The New Feed Shed and the Rat Incident

dirtlooter

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Year was 1973, location, deep down Posey Hollow (the sticks.) My grandfather's cousin, nearest neighbor about 2 miles plus away had been needing a better place to keep his cow and horse feed. He had been using a room in his old see thru the walls everywhere barn to store it and the mice and rats had been eating a lot of it. What really made it a waste was the fact that the rats would defecate and urinate in the feed and ruin it. Rat urine is very caustic and will ruin just about anything besides all the other damage they do. Feed was and is expensive so my grandfather and uncle went to work out in front of the house and away from the barn to build a better shed. They built a very nice feed shed, about 14' by 12' with a raised floor and everything. It also had a 12' ceiling with lots of shelves for storage of feed and some tools.

A few days later, we stopped by to see how it was doing. Charlie was super excited and couldn't wait to show us how he had it set up using 55 gallon drums with lids. Now Charlie only had one eye (lost the other logging when the mules got into a yellow jacket nest and spooked). He also stammered a lot when flustered. So, we get to the shed and Charlie proudly opens his rat free shed door open. When the sunlight hit the inside, the rats took off everywhere and so did the mice! Charlie had forgotten to close the lids and the vermin had found it all! Charlie immediately began stammering Sum Beech and slammed the door shut! Charlie angrily looked at my grandfather and told him that he was going to get his 22 rifle and kill the sobs.

I stood by the door and waited as the two men got the rifle and made sure it was fully loaded. Then I watched as the door flew open and the rat killing began! Rats were everywhere and a lot had gotten high into the rafters. My grandfather would point one out and Charlie would shoot. Now I have to say that there was a lot of stammering cussing going on and a lot of missing. They reloaded twice as they moved stuff around to get another shot or two but by then, most had gotten out. A few were trapped inside the drums and they paid the price.

As Charlie angrily stammered "WWWEE Showed them!" I looked back into the shed behind them and quietly asked them as I pointed inside, "What about all of those holes?" The two men looked back and then the stammering cussing commenced again. You could see rays of light beaming thru the holes everywhere, all the same size. A couple of hours later after using a hammer outside and a steel plate inside plus tar and the holes in the new shed were filled. It was agreed that the drums had to have the metal lids on all the time and rat traps were set. I was quietly laughing, two of my elders had put on quite the show. As they say, "in the heat of the battle," "it happens!" The next day, both men laughed about what they had done but I knew to keep my mouth shut and not laugh out loud when they had done it.
 

BLK HOLE

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Great Story LOL
 

GB1

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Awesome story, thank you for sharing! :occasion14:
 

releventchair

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And weigh them lids down.
Killed about a dozen (by using a metal vacuum cleaner wand) that had gotten in the metal grain barrel , once.
 

Stringtyer

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And weigh them lids down.
Killed about a dozen (by using a metal vacuum cleaner wand) that had gotten in the metal grain barrel , once.

Glad to know that I'm not the only person who has sucked up a mouse with a vacuum cleaner. He shouldn't have come into the house and scared my wife.
 

releventchair

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Glad to know that I'm not the only person who has sucked up a mouse with a vacuum cleaner. He shouldn't have come into the house and scared my wife.

No vacuum. After hauling the barrel outside in the open ...Just flipped them out with the wand (Hey ,it was in the barn and handy for some unknown reason) and swing like a batter! A miss meant a chase.
 

Stringtyer

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To make sure I'm not accused of animal abuse again, I need to add that the mouse was taken outside and released. He (or she) appeared to be none the worse for the wear.
 

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