Mickey Mouse is dead

[Uncle Bruce]

Western PA, Washington County; circa 1963 to 1966.

There were several we would hit. The Donut Shop was the best but that was a Sunday only proposition. We had two other dumps that were also outstanding.

One was at the edge of a large, wooded area where there was a Turkey Farm. All manner of disgusting stuff was dumped there along with trash from the farm. It was a target rich environment. My friend's uncle owned the farm, so we had exclusive rat safari access.

Another was a large public dump. The problem there was competition with other rat hunters. But the plus side was it was huge. Lots of rats and lots of places to set up. Most competitor were not as proficient as us, they hadn't mastered the art of understanding rat behavior, any movement by the hunter was fatal to a shot opportunity.

Too bad they don't have a "Rat Hunter Hall of Fame," because my best friend I could have qualified. 

This is probably more than you wanted to know.

I can

Western PA, Washington County; circa 1963 to 1966.

There were several we would hit. The Donut Shop was the best but that was a Sunday only proposition. We had two other dumps that were also outstanding.

One was at the edge of a large, wooded area where there was a Turkey Farm. All manner of disgusting stuff was dumped there along with trash from the farm. It was a target rich environment. My friend's uncle owned the farm, so we had exclusive rat safari access.

Another was a large public dump. The problem there was competition with other rat hunters. But the plus side was it was huge. Lots of rats and lots of places to set up. Most competitor were not as proficient as us, they hadn't mastered the art of understanding rat behavior, any movement by the hunter was fatal to a shot opportunity.

Too bad they don't have a "Rat Hunter Hall of Fame," because my best friend I could have qualified. 

This is probably more than you wanted to know.

I can remember when I was about 10 my father was a bull hauler. At that time out behind the stock yards they had a place to clean out the trailers. I was not allowed to get out of the truck, the rats were big enough to intimidate the adults let alone children. They had an attitude to match.

Uncle Bruce

 

[TIMO]

My orange cat assists with everything in the reloading process, she is sometimes too helpful. Have to take a break to give her some pets.
Tim

Here is my helper (Cupcake), making sure I am using the right powder funnel.
Tim

 

[K22]

I can
I can remember when I was about 10 my father was a bull hauler. At that time out behind the stock yards they had a place to clean out the trailers. I was not allowed to get out of the truck, the rats were big enough to intimidate the adults let alone children. They had an attitude to match.

Uncle Bruce

Dangerous game! The dumps had some large rats for sure, but the donut shop had monster rats. We used Remington HV Hollow Points, known in the day as the Gold Blue. Later on, Winchester Super X Hollow Points were good also.

 

[Webster]

Dangerous game! The dumps had some large rats for sure, but the donut shop had monster rats. We used Remington HV Hollow Points, known in the day as the Gold Blue. Later on, Winchester Super X Hollow Points were good also.

Recent years we have had a few stray cats. Several years since I have seen a chipmonk in the yard or a mouse in the garage.

 

[Flouncer]

the result is a cat turd floating around in the media. New meaning to you can't polish a turd

Kitty Rocca

 

[joshb]

Years ago, back on the farm, we had 20+ cats and thirty + beagles. The oldest cat was Sam. Sam would bring a mouse on the porch and meow at the door until somebody let her in. She’d bring the mouse in, drop it by her bowl and meow while circling in front of the fridge. She wouldn’t stop until somebody got the milk out of the fridge and filled her bowl. Then she’d settle in and eat her mouse.
Sam would follow me down to the pond every time I had a fishing pole in my hand. She’d stalk the shoreline with me until I caught her a small bass. I had to be careful because she didn’t always wait for me to get the hook out before she grabbed it.

 

[Fuj]

Well speaking of dumps......I grew up in Girard Pa, west of Erie. Marx Toy's
main plant was in Erie, but they built a larger plant in Girard. Girard had a
public dump, of which Marx also used. As kids, we'd sneak down, and see
what we could root up. Had to duck the only cop Girard had at the time. He
would sometimes be there shooting cats with his sidearm. I did not know much
about feral cats at the time. Place was loaded with rats, and maybe a few Mickey
and Mini mouses. Marx made the tin types for Disney, then later years the first
cast plastics......The holy grail of the dump finds was the cops spent shells on the
edge of the dump. 44 specials......

 

[Knotwild]

Is its name target?

Sadly, I live in the city limits. If I lived in the country, his name would be Dead. Imagine what it would be like if people treated coyotes like they treat stray cats.

 

[hvacman04]

I have an orange cat. He helps me hunt too.View attachment 1621119

Dear D.R.K. , I just got one of those wooden reels 2da , from a work going on in our area, running fiber optic. I will used it to sighting my rifle in thanks a million. Is it fairly stable , mine looks bigger. it's a whopper , i will use tractor to move to the house.
Thanks for idea, D.R.K. Buck

 

[outasite`08]

We've got this yaller cat employed full time for varmint control. He kills and eats about one gopher per day, and also the occasional mouse. Trouble is he likes to play with the mice, and has sometimes brought one in the house and lost it. I've given him a verbal warning, but frankly I don't think it did much good. jd
View attachment 1621098

You can teach a cat, but not much. My wife says the same thing about men. Wonder what she means? Jeff

 

[DRK]

Dear D.R.K. , I just got one of those wooden reels 2da , from a work going on in our area, running fiber optic. I will used it to sighting my rifle in thanks a million. Is it fairly stable , mine looks bigger. it's a whopper , i will use tractor to move to the house.
Thanks for idea, D.R.K. Buck

Stable enough for me to shoot wood chucks out back & sight the wood chuck rifle in.

 

[Shooter13]

We've got this yaller cat employed full time for varmint control. He kills and eats about one gopher per day, and also the occasional mouse. Trouble is he likes to play with the mice, and has sometimes brought one in the house and lost it. I've given him a verbal warning, but frankly I don't think it did much good. jd
View attachment 1621098

I had a chocolate lab that loved to did up ground moles, she would toss them in the air, when they hit the ground she would wait until they started to move then dive on them with her shoulder, she did this until they no longer moved. She stank to HIGH heaven! Would always come in with the occasional deer leg (not sure what she did with the rest of the deer!?).

 

[Shooter13]

I can
I can remember when I was about 10 my father was a bull hauler. At that time out behind the stock yards they had a place to clean out the trailers. I was not allowed to get out of the truck, the rats were big enough to intimidate the adults let alone children. They had an attitude to match.

Uncle Bruce

We lived in a house where the rats were so big the cats wouldn't stay, we tried 2. Saturday night was "let's see who catches the biggest rat!" lights off, and wait for the "SNAP" of the huge trap!! ;-) some would try to carry off the trap!

 

[coldboreshot]

Had a buddy ask if I had any H4831SC. Tigger helped me find it.View attachment 1621118

He should be manning the neck-turning station. This is why we have assistants.

 

[Rem06]

Cats are disgusting, i certainly would never have a house cat. We have one for the barn, we named it "DickFace"

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

School/family friends have a cabin on an island in Canada. I went up with them to tin the old shingle roof, fish and construct a floating dock. When we arrived, I quietly told my friends "your mom is not going to like the mouse problem". It was evening when we arrived, 11 hr drive 9 mile boat ride. We had a quick supper and the guys told their mom to go to bed, we would be cleaning outside. We rounded up every snap trap and set our lines. Started reading, studying fishing maps in the gas lights. Traps started firing. We took turns resetting/collecting coffee cans full of mice. I even put some traps in the 2 boats we came in on at the docks. My buddies asked why I set traps in the boats, I said if word spreads that we are going for 100% kill on the island, some may need a way off. They laughed until I started catching in the boats. We managed to prevent a mouse sighting by their mom, but I'm guessing she found the little gifts they leave behind. The next day we cleaned out everything under the cabin and brushed/mowed 20' out from the cabin. Followed by a brush/shingle burn a couple nights later, another cabin has since been constructed and mice population has remained low. Hopefully that was my best/worse mouse trapping experience. Back in the 70's my dad had me sit up one night with the BB gun at a cabin because my mom saw a mouse. Only saw 2, got both, but mom had a restful rest of the week. Other than 2 early teen boys to control, pretty sure we got into more stuff(trouble) than mice.