Traps are governed by laws from a different dimension.
When you are setting the trap a slight breath will trigger it Snap! and almost have your fingers off.
Yet sometimes it seems the critters can do a tap dance across the trigger to get the bait and ........ nothing.
So, so frustrating.
dear rat, you are clever and quick, a generous sprinkle of chilli powder has not denied you area or access routes, my semi vegan partner did not shudder at the thought of indigestion or an ied
if i had had a short this morning i might have got a kill but the splash would have taken out the window and the bang would have upset the locals
you are a problem, no rat no problem by any means necessary
it has triggered a fenn twice and a "big nipper" 3 times without getting dead
since i changed to "hand feeding" the birds on the sill rather than feeders and scattering rat has been hungry, it had 2 nights digging cold wet soil to glean a few seeds, that makes baiting easier
if it was a less urban location it would have been shot ages ago
since it just escaped its christmas pressie it has not been in the box of doom
i was seeking gleanings but the new avian restaurant is very tidy and so it has been a bit "underfed"
day before yesterday i saw it drinking in daylight which is odd as most food is wet at the mo.
the thirst is a classic symptom of " eating something that disagreed with him " or " a surfeit of lampreys " or " a brush with livia "
it was looking a bit poorly and has been unobserved since
ps i recon "a brush with livia " and "cooking with fritz" would be ace pitches as titles to a minor tv channel, after paying for the pilot they might bottle it but some might not
Seems someone else went the poison route then having got even more fed up with it than you. Hopefully the bird restaurant and Sammison home will be back in working order soon.
still no eyeball or fresh trail/spoor from the rat,
muttkin was pointing to something nasty in the woodshed last night but that may have been live, poorly or dead, tt did not wish to discover the details
if that is what has happened at least it will be no rat no problem
i might try easy food tomorrow and see if it is just being quiet or if it is no longer on active service
if it did get poisoned elsewhere i cannot smell it yet, but it is a bit chilly here and the most probably nest positions might be mummifying it rather than making stinky dead rat soup
this is the biggest gap without eyeball since it got evicted from the ex hotel and moved here