Unknown animal in train room !!!!

"Copperheads are a different story and we have both copperheads and rattle snakes here too. I wouldn't readily welcome those, may have to hire a snake charmer if we get one of those."

I can identify with that!! I've never seen a Copperhead here, but I know they are around.. 6 1/2 ac around my house is fenced and my dogs have a dog door.. One was killed by a Rattler in the fall.. Another dog who is blind got 'hit' by one a couple years ago in the forehead.. Thanks to quick action and a great Vet, he survived.. These days, I 'carry' when I'm working on my place- a little over 13ac total.. Fortunately, no skunks here, but some of about everything else...

Did you at least give him a ride on one of the trains! 

A major garden railroad hazard in the northern latitudes.....

I had no idea that there was so much squirrel-hate out there ("squirrelism"); not that they belong in the layout area, but there seems to be a lot of free-floating angst against this cute-ish rodent.

Rabbits share a common ancestor with rodents (and look it), but everybody loves them.

Ah, the poor squirrel! The chipmunk does not live this far south, so I am unfamiliar with them - except for Chip'n'Dale.

Me - I've got nothing for or against squirrels. It does surprise me how much "yuk!" this animal draws out of people. 

Boilermaker1 posted:

"Where's Eddie? He usually eats these things."

 

Not since he found out they were high in chloresterol.

Jerry

D500 posted:

I had no idea that there was so much squirrel-hate out there ("squirrelism"); not that they belong in the layout area, but there seems to be a lot of free-floating angst against this cute-ish rodent.

Maybe you just haven't be exposed to the squirrel's dark side.

You want them?  You can keep them.

For some reason our squirrels are well behaved.  Maybe it is because we feed them so much corn, they are too busy squirreling it away to get into mischief!  We have a few chipmunks too.

I have seen squirrels and mice wreak havoc with wire insulation both when I worked at the power company and when I was in the field at the telecom company.  Yes they can be a mighty force to be reconed with!!

laz1957 posted:

You should have my dog, MINNIE, cross between a Chihuahua and Black Lab,(that's what they told us at the rescue).  In the 6 years she'd been here with us she has 18 squirrel kills, 8 rabbits, 5 groundhogs, and I don't know how many voles, moles, chippies, and mice.  That is one fast dog.

 No skunks?   

What, me worry?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

There are Copperheads around, but I haven't personally seen one around my house.  I think they're about the only dangerous snake that hangs around Eastern PA.

laz1957 posted:

You should have my dog, MINNIE, cross between a Chihuahua and Black Lab,(that's what they told us at the rescue). 

I'm with the other opinions, I'm trying to imagine how that ever came to pass.  Did the Chihuahua have a step ladder?

Yes JOHN, that was the first thing that I thought of when we heard what the mix was.  The only regret I have is that I didn't take her sister.  WOW my neighborhood would have no wildlife in it.

Alfred E Neuman posted:

laz1957 posted:

You should have my dog, MINNIE, cross between a Chihuahua and Black Lab,(that's what they told us at the rescue).  In the 6 years she'd been here with us she has 18 squirrel kills, 8 rabbits, 5 groundhogs, and I don't know how many voles, moles, chippies, and mice.  That is one fast dog.

 No skunks?   

What, me worry?

Yes about 2 years ago. my WIFE was walking her before school, while I was on a fishing trip, both got sprayed.  WIFE didn't teach that day and spent the day at the groomers trying to get rid of the smell.  I had a good laugh when I came home but WIFE wasn't to happy.  MINNIE loved the groomer though.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Maybe you just haven't be exposed to the squirrel's dark side.

 

 

You want them?  You can keep them.

The proper disposal when you find ones invading your dwelling like that involves a cage trap and a garbage can filled to the top with water.

That's the only way to ensure they will not find their way back to the home they created in your attic after that(for those of us not skilled with small firearms that may or may not be acceptable to discharge on your own property).  Anything less would be a risk of their return.  I've heard they can find their way back to a nest for many miles (far more than "dropping them off" 2 or 3 miles away some have mentioned).

I'm not suggesting that for the OP where the thing just got trapped for a few days, but he wasn't seemingly making home yet, just frustrated and trapped.

-Dave

Roses are red

Violets are blue

If skunks had a college

They'd call it P.U.

Courtesy of that great philosopher Ish Kabbible.

No squirrels or chipmunks around here. Not enough cover, although they can occasionally be spotted in the towns. Birds of prey, snakes and the like pretty much keep the mice, voles, etc. under control. Skunks, badgers, racoons, fox, coyote and the rarer porcupine do occupy the territory but seldom cause problems. Most damage I've had was when a herd of Pronghorn came wandering through my yard and raised hell with an outdoor G gauge railroad I had at the time. Very discouraging. Most damage (in the garden) is actually done by pheasants wandering in and poking holes in melons, squash, cucumbers and such. My solution is just to plant a lot more than I'll need.

John:

I'm glad there was no worse damage and that you were able to trap and release the squirrel without getting injured yourself.

I've lived in two different houses where a squirrel fell down the chimney and came running into the room.  The first time, I was a know-knothing bachelor of 24 living in a rented house.  The little monster fell directly onto a fire we had burning and bolted out of the fireplace in a frenzy.  I had a housemate who played hockey in an adult league and I used his stick to slap the squirrel out the front door.  I will NEVER forget the image of that little monster launching itself, jaws agape, directly at my gonads ... thank God I caught him with the flat side of the blade before he could sink his teeth in.  It only took 2-3 more shots to send him on his way out the front door, which was held open by my white-as-a-sheet housemate.

Another squirrel did the same thing in our first house in Barrington, RI (not too far from where Capt. John lives).  This was about 20-25 years ago at a time when my then two-year old daughter didn't much like taking naps.  I was in the basement working and heard a light-footed creature running around in the living room.  I thought it was her and came upstairs to put her back in her bed.  Imagine my surprise when I saw a squirrel run across the room and start up the stairs to where she was sleeping.  Fortunately, he turned around and I was able to lock him in a room.  I went out and got my boyhood hockey stick, propped opened the front door, opened the squirrel's door, and then used the hockey stick to herd him outside again.  I installed a chimney guard the very next weekend.

In the layout I'm building now -- on the third floor of our 137-year old home -- the biggest issue we have is with bats.  They can squeeze their way in through a hole the size of a dime and I've gotten rid of a dozen in the 10 years I've lived here.  I'm sure I'm haven't seen the last of them.

For the record: Bats are 20 times easier to deal with than squirrels.

For anyone else reading these stories and thinking that a humane trap is the best solution, PLEASE, be very careful when approaching any wild animal in your home.  They're likely going to be terrorized at the prospect of meeting up with you.  No matter how much you want to help them, be sure to have a long stick with you to keep them a good distance away.  A hockey stick is your best friend, believe me.

Steven J. Serenska

Well guys, I guess we have covered all the bases on animals interfering with our great hobby. What a side show though.

Thanks for posting all your experiences. I guess we all have learned a little bit here.

Woodson posted:

"Copperheads are a different story and we have both copperheads and rattle snakes here too. I wouldn't readily welcome those, may have to hire a snake charmer if we get one of those."

I can identify with that!! I've never seen a Copperhead here, but I know they are around.. 6 1/2 ac around my house is fenced and my dogs have a dog door.. One was killed by a Rattler in the fall.. Another dog who is blind got 'hit' by one a couple years ago in the forehead.. Thanks to quick action and a great Vet, he survived.. These days, I 'carry' when I'm working on my place- a little over 13ac total.. Fortunately, no skunks here, but some of about everything else...

I have not seen any poisonous ones near our house, but I have seen them on the walking trails around here. You don't see them too often, but I have seen one of each copperhead and rattler in the last few years. I had to stop and wait for a copperhead right on the trail last spring. It froze when it saw me and I had to finally back up where he couldn't see me so he would finish crossing the trail. Sorry to hear about your dog and the rattlesnake, and I'm glad the other one survived. You are lucky to have a good vet too. The snakes are nothing to mess with, that's for sure, at least not those kinds of snakes.

I lived in a mobel home and next door was a field.Well one day getting by home from work.The field had been plowed.That night while running my trains.I noticed some thing my cat chessie had caught something.Up on inspecting he caught a field mouse.And that was just the starters.As the night went on he caught a total of six field mice.The mice did not get the chance to do any damage to the trains.Chessie has been by my side ever since.Btw chessie is short for C&O railroad.

Lesson:  Don't leave doors open if you live in a rural setting!

Won't stop a groundhog if it wants to get in.  I had one come right up through the floor from the crawl space. 

Closed off the crawl space with steel hardware cloth - that lasted about 2 weeks - right through it like it wasn't even there.

Almost impossible to stop mice.....  Squirrels at least make a good meal,

I've had a possum get into my house on three different occasions (not the same possum)--one because the front door was left open by my one of my sons on a hot day--the possum wandered right in the front door and into that son's bedroom on the first floor.  He shooed it back out the front door with a broom.  Another time another of my adult sons opened the garage door a few inches so he could smoke in the garage without the smoke getting into the rest of the house (he's not supposed to smoke in the house at all) and a possum got in.  He freaked out and came and got me and I went downstairs, opened the garage door all the way and shooed it outside with a broom.  The third time yet another possum (all three were different sizes so it was't the same possum) snuck into the garage when that son was smoking in there again with the garage door open a few inches.   I opened the garage door all the way and grabbed a broom again to shoo the possum outside, but this one started climbing UP the broom handle towards me.  I tossed the broom, with the possum still on it, way out of that garage.  I could see he wasn't happy about the rough handling but he wandered away, which is what I wanted.  

My train layout is in the garage, but neither of the possums that got in the garage showed any interest in the train layout, so no damage.

It could have been worse--we have raccoons and skunks in our neighborhood, too.

That's scary, you need to get a long extension handle for that broom!

New York State has timber rattlers in hilly, rocky areas, so l don't doubt the same terrain in eastern PA. does too.  I have read that the Ma & Pa was known for copperheads along its route.