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04-19-2006, 01:31 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
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Flying rats
Argh.* *I just heard the hopping of a bird in my attic.* * It must be starling season again.* * These stupid birds somehow hack through the mesh I put over the soffits and build their nests in the attic.
Anybody else have this problem?* * Any eradication or prevention tips?
I'm thinking of using a net with an open bottom, so the bird can get out (and fall through the bottom of the net), but not back in.* * No idea how I'm going to get the nest out....
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04-19-2006, 01:36 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,352
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Re: Flying rats
wab,
trust me it works.
Got to Costco, etc and get the largest cayene pepper portion they have.* On a few windy days waft some spoons full of it into the vents.* Nobody is hurt, and the effect lasts a couple of seasons.
EDIT: But do wear a suit similar to mine in the avatar.
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04-19-2006, 02:21 PM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Originally Posted by wab
These stupid birds somehow hack through the mesh I put over the soffits and build their nests in the attic.
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Ooooh, yeah.* Zebra doves & mynah birds.
You could either staple the mesh over the outside of the house (ugly) or try soffit grilles.* They're made of aluminum and can be either screwed or glued in.
While you're crawling around up there, see where the light is coming from.* Sometimes builders don't seal all the holes that occur at roof valleys or dormers.
Years ago a "friend" used to make nitrogen triazide tri-iodide in the chemistry lab (totally unauthorized but not hard to accomplish), drip it onto sugar cubes, put them on the inside windowsill, and watch the houseflies blow themselves up.* Not, of course, that I'm suggesting you do any such thing with attic critters...
__________________
*
Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
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04-19-2006, 03:16 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,450
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Got to Costco, etc and get the largest cayene pepper portion they have. On a few windy days waft some spoons full of it into the vents. Nobody is hurt, and the effect lasts a couple of seasons.
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does the pepper make them go away or are you looking to season them?
__________________
- Hurry! to the cliffs of insanity!
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04-19-2006, 06:07 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Nomadic in the Rockies
Posts: 2,720
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Originally Posted by OldAgePensioner
wab,
trust me it works.
Got to Costco, etc and get the largest cayene pepper portion they have. On a few windy days waft some spoons full of it into the vents. Nobody is hurt, and the effect lasts a couple of seasons.
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Does this work? Birds eat peppers and spread the seeds. The capsaicin doesn't affect birds like it does mammals. Maybe it's just some birds and not all/starlings?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin :
Quote:
Birds are generally not sensitive to capsaicinoids.
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04-19-2006, 06:19 PM
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#6
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: minnesota
Posts: 13,228
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Re: Flying rats
European Starlings. Bad news. http://www.bestofbbml.audubon-omaha.org/starling4.htm
The one way door sounds like the best idea.
Our neighbor gets them too and as he patches one area, they find another entry.
__________________
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No more lawyer stuff, no more political stuff, so no more CYA
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04-19-2006, 07:36 PM
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#7
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha
European Starlings.* Bad news.
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Ugh. I didn't realize they were that smart. More like flying monkeys than flying rats.
I mixed up some ground chili pepper and water, put it in a spray bottle, and just managed to clog up my spray bottle. Anyway, I sloshed some on the soffit hole, and I'll see if it has any effect.
If not, I'll build a trap tomorrow. And if that doesn't work, I'll release cobras into the attic.
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04-19-2006, 08:09 PM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Years ago a "friend" used to make nitrogen triazide in the chemistry lab...
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I tink dat was nitrogen tri-iodide, mebbie? (Don' ask.)
Ed the Chem Eng
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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04-19-2006, 08:33 PM
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#9
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy
I tink dat was nitrogen tri-iodide, mebbie?
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Thanks, Ed, you're absolutely right...
__________________
*
Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."
I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
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04-19-2006, 08:40 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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Re: Flying rats
Then there was lead azide and mercury fulminate.... We won't go there, but let me tell you about a fellow ChE I worked with who blew a few fingers off one hand when he was a kid. I was lucky. He wasn't.
How about a rubber snake in the rafters? Probably only chases away the rubber birds.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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04-19-2006, 09:27 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy
I tink dat was nitrogen tri-iodide, mebbie?
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Hey, that does look like fun:
Nitrogen Triiodide Detonation Movie
Just sat outside with my binocs for a while and observed the Starlings. Chili powder doesn't bother them. I waited for them to leave, and put more wire mesh on their entry. If that keeps them out for a while, I'll try to remove the nest from the attic. (Yech.)
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04-19-2006, 09:37 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: the City of Subdued Excitement
Posts: 5,588
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Re: Flying rats
I can't help you there, Wab. I dread yellowjacket nests in my attic, myself.
Now, if you had mice, I know absolutely the best mousetrap ever invented. (It doesn't work on rats. Tried it. Works great on mice! Tried it!) By the way, my digitally challenged friend gave me the design. I had forgotten that. funny how things are connected sometimes.
__________________
I have outlived most of the people I don't like and I am working on the rest.
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04-20-2006, 12:28 AM
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#13
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 927
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Re: Flying rats
Quote:
does the pepper make them go away or are you looking to season them?
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A friend and I were barbecuing once, and a dove with a broken wing fluttered by outside the fence.* I asked him to put it out of its misery (knowing, as I did, that he was a hunter and could quickly dispatch it.)
I turned my back for THREE SECONDS and he had the thing killed, dressed, butterflied, and on the barbecue next to the chicken.
Maybe starlings are tasty too.
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04-20-2006, 12:58 AM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 3,895
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Re: Flying rats
i just trapped that feral cat and will be glad to ship. just send me your fed ex account #.
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"off with their heads"~~dr. joseph-ignace guillotin
"life should begin with age and its privileges and accumulations, and end with youth and its capacity to splendidly enjoy such advantages."~~mark twain - letter to edward kimmitt 1901
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04-20-2006, 01:30 AM
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#15
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,352
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Re: Flying rats
wab,
if you were dressed in a red jump suit with orange dance shoes and wearing a Rocko mask, spraying cayene pepper into your soffit, I can promise that you will not have a starling problem.
Now if they are Mexican starlings, you may end up with a roof full of starlings that will never leave.
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