Good point except my wife was on deck while all this was happening. No way was she going to be down below at the same time as the rodent... I just imagine if the bugger escaped somewhere down below and we couldn't find him. Probably would end the cruise and sell the boat on the spot. Fortunately no openings in the Catalina 310 aft cabin for him to crawl into.Bob... reading the story I got the image of you swinging the boat hook about, your wife screaming.
Perhaps the folks in the neighboring boats were only aware of you swinging the hook and your wife screaming. The context of the ""Great Rat Eradication" might not have been evident. They were all reaching for their cell phone cameras and preparing the story they planned to tell the police.
Now that's a funny sea story!This is not an experience quickly or easily recovered from and I only wish I found a birds nest with two babies instead!
bob
Had the same experience but in a house one time. Thought it was a mouse until I scared him from behind the refrigerator with a blast from my scuba tank. Chased him and cornered him in the bathroom and got him with a piece of 2x4. Then called an exterminator who told me to never do that again; said if he decided to fight you he could tear you up before you got him. You story brings back the memories.You should be thankful for baby birds in your anchor locker. Much better than what we had in ours during our recent cruise south. We were in the Vero Beach mooring field and had noticed that something had torn into a trash bag in the aft cabin overnight. We were thinking small mouse and bought some mouse traps to use that night. Went up to the anchor locker to get my rubber gloves and there was a big RAT in the anchor locker! He jumped up, ran down the side deck, past my wife, into the cockpit and then down into the cabin. Real horror show. Grabbed the boat hook and slowly cleaned out the aft cabin one item at a time. Fortunately we do not have cushions in the aft cabin-removed them because this area is only for storage. Last item moved and there he was in the corner. He started running back and forth and I started swinging the boat hook with my wife shouting in the background. Missed most of the swings but finally wounded him and then finished him off. By this time everyone in our vicinity in the harbor was aware of what was going on and even the BoatUS guy was interested. This is not an experience quickly or easily recovered from and I only wish I found a birds nest with two babies instead!
bob
You might be catching the same mouse over and over. Happened to me when we lived in Atlanta and had flying squirrels in our attic. Caught him in a have a heart trap and released him out side. I think he was back in the house before me. Caught him again and relocated him across town. But when it comes to rats, I do not have a heart.Maxine still on the hard but launch date about May 15. In the meantime, I'm trapping mice at the house. I'm currently on mouse #6 in the lower level of our 3 story home. I get them with the "Have a Heart Trap", which works like a champ with a dab of peanut butter. Then my wife dumps them in the woods out back. Six is a lot of mice and I'm beginning to think the little buggers have found a way back to the house. Anyone have an idea what the size of such a colony could be? I can't figure out how they are getting into the house. Apparently they are only in the lower level which is 50% ground level and 50% 6 ft below grade. I think the exterior is very tight and inside is all furnished living space. How do they typically get in?
I'm afraid of exactly that. Next one I catch goes up the street. Squirrels!!! That brings back bad memories. A few years back they chewed their way into an overhanging soffit on my roof. Nice warm nesting place. One day I reached out of an upstairs window with a long board and banged on the soffit. Five (5) squirrels jumped out and glided off into the woods. Cost me $3000.00 to armour the soffits and a nice tree cut down to defeat them.You might be catching the same mouse over and over. Happened to me when we lived in Atlanta and had flying squirrels in our attic. Caught him in a have a heart trap and released him out side. I think he was back in the house before me. Caught him again and relocated him across town. But when it comes to rats, I do not have a heart.