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Austin Texas pest control Critter Ridder, consideration considering demolition old house, demolition 1929 house things to do, rats mice this old house remodel, ring-tailed cat trapped CRITTER RIDDER austin texas
I thought I had been to hell before, but this was a new kind of hell this week…
Like George said, it was more about the ‘mental torture’ than anything else.
See, little ole me thought I could pull back the walls to see what we have lurking beneath. But the one crucial step I missed was boarding up EVERYTHING after I had my ‘lil look-see.
You combine that with the fact that we live by a creek and the temps reached below freezing — and Pandora’s Box was opened to all sorts of wildlife.
I saw one little grey butt (with rat-like tail) dive back into the gap between some kitchen switch plates.
George definitely saw a critter scamper across the floor.
(We are not sure if this was a rat or mouse…it was big, however, according to George.)
Now, I’m ok with just about anything…I can be close to a raccoon and not feel a panic…but the thought of that small creature — like a mouse or RAT — possibly having access to my bed, freaks me out to HIGH HEAVEN.
My heart starts racing fast and I am ready for an EXTENDED STAY hotel.
Now, for my husband, you can just double the TERROR.
He’s a Yankee and they just aren’t used to mice, rats, coons or anything that is of BOTTOM FEEDER status.
(I mean, sure, he went to SLEEP-A-WAY camp at the Y as a kid, but he stayed in a nice sealed up cabin, not a tent. And it just appears that he has very little experience even seeing wildlife.)
So, now, George needs therapy.
(It’s just another cost to budget into the remodel. Sigh.)
Things are on the upswing, though.
After working Friday on a frantic ‘temporary fix’ — that included tons of foam and plywood boarding — we put in a call to our local CRITTER RIDDER service. (They do what’s called an EXTRACTION service.)
They don’t put out poison. No, they don’t do that because the critters would die in our walls and we’d have a rotted egg smell to high heaven. What they do is inspect and find all the exterior entrances. Then they board up all the holes and set the traps. (The traps are checked every week.)
Our CRITTER RIDDER inspection happened Monday.
When the guy showed up at our house he asked if I wanted to see a ring-tailed cat he had just removed from a house in Lakeway. (Of course, my curiosity got the best of me. So, I took picture, which I have included here.)
I bring up the ring-tail cat because 1.) I think it looks interesting and 2.) You can imagine that after I saw this, I was glad it was removed from someone else’s house and not ours — and it made our problem seem smaller…JUST SAYIN…
Anyhow, back to our house…
Our skirting was fine seven years ago when we moved in — the problem is you take seven years and then we are on pier and beam and you get shift — so that’s how we got holes large enough that a little mouse or even a rat makes it through. Oh boy!
But we are taking care of it. CRITTER RIDDER will come out Monday and patch up all our holes, covering them with Hardie Backer board — and setting traps. Hopefully, this will take care of the issue.
I hope this post doesn’t sound like we were ok with things living in our walls — all these years. WE ARE NOT. We just thought it was a squirrel or two on the roof with a pecan from our trees. They absolutely love playing on that tree.
Can the good vermin stay and the scary, creepy ones leave? Please?
Well, please send up a prayer that this CRITTER RIDDER service works 🙂
It’s our last resort.