Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Tin Soldiers

Galvanized steel, actually. But they are soldiers in the ongoing war between me and the fat gray rats in our garage. After a catastrophic breach of the whole oats container I caved and invested $125 in five vermin-proof garbage cans. So far the tricky lids are also proving to be penguin-proof, but I feel confident that I will eventually master them with the help of my opposable thumbs.



13 comments:

allhorsestuff said...

Nice little cans all in a row!
ashewiv excuse me..I sneezed!

Grey Horse Matters said...

That should do the trick!

dt said...

Does no one have the heart to tell poor dp that penguins don't *have* opposable thumbs?

jme said...

wow, that looks serious. i have a regular metal can with a normal lid, and i couldn't get it open this morning in the cold, so i would probably be out of luck with those :-\ one way to conserve on feed though...

adkjenn said...

i have a friend who has goats, and had the same problem, and same solution! woo for garbage cans :)

and on the rib bones again (gah...i feel silly...). do i have to worry about splintering w/ them? obviously they wouldn't be cooked...but when i mentioned getting some for jack she gave me big eyes and said i shouldn't give them to him...

then again, she is against any idea she didn't come up with :P

in the mean time, when i was at the grocery store, i asked the butcher for a marrow bone.

he is happily attacking that as i type this :D

Anonymous said...

adkjenn- Have you read Raw Dog Food by Carina Beth MacDonald? I'm sure that would help answer a lot of your questions. Personally, I don't worry about splinter with rib bones when they're raw. If wolves can eat them and survive, so can dogs. A dog's digestive system hasn't changed that much in the evolutionary process.

dp- are child-proof pill bottles also penguin proof? I have issues with them as well as lids on things like your cans too.

dp said...

Anything that is anyone-proof is usually penguin-proof. I suffer from barrier frustration. The worst are bottles for which you have to hold down a tab while you turn the lid (like jerry cans).

Rising Rainbow said...

We have our own tin soldiers here. It's amazing some of the things rats can chew through that you wouldn't expect. But these have really done the trick....now if I could just figure out how I keep scrunching the lids I'd be in great shape.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Very clever and tidy! Brilliant idea.
Nasty Rats!

~isa
aka~Rapunzle

ungrat: an ungrateful rat

Brandy said...

I was soooo happy when the VA sent meds out with reversible caps. One side child proof, one side actually openable, so you could choose! I wish I had thought to keep those caps, they aren't sending them out like that any more :-( Now they send the press and turn ones...

Thank goodness for hubbys, and their superior cap twisting abilities!

--
aukema - a blood disorder of great flightless birds, leaving them too tired to open caps...

dp said...

I was just worried that you thought the rats getting the lids off was within the realm of possibility...

Anonymous said...

Ya never know, dp. Maybe those rats are masterminds escaped from a lab!


sorph- something you sorta do, but don't really do.

allhorsestuff said...

Thank you all...reading the comments here tonight was most uplifting and sent the cat out of the room for the loud peals of laughter.
DP....was over at Grey horse before this and was laughing there too for the amount of times you came through on live feed thoughts!
it is good to be easily ammused on a Friday night!
KK