Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: iggythewetcat on November 05, 2006, 02:41:51 pm
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I went out to put chemicals in my hot tub today and foud two areas that look like a critter was trying to scratch its way in. Has anyone ever experienced this before? It scratched away the cover and into the foam a little. Do you think I can just tape over the holes?
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yes you can.
but it will not hold for long
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thats awful, what kind of critter would go for the cover?????
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critters have no respect.....they go for whatever looks like it's gonna be tasty/warm/entertaining......or shiny objects.....definitely shiny objects. :o
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well, speaking of critters. I went into the garage tonight and found a nest of baby mice in a box with rags. They were cute, I felt bad but I took them down to a field and placed them in a cove with some rags. I should have killed them but...... my conscience got the better of me.
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well, speaking of critters. I went into the garage tonight and found a nest of baby mice in a box with rags. They were cute, I felt bad but I took them down to a field and placed them in a cove with some rags. I should have killed them but...... my conscience got the better of me.
Your Karma is in much better shape than it would have been if you had just offed them. You got rid of them, and they got a new home. Everyone wins.
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well, speaking of critters. I went into the garage tonight and found a nest of baby mice in a box with rags. They were cute, I felt bad but I took them down to a field and placed them in a cove with some rags. I should have killed them but...... my conscience got the better of me.
When they grow up...they'll be back to dig at your cover!!.... ;D
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I even went back last night and brought some bread and fruit. Im so soft.
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How did they taste???? ;D
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How did they taste???? ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Had a lady come in and buy an Envoy last year. She had a problem with her old Sunbelt Spa smelling really bad all the time. They lived near a small lake. Lo and behold, her brother went out and removed the side panel and several large water moccasins as big around as a man's forearm came slithering out. Turns out they had found a perfect vacation place to spend the cooler months.
Water moccasins smell like buttcheese, for those of you that didn't know.
Terminator
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One advantage to living in Maine - no poisonous snakes!
Highest tax burden in the nation, but no posionous snakes that smell like buttcheese. :)
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I've seen homeowner's dogs claw at a spa/cover trying to get at the chipmunk in the equipment compartment. One customer went through three covers in four months. That's before HotSpring mouse screens. ;)
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im so glad I live where I do. The only snakes that I have to worry about is door to door sales men trying to sell vaccuum cleaners. I mean every week they come and they stink like brut or old spice. They wear cheap suits and always have slicked back hair.
Tman, I know where you want to go with this but hold back! :o
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Oh Man, chipmunks don't hibernate??? We have the cutest little guys and I have been trying to get them to eat out of my hand. They actually come on my deck right by my back door and let me get really close...but I thought they go underground to hibernate and they wouldn't try to get into my tub compartment. I have the rodent screens, but since I have encouraged them, they may be bold enough to try other ways to get in... :( :(..My husband keeps complaining, I sure hope they hibernate! :o
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I have the rodent screens, but since I have encouraged them, they may be bold enough to try other ways to get in... :( :(..My husband keeps complaining, I sure hope they hibernate! :o
I know a family of homeless water moccasins that could resolve your dilemna right quick.
Terminator
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(http://www.britishcolumbia.com/images/wildlife/cw_pics/chipmunk_files/chipmunk.gif)
Chipmunks Tamias are fun to watch. Found throughout Canada's forests, they charm campers and hikers by their small size, their boldness in search of food, and their constant busyness. They are not hard to approach or photograph. Indeed, they are easily persuaded to accept seeds or nuts from a person's hand. An encounter with a chipmunk often provides a child with a captivating first experience of a wild mammal in its natural setting.
All species of chipmunks in Canada live in forested areas. Most of them live in burrows and gather food on the ground, generally in areas where there are enough rocks, bushes, fallen logs, and piles of brush to shelter them from predators as they scamper about. Immature forests and the edges of forests near clearings, streams, ravines, and logging roads provide ample cover. Stands of tall, mature trees with no plants on the shady forest floor are unsuitable.
No species of chipmunk is found north of the treeline in Canada, in the prairie grasslands of North America, in the hot subtropical forests of Florida, or in areas with waterlogged soils. With those exceptions, chipmunks thrive throughout Canada and the United States. Some species of chipmunks even occur above the timber line on mountains and in the semidesert regions of the western United States. Their range extends south into Mexico along the mountains.
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Chipmunks are known to be hibernators, even in the southern parts of their range. Near the end of July, they begin to collect and store large quantities of seeds. By October, each chipmunk has accumulated enough seeds to enable it to survive the winter.
With the onset of winter in November, chipmunks disappear below ground. At present, it is not known exactly what happens when chipmunks retire to their burrows for the winter. One view is that they immediately go into a torpid state. (In this state, the body temperature, rate of breathing, and rate of heartbeat drop to very low levels, reducing the amount of energy required to maintain the chipmunk.) Periods of torpor last from one to eight days, and perhaps longer. Between periods of torpor, chipmunks wake up and consume part of their food supply. They have occasionally been seen above ground on warm winter days. A second view of chipmunk hibernation is that chipmunks do not actually hibernate until their food supply has been exhausted.
With the first warm days of March, chipmunks begin to emerge, sometime burrowing up through a metre of snow.
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Thanks Bosco! I love my little chippies....and the kids and I noticed that we haven't seen them for about 2 days now...So exactly what you said makes sense, they have gone underground. I put lots of corn out for them about a week ago (and some rabbit food). They would fill up their little cheeks and scamper off...My husband is a city guy and although he now really loves the wild birds, the chippies remind him of rats.
I was smiling when you told about your little mice...I have done the same thing..I used to catch mice in my basement and let them go in my greenhouse complete with sunflower dinners...until someone told me that I was probably catching the same mouse over and over again...so I was outsmarted by a mouse ;D (a very fat mouse)!
It's no wonder I have Lyme!
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Boni and Bosco,
I do the same thing, I went out and bought one of the "humane traps" large enough for chipmunks and mice. Set it up with peanut butter at night and check in the morning. I take the little critters to the park and lake by our house and let them go with a little food till they find a new home. Wife and nieghbours think I'm nuts, but I feel better.
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We have a large population of chipmunks. (we also have a lot of oak trees bearing a LOT of acorns). I too used to feed them and think they were cute, until one day, the check engine light and other lights were suddenly coming on in my husbands brand new truck We took it to the shop and lo and behold, we had a 2500.00 fixit it bill to replace a gnawed wiring harness. I don't like chipmunks anymore and I cringe when I see them. BEWARE!!!
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But Ruby, are you sure it was the chippies? :-/ Squirrels and mice tend to do things like that too. The mice get into our tractors and chew wires and build nests. My chippies can't really get to my car, and like I said I think they must be hibernating, I haven't seen them at all for a couple of days.
I sure don't want my hubby to see your post, he already thinks they will cause us all sorts of grief. >:( They first appeared here about 2 years ago..I think they may have moved because of all the development but I was thrilled when I first saw them..I guess I will say innocent until they do something destructive (I just hope I find it before my hubby does!) ;)
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I'm 95 percent sure it was chipmunks (sorry, the word "chippies is too cute for them). there were piles of acorns in there which makes me believe it wasn't mice. And it could be squirrels, but I never see them running around the vehicles. The chipmunks are Always running around the vehicles. And don't be too sure about them not being able to get to your car. Within a week of getting our garage door replaced, the chipmunks had eaten a tunnel thru the rubber piece (not weather stripping, but I can't think of the word) on the bottom of the door. We now have them in our garage. I don't want to put out poison because 1.) We have dogs, and I don't want them to find a dead one somewhere and 2.) same reason for the birds of prey and other wildlife. After the wiring harness incident, we have been stuffing bounce sheets in and around the engines of the vehicles. So far, we haven't had any problems under the hood, but that may be coincidence.
My neighbor decided to give her chipmunks swimming lessons (which they failed) but she ended up catching 60 of them. She thought she only had a couple.
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Are you in a warm weather area,Ruby? Are they a year round visitor?
I guess I shouldn't encourage them anymore. I could never poison them....If they become a problem, I guess I might have to get a cat.
I am going out right now and check the equipment compartment of my tub ANd my car...my garage is near a pin oak and maybe that is why they are so happy...the have access to rabbit food (my bunny tosses it out of her cage), corn that I have been feeding them and the acorns...they may come out of hibernation as mutant Chippies..as big as possums! :o
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No, I'm in Minnesota.
One of our dogs is a Rat Terrier and she loves to chase them but never catches them. After everything I read about Rat Terriers before I got her, I thought maybe she would be my answer, since I'm not fond of cats, but I guess rat terriers only good for rats!
Try the bounce- I have them stuffed all over my equipment compartment too.
I quit filling my bird feeders a few years ago too, so as not to encourage them. The chipmunks are still here but I have noticed fewer squirrels. I hate not having bird feeders.
I read an article awhile back that discouraged shooting squirrels for the simple reason that they are territorial and if you take one out, it will only be replaced by another. If the food source is there, they will come. I'm guessing it applies to chipmunks too. I hate to chop down my oak trees, but believe me, it's crossed my mind!
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Ruby, I WON'T give up my bird feeders..and I am loaded with squirrels, deer and even wild rabbit that eat at the feeders. I know it encourages mice and other nasty varments but I just love the birds. We have tried everything to discourage the squirrels...even hanging the feeders from pullies over 25 feet in the air..the squirrels always win! I couldn't shoot them or poison them so we just deal with them too. BUT I don't want any of them in my tub OR my car motor..so I will try the bounce, it has to be better than mothballs...and I have some that I don't use in the dryer (my kids hate the smell!) thanks