So I have a sale offer on my house. We accepted. The inspector comes and in his report says we have a pest problem below the house, probably a skunk or opossum. My house is 4 years old and I know all the foundation vents are in place so I am perplexed. We haven't heard a sound, or smelled anything weird. So last night I got home and dropped down in the crawl space, wearing one of those white plastic coveralls.

There is no doubt at this point an animal has been in there. There is turds everywhere and the animal has walked over the HVAC pipes in a few locations. I look and there are claw marks in the plastic where the animal crossed the pipes. The claw marks are small, like a cat's or possibly an oppossums would look. Let me explain the scat, it is all bigger in diameter than a nickel, maybe a little less than a quarter. It is for the most part 3-6" long. It is everywhere, so I start rolling up the vapor barrier, and repairing the places in the insulation that need it.

Finally, I find where the animal has gotten into the crawl space. It is directly under my front door. Somehow, it pushed through the crawlspace vent, breaking the mesh completely off the plastic. I know this vent was in place when I built the porch over it in 2005. The hole is about 6x6, or standard foundation vent size.

I find a couple of bird carcasses along the eges of the crawl.

I am on my way back to the crawlspace opening with my plastic and looking around I see a pair of eyes about 15 feet ahead of me and to my left. I am dragging one of these work lights that takes a regular incandescant bulb with me. I put it up and get a quick view of the animal, and initially think "Its a cat". There are some feral cats in the area, and this definitely looks like a cat. The face is mottled grey/brown the color of a coyote in my mind.

Anyways it slinks back where I can't see it, and I really don't feel like getting much closer unarmed so I drag everything out and leave the animal in there, or to leave as it sees fit. I have some of the turds in a box and got on line to check.

It is a 100% match with bobcat turds. I mean everything, down to the coloring and size.

Is that even possible? Have any of you heard of a bobcat living in a crawl space? I have no doubt one could fit through that hole.

Well anyways tonight we are going back in with better lights and a 22, to see if we can evict it permanently. I might have a sentry out on the deck with a shotgun and buckshot, because I think it would be really cool to have a bobcat skull in my garage to go with this weird story.

not that i am against you shooting a bobcat, but you could into some trouble if you do....

Its a bobcat that lives under my house, I am not going to scratch under his throat and ask him to leave. . . but you are right, I should call a GW, and advise about the situation.

I will do that. One lives real close to me.

my buddy killed a bob cat that was living in his barn, some one over heard him tell a friend about, reported him, and he got a fine because he didnt have the proper license...

I wouldn't call a GW you'l have years of environmental impact statements, Bio assessments etc... I'd do what had to be done and practice the 3 S's.

Or just plan on outliving the Bobcat....

could you explain the 3 S's?

RR-

if it's just the smell that's a problem, maybe you can use these somehow

http://www.garmentguard.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=8

Call me if you need back-up. I can be there in 10 minutes. I'll bring the .458.

what exactly were you searching for when you stumbled on this site???

I definitely don't want to get a fine, and I definitely do want to sell my house. We might have to just use firecrackers and lights to scare it off then seal its hole up. I'm still not going down there unarmed though.

id shoot the bastard...i was just giving you a friendly warning.

I want in on that action.

It was on the Sports Illustrated site - here's the story, which is pretty good! But then, when aren't farts funny?

http://bensbiz.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/03/whether_its_the_fifth_third.html

POP IT ! Not sure a .458 is large enough DF....got anything bigger?

DF-

will you eat it if you shoot it, like your avatar implies? do you have a recipe for bobcat? I can't find one in the tips section of PP.

ive had cougar, but never bobcat....although im sure they taste like chicken

To blast more exit holes??

Call the guy we were talking about that lives up the road from you if you want to know. I doubt he is going to give you a hard time about anything.

The ending to this story is shaping up to be a Dark Side Hall o Famer...

I'm going to, and I'm sure you are right about what his response will be. This is a definite nuisance animal, you should see my crawl space, also it is an animal that has learned to live under houses.

One of my other buddy's from McCleary has been e-mailing me all day. He is so gung ho about this that he arranged for baby sitting for my kids just so we could go down there. He said he has enough "spot lights and small arms to do the job".

What is in that aquifer Dogfish?

I really hope that it is not down there today, and that I can just seal it out. My luck is he will shoot a pipe and then I'll end up having to do more repairs.

Shoot, Shovel, and Shut up.

Fish on...

Todd

brewer suggests you get a couple bricks of 22 shells. simi auto clips that hold, say, 100 rounds. set up a field of fire from both exterior and interior. don't forget to tape a maglite to the riffles too. when BC shows unload the clips on that sombitch! if you get em, take it to a taxidermy and have er mounted. mounted with a light inside. when the light is turned on see how well all the holes lights the living room. great company gag. good stuff!

Brewer are you in the sauce? Discharging a firearm in a crawl space seems kinda ackward. It is either concrete or ummm your house. Seems like if you hit the concrete you might be dodging ricochets. If it were my house I would be hesitant to shoot if I were trying to sell it.. just a thought.

Tannerite...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u617P7g3O7I

no, one way brewer is off the sauce now for 3 days. longest dry spell since i was a youngen.

How about just setting a large live trap out in front of the porch, and bait it with a fresh hunk of meat...

Cat walks in, you bag him/her up and after a few minutes drive up in the hills you let him/her go. No need for that cat to die, IF it is in fact a Bobcat.

Or, bed a 1-1/2 coil spring trap in front of the opening, and then do the above steps to release.

Saves you the fine, and of shooting a Bobcat when it's pelt is at it's worst. Hopefully it isn't a pregnant female.

Mike

p.s. Spent years running traplines in WA and doing some nuisance work as well. Never seen or heard of a Bobcat living under someones house. Have you considered that it might be a big raccoon?

ISO----Winter Cats have good pelts.

I would be very surprised if it turns out to be a bobcat. I think it much more likely to be a feral cat. You could run it out of there by circling it towards the exit. Then start looking for the kittens.

Setting off a flea bomb would drive it out, but if there are kittens, they would likely die.

I'm not a cat fan, but killing "just because"?

Bobcat season closed the 15th. You're a few days too late.

If it were me I'd shoot it anyways. Just make sure it was a "feral house cat" when you come back and tell the story in a few days.

My buddy is a WDFW licensed nuisance animal trapper, he actually specializes in Bobcats. I could talk to him for you if you want.

Dollar to Doughnut = racoon. Either way +/- 220 conibear = nightnight.

borrow a mean dog, don't feed for say 3 days. pit a brick over the exit. throw hungary mean dog in crawl space. take the wife to a average bar and have a good time. treat her right and get her some nachos. buy the time you get home the dirty deed should be done. simple. if the dog is dead however it's not a ferall cat!!!

Manbearpig?

thanks dude.

I wonder....and this is purely an aside....do Hungarian dogs have swarthy mustaches like their Hungarian masters?

h20, do you realise you will hit the Rush mythical number 2112 on your next post!!!!

you need to post some really big boobys for your 2112th post!

+1

Mikespike thought brewer likes to touch the hiney. must be the dryspell making him keep his hands to himself.

I'm thinking you need one of those cock fighting chickens. Get a good one that has the razor blades attached to it's legs. Use the Dogfish lights and his video cameras.
This could be a money maker....or at least a utube sensation.
ps liked Brewer's suggestion on stuffed with light inside.

now that is a great idea!

how did the big hunt go?

So anyways, buddy showed up last night, with lights, babysitter, and guns as promised.

First we called the game warden, and he told us that bobcats were actually pretty docile and that we were basically pussies if we had to shoot it to get it out from under the house. He also told us that this was not the first time he had heard of this, and we could easily live trap it. I also spoke to a WDFW licensed nuisance trapper and he told me that he believed my story too.

To prove the game wardens point about being pussies, we loaded up and jumped into the crawl space. I actually had a loaded staple gun, but my buddy had full on tactical sh!t. He looked legit, I took some pictures of him crawling around with his sweet black pistol with red dot scope, head light, and uber-bright mag light.

Anyways, we dropped in and I sent my buddy back into the area that I saw it last night, and I hung near the exit and a shear wall that would stop .22 rounds. I had no sooner dropped in and started looking when I saw it again. This time I got a side view. Most definitely a bobcat. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on if you were the cat or the commando) I was in between my buddy and the cat. So I didn't say peep, and it ran off right through the opening. I had my camera, but could not get it up in time. That sucker moved so quietly, it was really amazing.

My bud came back and I feel bad about this; I didn't tell him that I saw it leave. We made a "plan" and I staked out the opening while he crawled through every nook and cranny of the crawl. Picking up insulation and visqueen, sticking his gun in there, and generally leaving no area unturned. There is a reason he shoots more game than I do, he is a fantastic hunter. I figured that would be a good way to ensure that my crawl space was pest free, and let him "hunt" a little. After he had scoured the area, I blocked the hole from the inside, and we left.

I did find fresh scat in the areas I had cleaned the night before. Clearly this was not feral cat sh!t, it had small dead mice, and some kind of vegetation in it. Plus it was huge. We found that it was sleeping on top of my main heat plenum, right underneath the dryer. Gray hair was everywhere. Later on I went to my remodel project and got some tools and sealed opening 100%, I had to remove part of my porch to do it, so that sucked.

Anyways, you animal lovers can rest easy that we did not kill the anything, just evicted it.

Now, I need a contractor to come in and remove my old visqueen and replace it with new. There is about 20 square feet of insulation that needs replacing as well. I could do it easily but the R/E contract specifically states a "licensed and bonded" contractor has to give a service report on it. Whatever.

Sounds like a win win .

Why didn't you mention that one yourself Dew-b, as your choice for enjoying the fun of watching baseball players going at each other with razors instead of hopping. Now that's a great deal for the price of a baseball ticket. Play Ball! Your kids would just love it just like dad and grow up slicing everyone that slides into first base the wrong way. That's how kids grow into adults; believing what they see on Professional Wrestling is real. Didn't I see you walking around carrying a folding chair at your side in downtown Seattle? Probably ready to call foul on some kid with a nose ring or bad tattoo, with a whack across the head and another souvenir broken chair to take home for the kids. Nice World you live in there Dew.

Fraudian slips can be a bioch.

RR---Good story with a happy ending.

Has it been 28 days already since JLH last menstrated?

dude....what the hell is wrong with you?

ZZing!

Mf

Good story.

WWBSD?

Mf

JLH senses a victim and closes in for the kill. He's liberal and Dewbie is conservative--- need I say more.

Another Republican hunter...

Got it Jerry...

Mf

never been a victim before....i thought it would have been...i dont know, more scary?

It's surprising how many conservative partakers there out there....I fully support that message by the way.

dewb is a gun toten, gay bashin, bible thumpin right wing wack job .....didnt you get the memo??

Liberals hunting for conservatives...Ha ha, ya right, MAYBE a pack of liberals hunting for a lone conservative, but not likely.


What's that saying ? If not liberal at 20 = no heart, if not conservative at 40 = no brain...

BTW I consider myself mostly conservative(w/ a few bad habits ), but not Republican nor Democrat..........not even close. Professional polititions (and their pets/masters) are the downfall of this Country.

Seems like yesterday.....lol

That's totally offensive! do you know how many women don't want to be compared to JLH!?!

ive always considered myself a punk rocken hippie redneck....if thats not confusing i dont know what is....

That's exactly what I figured you were too... LOL

NICE!

I rest my case!

Dew-b chimed in critical of my post, taking the bait deep into the gills. Bleeder! Some were confused and jumped in, thinking the fish had caught the fisherman. Not the case. The fish I had hooked, didn't realize that he was hooked and started tail walking, thinking that he would just disappear and swim away, with a small school of his rare ( vanishing breed) "R" fish brothers. No matter how hard the Dew-b fish fought, I had that hook set deep, and the knots were true. Name calling, and other useless typical rock throwing from the peanut gallery, could not distract me, or separate this Dew-b fish from that mistaken morsel.

No matter how loud they yelled Liberal, or Democrat.... I held firm, because this fish deserved the wood shampoo, with the blessing of the majority here fishing these waters. I have my punch card ready, and this one's in the bag. Cries of support for violence in team sports, racism, anti Indian, guns, and whiskey was not enough, to distract me from the job at hand. Like Jerry said, I laid that bait in the right seam, bumping Dew-b in the snout, and he just had to bite... and bite hard he did. Fish ON! I love fishing, don't we all; but this one was way to easy.

At this point on this thread it will almost seem like hijacking to bring up the topic of bobcats again but here goes.
When I worked for the Game Department, a resort owner on a lake up by Tonasket found a bobcat cub under a cabin. It was probably 3-4 weeks old. The bobcat ended up at the Ephrata office where I worked and taken care of in a cage in the shop area. During the day it would have the run of the office and nap in the office assistant's in-box.
It was very cool to be around such a beautiful animal. It was about two months before they found a place for it and by then it was a handful especially with the needle sharp teeth and claws. When it leaped about 6 feet from the counter onto a guy's back and hung on his coat, it was time to go.

When Bobcats attack!

Thought this was appropriate timing.

Just remember what Jimbo says, "It was coming right at me!"

Have a good Friday night talking to the internet JLH?

Or any day or night for that matter. I don't have to use a computer at work, because I am self employed and have my own. It may seem amazing to some, but they do sell personal computers ( PC's as they are called), that can be used anytime one feels like it. Gotta love technology and the freedom it offers. For some the Library may not be an option either, as their hours are probably limited on weekends and having little or no access until the following Monday. For me I can go online and post any time that I feel like it.

I'm glad that you have access to a computer at your job and you can at least post between the hours of 8 and 5 PM, Monday thru Friday. I bet on Mondays you have a ton to post; not being able to post on the weekends, hence the above. There's probably a spike on Friday afternoon when your week with bosses computer ends.

Anyway, now you know that some of us on this board are not cheating their employer, and using their bosses computer for non business related matters. You're not alone; I'm sure that there are others that do it, but none would admit it as you did, with your amazement of my using mines after 5 PM on a Friday.

I hope that you managed to check out many of the other post's on this site that were posted after 5 PM on Friday. Must be hard to get any work done once you realize the many posts you've missed over the weekend, not having a computer of your own to keep up. If you'd like, I can sell you one that I don't use anymore. It's a little outdated but at least you can email and search the web. It's a P 4, and I'll sell it cheap to you, because I want you to be able to post anytime you feel like here at PP. I know the economy is hitting a lot of people hard. I have compassion for those like yourself, that need every penny they can scrape up, just to keep a roof over their head and 3 squares on the table; meaning that a computer purchase is out of the question. Let me know.

I didn't read your whole reply. But I was happy to see that my one sentence comment prompted a novel. And one worth editing at that...

So then you don't need a computer and it's after 5 on a Monday. I get it, you were just trolling around as troll will do. I think if you read the whole thing you will find that it was proper to the strange post you made with little clarity. Do you have a habit of making people feel sorry for you, because you come off so needy? Note: Refer to my previous post.

Watch out now, and don't get hooked hanging out in the frog water that you seem to like so well.

Six o'clock....and I'm on my other computer now.

I'm sure you have pairs of Hodgeman computers all over the place, and that's your choice. Probably buy one every other week or so as a replacement when one breaks, and you're still saving $$$. I bet you save all your broken and leaky non warrantied ones, and probably using one right now. Good on you. I'm not laughing, so you don't have to care. Please don't bite, because I don't care to wall mount a sucker fish, only trophies with more and better content. Besides most fish hanging out in frog water as yourself, are probably soggy old neoprene boots.

im just wonderin....do you have whats known as a ....."sense of humor"

JLH-

I'm sorry I have to point this out, but since you are self-employed, doesn't this mean that you are only cheating yourself?

No, more like he is cheating his customer/clients/vendors or whatever.

Almost everyone works for someone.

unless you are like my brother in law who chooses not to work because the state gives him so much money......bastard

Some people(me) view the forum at work before work starts, during my 2 breaks and at lunch and after work.

I was hoping the bobcat story would end up with locking the really good hunter buddy in the crawl space and running around and boarding the bobcat in.

The bobcat's days are probably still numbered. Since the incident, I have taken on a sort of local celebrity status. Over the weekend, I got calls and texts from good ole boys who I haven't heard from in years. Everyone wants a dead bobcat it seems. No one wanted to come help me take out the soiled visqueen, but everyone wanted to help exterminate the animal.

I was sitting on my couch eating lunch on Sunday when I look out on my back deck and see one of the guys I used to play basketball with in high school. We haven't talked for at least 4 years, because he turned into a druggie.

I walk out and I am like "Whats up?", he explained that he heard there was a bobcat around, and they were there to catch it. Then I looked out in my yard and my brother in law was there, and another good ole boy was down over the hill "tracking" the animal. They set "Have a Heart" traps loaded with old steaks in a couple of locations. Luckily, my brother in law is on maternity leave and can check them daily. He already took a feral cat to his barn, and let go of my neighbors mutt.

If they get lucky and catch the bobcat, I highly doubt they will "have a heart", but you never know.

Sure is nice of the BiL to take it upon himself to take care of that for you.....

You'd think that he would at least call first though. LOL.

Whats the unemployment rate over there in Elma?

that sure is thoughtful of him to do that for you

I am curious to know why you asked this question.

Well, if you are a logger or mill guy, about 90%.

which would explain all of the helpful good ol boys

What Dewbie said. A bunch of guys who voluntarily show up to "help" exterminate a bobcat......must have some time on their hands.

It was on a Sunday, but yeah things are tough for a lot of folks around the harbor.

Lotta guys out cutting firewood to make ends meet.

you could always trap animals and sell furs

What's the current bounty on bc pelts?

Posse up!

What's he doing chasing bobcats in his condition?

im thinking around $50 bucks a pop

Dewb-

Now you've really screwed up - you're messing with Jonas' and Romulus' side, side, side business

they can still sell all the innards!

JG-

Please post your break times so that I Magicfly can post nekked wimmin pics for the longest possible duration. I won't worry about SkyGuy, he seems to have gone blind already!

no thanks necessary

Someone call????

Time to Pinder up, eh.

Mf

PINDER!! PINDER!! PINDER!!!