - I think I was just so happy to capture rat no 2 and know that he heard rat no 3 that I got sidetracked)... They got to see the snakes teeth, the pits in the upper lip that allow it to know where 'heat' is (think thermal imaging and how they find their prey in the dark) and where the feet have evolved off, etc.. Lots of info!

He sat on the lawn and conducted class - it was pretty funny looking back at it.

We seem to have a quiet weekend ahead which is good as I think every other weekend this month is full to the brim.

Still waiting on No 2 to get into the trap!

Well, rat with a tail no 2 - seems to be a 'wascally wabbit' - um.. oops - wrong cartoon.

We are still waiting. NOT patiently I might add. I still hear 'it' and it still wakes me up. I'm getting to be a very cranky person. (so, what's new, I know)!

we spoke to the Mr Animal Tracker - and if by the end of the weekend, we still have not caught 'it' - then we will switch to a walnut in the trap - we've been told that they cannot pass up a walnut - must be like a catnip thing. I don't care if we have to put filet mignon in the trap. I want to sleep past 5am. Really I do.

I've been knitting and spinning as usual, trying to get into some semblance of a routine now that Bree is back in school. She just finished the first full week. She's gotten into the groove and is just cruising along.

Next week it is my turn to get into a groove! We've got some fun things happening this weekend, so hopefully by Monday, I'll have some pics to share! (if not pics, then good and also funny stories!)

It's been forever... and then some!

Bree went back to school last Thursday, big change for her starting middle school having to get up at least an hour earlier, with taking the bus, changing classrooms, a real hot lunch program, band everyday, etc.. She seems to be adjusting well though.

We had a good summer (if you can call it that) - it never really did feel like summer as the weather was nothing like the past typical summers. I hope that does not indicate the type of winter we are going to be having...

Now the big challenge to get back into a routine. One good part about her going to middle school is that it has increased my day by about an hour and a half... Instead of leaving to take her to school at 8:50am, she leaves to catch the bus at 7:25am - I also don't have to go get into the car line at 3pm - she arrives home off the bus at 3:20pm. I know it doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it is amazing how much more time that it feels like I have.

I have missed her the past few days - I'm so used to her being around, seems eerily quiet - however, I'm sure I'll get over that pretty quickly - hahah - as I get into a routine myself!

We're in the great squirrel battle right now. I have been saying for months and months and months (longer than I can recall) that I thought we had squirrels living in the attic, but nope, no one believed me. Well, we do. One has been caught (I refer to him as rat no 1 with a tail - Bill calls him "Bastardo") - and this morning I had visual confirmation of rat no 2 with a tail chatting with rat no 1 with a tail while trapped - Here's a pic of Bastardo...
I think he has anger issues, don't you? LOL! (I had anger issues the past week as they got REALLY noisy and were waking me up at 5am - not a smart move)

Anyway, one of my new routines is to blog more often. I figure between Bastardo no's 1 and 2 and recapping some of the summer and then with new things happening this school year, I should be able to have some interesting things (at least to me) to post.

Time for my no 2 cup of coffee!