Tobacco raid

[Timbo]

Got woken up at 4:30 or so this morning to a smallish creature moving about my room. I thought it was my cat hunting a moth and ignored it for a minute till I heard tobacco tins being moved.

Then thunk, thunk, thunk. The sounds of tins hitting the floor.

I turned the light on and saw a grey, cat shaped thing moving about through my blurry vision and thought my first thoughts were correct about my cat, then I thought, how can she get up into my tobacco as it's on a shelf at the very top of my closet. On closer inspection it was a ring tailed possum that had got in through my open second storey window.

These little menaces get into everything and eat all our fruit, and here was one going for my baccy. I was not going to allow this to stand. I grabbed a broom and shoo'd the possum out onto the back verandah where it toddled off looking for home.

Here was the aftermath when I woke up this morning.

After pulling it all out and organising the tins on my bed.

Then finally putting them back to their own bed.

Just realised that I've packed them away by blender which is not the easiest to see and access what blends are there. Oh well, will give it another go of organising it soon.

On the plus side, I found six tins of Christmas Cheer 2003 which I don't remember buying. Particularly odd as I didn't get back into pipe smoking until 2014...

 

[lgoldberg]

That's hilarious! Well, it is from my chair ... I'd feel less amused if it happened here, lol. Raccoons rummage around outside all the time here. My wife really wants to get a doggie door installed, but it'll have to be one of those electronic ones that you have to be wearing a special collar to get into. Otherwise I'd get *****, skunks, possum, other people's dogs, cats, deer...

 

[D.L.Ruth]

Hope he didn't mess anything up, and all the tobacco is fine.

 

[Ranger107]

Good thing he didn't find one of your pipes, he might have tried the Christmas Cheer, lol.

 

[ftrplt]

A fine display of good taste!!!!!!!!! FTRPLT

 

[Musicus]

Looks OK. We had three of em last week at night in the garden. All you could see were their eyes lit up like headlights. A happy family going about their business. w/o regulations.

 

[Rasher-Roll]

"Tobacco raid attempt #23:

The opossum costume was a success, and I was able to get through the window without getting the tail stuck like the earlier iterations. Unfortunately, I cut the eye holes too small, and while trying to collect the stash, knocked it over on accident. Despite my size, he seemed to believe I was a marsupial, and, though empty handed, I made my escape.

Back to the drawing board..."

 

[Aussiemike]

aghhh bugger Timbo they make a bloody mess the little buggers.
We have 2 brushtails that live under our 2 story house and I found all my fishing reels,tackle ect all over the floor where they threw them out of a top shelf of a cupboard downstairs on the weekend. And this morning at 5.30am for an hour the crows were going crazy around a clump of palms I looked in and saw a juvenile black brushtail curled up asleep so that makes 3. Never seen a black one before the crows have a nest in the back yards paperbark tree and were probably worried about it cause it looked like a cat maybe.

 

[Blackhorse]

Why that nasty flea bitten little consarned zippity jabbit varmint! Man the cannons! Loose the dogs of war!

 

[Timbo]

Thanks all, nothing too damaged, a few dents in a couple of tins. Though the ruckus got me to inspect all my tins and all but one are doing well. A tin of GLP Fillmore looks like it might have some rust forming, so that one will be cracked very soon.

The possums here are good fruit thieves but not sure how they'd go with a pipe Ranger, might be a bit of a struggle for them to get it lit.

And Mike, I'm glad the house is on a slab, a local mate has an elevated house with a workshop under it and the possums get into everything there too making a mess as well as pissing everywhere. The black ones apparently are an adaption to living further South, allows them to soak up more warmth in Winter. And yes I can understand the confused birds, lucky the possum didn't get dive bombed by them.

We really do need a racoon masked possum in Australia, would at least show their intent.

 

[Rasher-Roll]

I'm glad the house is on a slab, a local mate has an elevated house with a workshop under it and the possums get into everything there too making a mess as well as pissing everywhere.

We had this problem last year. Our house is over 100 years old, and built without a solid foundation. Winter was particularly wet, and mice got into the hutch that we use for spare towels/bedding, and my precious tobacco.

Turns out bagged tobacco makes desirable mouse bedding. I had to throw away a couple pounds, including the last of my McClellands that I had found stashed at my local B&M but had not yet gotten around to jarring. After that, we took mouse hunting very seriously.

 

[Timbo]

We had this problem last year. Our house is over 100 years old, and built without a solid foundation. Winter was particularly wet, and mice got into the hutch that we use for spare towels/bedding, and my precious tobacco.

Turns out bagged tobacco makes desirable mouse bedding. I had to throw away a couple pounds, including the last of my McClellands that I had found stashed at my local B&M but had not yet gotten around to jarring. After that, we took mouse hunting very seriously.

Ouch, that is a nasty hit to take. My commiserations.

A good mouse bait if you can put it were nothing else can get to it is 50/50 flour and cement.

The mice gorge themselves then go off to mummify somewhere, no need to deal with little corpses that way. Of course if you live in a humid environment that may differ.

 

[Ranger107]

We have a big problem with pack rats around here. Traps do work but the best mice/rat control is to import a non venomous snake. King snakes are particularly effective, at least around here.

 

[Singed]

aghhh bugger Timbo they make a bloody mess the little buggers.
We have 2 brushtails that live under our 2 story house and I found all my fishing reels,tackle ect all over the floor where they threw them out of a top shelf of a cupboard downstairs on the weekend. And this morning at 5.30am for an hour the crows were going crazy around a clump of palms I looked in and saw a juvenile black brushtail curled up asleep so that makes 3. Never seen a black one before the crows have a nest in the back yards paperbark tree and were probably worried about it cause it looked like a cat maybe.

Opossums will eat bird eggs if they can get them, I completely understand the crows' agitation.