This blog could be a little squeamish for some. It involves the constant battle of all kinds of little animals when you build in their territory. Pack rats, squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, and mice in our case. They do the most damage. Then we have to watch out for weasels, hawks, and coyotes that seem to have a taste for free range chicken.
When Laurie and I first started looking for property in this area we were just driving around one day when we saw a guy coming out of his driveway on a backhoe. I stopped the truck and flagged him down when he came out onto the road. I introduced ourselves to him and asked him if he would mind answering a few questions about the area. We talked for a while and then he said “if I was going to give you guys just one piece of advice this would be it – you think these little creatures are cute and they are, but they are also very destructive”. He then went on to warn us that he had suffered over $3,000 in damage his first year in his new home. Mostly from squirrels that got into his garage and house attic. Most of the damage was in the garage. Torn up insulation and wiring. He had to remove the sheetrock on the walls and ceilings to make the repairs. Some electronic equipment was also damaged. An expensive lesson for all. I appreciated his advice.
After we bought our property the first building we put up was the barn. I had a lot of extras added like 6” of insulation in the ceiling along with a Simple Saver insulation cover which is a reinforced white vinyl used in ceilings to hold the insulation up into the rafters. Usually you just have 1½” white vinyl faced insulation in the ceiling but we wanted to be able to heat the building in the winter.
We had a trailer on the property at the time. I still remember that night. Driving 250 miles just to see our new barn. We pulled in just in time to get the keys from our builder as he was hauling the last cleanup load to the dump. Everything was shiny and new. Later I would put the concrete floor and the horse stalls in myself but for now it was beautiful, my first barn!
After spending the night in our trailer parked outside, we got up, had breakfast and went out to look at our new barn some more before we went to work on other things. I went inside and was horrified to see the insulation and simple saver cover at both ends of the peaked ceilings torn to shreds. At each wall plate, 16’ off the ground where the roof meets the walls there were four holes about 6” – 8”m long – on BOTH sides of the barn. Our Polaris Ranger RV was parked inside. Some of the wiring was chewed and there were some kind of animal pellets everywhere. We found the same evidence in the outhouse and the woodshed about 100’ away. All the toilet paper in the outhouse was shredded and little pellets all over the floor and seat.
It turns out we had a packrat, our first night in our new barn. I had never seen one animal do so much damage. I went to town and got a packet of One Bite and went to work setting bait. I climbed up the ladder 16’ to place some bait next to one of the holes in the insulation. I just got to the top and was setting the bait in place when the stupid packrat stuck his head out of the hole just inches from my face. I almost went backward off the ladder he gave me such a start. Laurie was watching me and had to laugh at what occurred because it was funny but she did admit she was glad I didn’t fall.
That animal was pretty cute. It looked like a little Chinchilla but it had to go. It took the bait and the bait did its job. Two days later we got Mrs. Packrat as well. It bothered me to go after something as cute as these animals but they just had to go. It took a whole day to repair the damage not to mention the 50 miles round trip for materials.
Since then we have declared war on all kinds of small mammals and rodents. We have had further damage from ground squirrels, chipmunks, and mice. If they approach the barn, house, or garden they have to go. I don’t hesitate any more. We actually had a ground squirrel undermine a cut and fill bank of dirt in front of the barn. Over 100’ long and 4’ back from the edge, that whole section of bank collapsed and sank about 6”. These cute little animals can do a serious amount of damage.
We don’t do it lightly or with any pleasure and it is so unpopular with many people we just don’t bring it up in conversation but if you are going to build in an undeveloped area you need to know what you are getting into and that is why I’m willing to share the less attractive side of living the way we do.
Ed and Laurie Essex live off grid in the Okanogan Highlands of Washington State where they operate their website goodideasforlife.com and offgridworks.com.
That reminds me of a story! When my husband and I moved our travel trailer onto our property (which we will eventually live on) we had no idea the destructive nature of the rodents! We had several friends we had already made on the ridge, but no one mentioned the rodents! Well, our first indication something was wrong was when we saw two rolls of toilet paper torn to absolute shreds in our bathroom cabinet! I’m not kidding when I say there must have been at least a million (no exaggeration) pieces of toilet paper shredded and packed into a corner of the cabinet. There were tale-tale signs among the fluff including mouse droppings. When that was cleaned up we turned on the TV (we have a dish that runs off solar) the receiver wasn’t getting a signal. After a little bit of investigation, my husband found that a mouse had chewed through the cable wires that go into the trailer where an itty-bitty dinky tiny little hole was, and we figured out that was how the mouse was getting in. Well, when all was said and done we figured we had at least 6 mice in the trailer (we caught 4 on traps) at one time. I had to wash all my dishes and pots and pans and was generally grossed out. It wasn’t until a few weeks later when I was suffering from a cold that I found out just how dangerous the whole situation could have been! These were deer mice! You know, the kind that carry Hanta Virus! So, of course, my hypochondriac self just knew that I had hanta virus and not a cold and that I was doomed to die because of those oh so cute little deer mice. Luckily, it was only a cold that I had and I survived to tell the tale. But through this trial we found out from a friend that the best thing to deter the little buggars is to put steel wool in any and all crevases. They avoid it like the plague! It has worked – no more deer mice! BTW – love your stories!
Thank you for your stories. We live in one of the cloud forests of in Costa Rica and our elvation is about 5000-6000 ft above sea level. We are beginners in a very experiemtnal stage and are having good and bad luck with the livestock. Our 2 sheep died, we have had 3 of the rabbits that died as well. In the ponds,the tilapia seem to be developing nicely and recently we have seen evidence of live langositinos. Our chickens are fine though I think one was killed by a weasel. We had a problem with rats and mice for a stent then we got a cat. We actually think the rats were scared off by the weasel who was by the way in the house! OMG. We stll have a lot to learn but thanks to peolple like you and MotherEarth News we have a great resource for learning. Our next project is to get off the grid but we dont know where to start. We may be in touch in order to pick your brains. Electricity is expensive here but we have lots of water, wind and sun (most times @ least 6hrs).Thank you.
Hi Leslie,
Thank you for writing.
Of course I can help you with the solar when you get started. You may want to read up first at http://offgridworks.com/ (Solar Talk). These articles have most of what you need to get started and I have a great installer/consultant that travels if you ever need one.
I looked at your site. It is beautiful where you live!
Ed Essex
I was also going to mention getting a cat or two. When we first moved to the country into an old farmhouse, we were overrun with mice! Mouse poop everywhere and we could never leave any kind of dry food out anywhere. Then we got a cat. Since then we have always had two cats who are indoor/outdoor cats. The large male spends nights outside in spring, summer, fall and the little female always sleeps in the house. They are both, always alert to prey and hunting. I kid you not – we never again had another rodent near the house. I have often gotten up in the early morning to find 2-3 mice lined up on the porch. I have also gotten used to finding just a few mice stomachs in a pile on the porch too and having a mouse dropped on my foot when outside. They are so proud of themselves when they catch something and bring it to me! lol! – and so cute! We make a point of always praising them for that. They love it!
The large male also kills chipmunks, garder snakes and squirrels and puts them on the porch for me. It is sad to see the little chippies killed, but there’s no way to teach him the difference and I wouldn’t try. If you are going to live in the country, you are going to need at least one good mousing cat! If you get a cat, you will have to get rid of the traps and the poison, but cats are just as effective and much safer! Cats are the way to go and there are usually many of them that are still very young, already neutered, and in need of a good home listed on Kijiji near you!
I love my cats anyway. They are just great, affectionate, smart pets (as are the dogs).