A rat, no not IRK, a real rat, decided to make a home in our garage. The week before Valentine Monday, the rat got into the cab of my car and literally dug holes in the back seats. The exterminator came, advised I throw out spare carpet where the rat was probably living, and set some spring traps. Sure enough a trap was triggered in the early evening, but then I heard the trap sliding across the garage floor. My investigation finds the trap up in my wife’s car’s wheel well, lodged in the strut, without the rat. The wife by now is freaking out. We drive her car around a few minutes, but still no rat.
Long story short, my wife’s Valentine gift this year is an electric rat trap.
@hchavers
I’m hoping to see pictures of your newly found housemate once he’s found. If he turns out to be a she I’ll be expecting a family photo. Good luck, happy hunting!!
@hchavers
I find that baiting the traps with lunch meat, bacon, or a square of skin from a ham is the ticket to dead rats. Cheese is a meme based on generations of urban legend, not an effective bait.
@hchavers@werehatrack I’ve had good luck with peanut butter or a kibble of dog food smeared with bacon grease as bait for rat traps. The last few rats that I caught in my barn were partially eaten. After those, no more rats in traps and no more rat signs. Our wimpy house cats are not hunters, so I guess a weasel (or feral cat or something) must have taken care of my rat problem.
@werehatrack The rat went for some peanut butter. Another trap with bacon grease was in the garage before the peanut butter, but was never touched. Maybe it was the placement of the traps.
@hchavers I’ve been plagued with pack rats out at my place in the high desert. A bunch of them took up residence in my Lexus SUV. They nestled into the cabin filter area behind the glove box and made babies there. They also decided it would be delicious to eat the wiring harness (the spinal cord of the car). I had to splice and solder 17 wires back together and shrink wrap the whole bundle. In the cabin filter area, atrocities had occurred in there that required a quart of Simple Green and pressure washer to clean. Bottom line: They won; I sold the Lexus and keep the other vehicle in the now rodent proof garage.
The date has a number of memories attached, including a powerful one that will need a lot of time before I can avoid thinking about it. But I have a different reason to remember it now, and that appears to be helping.
I actively remembered to ignore Valentine’s Day.
Nope. I remembered Monday.
Of course not. It’s next week, isn’t it?
@Rueki Nah… It’s some time next year so you can forget about it for months and months and be fine.
@Kidsandliz
Nope. Same every year. Ad nauseam.
A rat, no not IRK, a real rat, decided to make a home in our garage. The week before Valentine Monday, the rat got into the cab of my car and literally dug holes in the back seats. The exterminator came, advised I throw out spare carpet where the rat was probably living, and set some spring traps. Sure enough a trap was triggered in the early evening, but then I heard the trap sliding across the garage floor. My investigation finds the trap up in my wife’s car’s wheel well, lodged in the strut, without the rat. The wife by now is freaking out. We drive her car around a few minutes, but still no rat.
Long story short, my wife’s Valentine gift this year is an electric rat trap.
@hchavers Use bobcat urine on cotton balls. It’ll get rid of rats and mice. You can find it at most hardware stored.
@hchavers
Good luck, happy hunting!! 
I’m hoping to see pictures of your newly found housemate once he’s found. If he turns out to be a she I’ll be expecting a family photo.
@hchavers Yuck. Those things can be as damaging as squirrels.
@hchavers
I find that baiting the traps with lunch meat, bacon, or a square of skin from a ham is the ticket to dead rats. Cheese is a meme based on generations of urban legend, not an effective bait.
@hchavers @werehatrack I’ve had good luck with peanut butter or a kibble of dog food smeared with bacon grease as bait for rat traps. The last few rats that I caught in my barn were partially eaten. After those, no more rats in traps and no more rat signs. Our wimpy house cats are not hunters, so I guess a weasel (or feral cat or something) must have taken care of my rat problem.
@werehatrack The rat went for some peanut butter. Another trap with bacon grease was in the garage before the peanut butter, but was never touched. Maybe it was the placement of the traps.
@hchavers I’ve been plagued with pack rats out at my place in the high desert. A bunch of them took up residence in my Lexus SUV. They nestled into the cabin filter area behind the glove box and made babies there. They also decided it would be delicious to eat the wiring harness (the spinal cord of the car). I had to splice and solder 17 wires back together and shrink wrap the whole bundle. In the cabin filter area, atrocities had occurred in there that required a quart of Simple Green and pressure washer to clean. Bottom line: They won; I sold the Lexus and keep the other vehicle in the now rodent proof garage.
/youtube i am the best
The date has a number of memories attached, including a powerful one that will need a lot of time before I can avoid thinking about it. But I have a different reason to remember it now, and that appears to be helping.
No, you can’t forget something you don’t celebrate.
I knew it was that day but didn’t care.
Who the heck can forget about a day that’s constantly being advertised in every type & forum of media for weeks in advance?
Me and the misses consider everyday Valentine’s Day. I like Feb 15th to go get discount chocolates and easy reservations at popular restaurants.