I am not computer literate so I will rely on my husband (the computer genius) to post my story. Bless his heart, he has never faltered in believing me (after 37 years, he still listens). One fine day in November of 2011 I decided to purchase a bird feeder to help the birds thru the winter. We thought it was such fun to watch them and then the squirrels (who broadcast the seed when they jumped onto the feeder). On occasion when I was running low on bird seed, Iâd throw stale bread. That created a frenzy��"way too much fun! More bread Iâd say! More seed too. The long, dark days became fun. Until dooms day. Dooms day was somewhere around the end of January 2012. I was in bed (my love sleeps in the next room due to his disabilities). What was that moaning sound? Moan, moan. Then nothing. Until Iâd start to doze off. This would occur in no particular pattern so, of course, it could not be heard by anyone but me. Being terrified of rodents, rats in particular, I was on the phone to Exterminator #1, a guy we had come to our home previously for bee control. He was nice and admitted he was going to retire so he didnât want to go in the crawl space. He also didnât bill us. Enter exterminator #2. He had never heard moaning sounds and did not have a clue as to what might make these sounds��" after 22 years in the business. A friend asked a local gardening store what they thought might make these sounds and an employee said he had squirrels and they were what I was hearing��" the babies crying for mama. I called exterminator #2 and played him the sounds of baby squirrels (which the afore mentioned computer guru found). He was at our house the next day to once again look for evidence of squirrels. He even made an extra trip to pick up squirrel repellant (cost to us $50 for the extra trip) and left us with the valuable information . . . âIf you find where she is getting in, do not plug the hole or she will eat through the side of your house to get to her babiesâ. Exit exterminator #2. I decided to have my older granddaughters come and spend the night to document those moaning sounds and reaffirm to myself that I am sane. Would you believe that there was absolutely no sounds made, no movement detected, no evidence whatsoever that we âhad companyâ. Remember, I am a grandmother! So now, behind my back Iâm getting the snickers and rolling eyes because POOR GRAMMIE HAS lost it. Before I called Exterminator #3, I had more occasions than I can recall to jump out of bed, take apart my bed; right down to removing the mattress and box springs and even take the mesh material off the box springs BECAUSE IT SOUNDED LIKE ONE OF THE CRITTERS MOANED UNDER MY PILLOW. Because I am relatively regarded as being intelligent and still possess all of my faculties, I did not pass on to my family my escapades during the night but instead kept this to myself. They could NOT be in my mattress��" theyâre squirrels. NOT!! So, now Exterminator #3 tells me a good news and bad news story. The good news, I AM NOT NUTS. The bad news, the moans I was hearing were not that of squirrels but were from a similar sized animal: NORWAY RATS. Take a peek at these guys on the internet. Twelve to 14 inch bodies. Oh, and mice too! Did this happen because we have total slobs living at the end of our block who opt to not have garbage pickup? Folks, I never realized that this was not a requirement in my neighborhood of $300,000-$400,000 homes (weâre evidently in an unincorporated section of Vancouver, WA. Code Enforcement tells me). Well, anyway, it doesnât help me in my quest to have my home back to just the two of us! Exterminator #3: total cost about $3500 (possibly more later) has removed most of the vermin��" all they could find which included rats and mice, they took out all of the insulation in the crawl space and the vapor barrier. I think I have reason to celebrate. Every possible entry has been plugged, every inch disinfected, all furnace pipes vacuumed, tunnel holes plugged and cemented; in other words my world is so good and free of vermin. Unless you count last night. Iâm so tired because of constant sleep deprivation for going on five months now. I fall into bed knowing we are critter free��" now approaching $6000 because we did not replace the insulation now so weâre, hopefully, not giving anybody a place to nest. The reinstall of the insulation will occur in August at a price of $2000. I put my head on the pillow with the knowledge that we are free (are we?? Two seniors 70 or so, one disabled, now depending on social security and owing so much). I almost jumped out of my skin when the little squeal came from under my pillow. At this point I want to just give up. As I tell my poor husband, I think I have mice in my mattress, am tearing apart my bed in and enlisting help to move the mattress on our back porch. I am wondering if I have lost my mind. Time will tell. At least I did one thing right in my life when I married probably the one and only man who would say he believed me.

Hello neighbor. Utica, N.Y. here. I am a long time woodsman, hunter, Husky owner and gardener. Currently I have 1 Siberian but in the past I ran a sled with 9 dogs. As for the mystery critter that the dogs killed. From your discription I assume it was either a Muskrat (doubtful unless you have a lot of water around) or a better option is an Oppossum. The Oppossum can squeeze thru some very narrow spaces. They do have a rat tail. They will eat most anything tho I haven't heard of them eating roots. Plus the scent of the dogs would keep them away normally. Since you actually saw the dead critter it may have been rabid accounting for its bravery entering the fenced area. I hope the dogs shots are up to date with rats and Oppossums around. Don't acquit the dogs so early. Since they are using the trees as a urinal there may be a dominance fight going on. The ruling male may pull up the tree to eliminate the others using "his" place. The Geraniums may have succumbed to doggie play. Huskies are very social and playful dogs. I had 2 males as wheel dogs who ran side by side just fine but argued over the use of a rose bush so often they killed it. I like the scent of Geraniums myself.The dogs may like the smell too. What can you do to be sure? Go to a hunting supply (Walmart) and get some "FOX SCENT". Put that around the trees. If wild critters are doing the damage they will not go near the Fox scent. Its a good way to keep porcupines away from the dogs also. If the damage continues you have to find the dogs guilty. The dogs may be telling you, "its our yard what the heck are you doing planting those trees here?" They could be playing with the trees after seeing you "playing" with them and pulled the trees out by the top. Hence no flying dirt. Dogs in general are chewers. Chewing is fun. It passes the time. We've seen dogs eat grass and they will eat dirt or roots for the same reason. But simple play chewing would make quick trash of the roots. Thats a fairly good case against the dogs. The missing bark is a mystery. Are there teeth marks? Rabbit teeth? Is it possible the bark came off naturally? A Rabbit would chew the bark but not in the summer. Any critter may have entered the fence without the dogs barking. Generally Huskies DO NOT bark. However I can't see an Oppossum, Muskrat Rat or Rabbit pulling up trees. Theres nothing in the roots that they can't get easier elsewhere and with less danger. A slight case that critters did it. Appointing myself judge and jury: I'm sorry but the Huskies are guilty as charged. YOU started "playing" with the trees . They are just following your lead. The trees are broken because CHEWING IS A REAL FUN PASTIME. What else do they got to do all day? The roots are missing from the chew play. But I'll be easy on the dogs this time because there is a slight case that an Oppossum or Porcupine did it. No jail time. LOL!!! Recently my Husky was on her chain. Hearing a yelp I went to the door to look. She had Quills all over her snout, mouth and feet from a Porcupine. The critter wasn't very scared of the dog. That cost me $378. Then a week later she got skunked. Try the fox scent to be sure. Aren't Siberians great? Mine is 18 months old. Her mom was typical coloring and so was the dad. But this one is all white with a dime size black spot between her eyes. Odd but true. Great temperment in Huskies, playful, great with kids. But if they get off the chain they gone for days. But they fun. and rarely bark. Try getting 9 huskies in a car for a trip to the vet. LOL!!! have a nice day. The dogs did it. Toss some old shoes from whichever family member the dogs are closest to in the area. They will chew on those instead of the trees.

I'm currently building in upstate SC, and we have a walk-out basement. Due to the slope of the land, we would have wound up with a very tall crawlspace, so a basement made sense. Might as well have usable space! Properly built, basements should NOT be wet! Unless you build in the path of an underground stream, the basement should be dry if it is built right. There should be a perimeter drain system to collect water and conduct it to a sump pump or down hill. In addition to waterproofing, you want a drainage plane (usually referred to as dimple board). Backfilling should be mostly gravel except for at the surface. Add to that properly sloping of the ground around the house, and a good gutter system, and you can have a good, usable basement. If you have a good slope, you should be able to have a walk-out basement, which is kind of halfway between a basement and a ground floor. I love having a basement. A suspended wood floor is much easier on your knees and back than a slab. Accessibility to plumbing and other utilities and mechanicals is a big plus. Around here, there have been a lot of frozen pipes lately in uninsulated crawlspaces. A basement will stay above freezing if it is properly sealed up. It's also cheap square footage should you ever want to convert it to living space.

Oh my gosh, Pal, how unbelievable that they would chew through that concrete! It makes me shudder just thinking about it. And those being rats, not mice. Thank goodness you knew what to do. Busy: Yellowjackets are scary, as they can be so aggressive. Oakley, I would have done the exact same thing! Mdln: that can is what we used. I bought it at Home Depot for $8.95, which is expensive. I was glad to get something engineered to work for rodents, though, so I wasn't' arguing the price that day (LOL). But, this stuff is injected into holes via a long, plastic tube. It hardens fairly quickly, which is good for the hole, but makes the tube unusable soon after. So, have a game plan before you start and fill everything quickly. Wet paper towels, a sturdy paper plate and a metal spatula to smooth out the foam worked best for us. I had to use Goof Off to get it off of the spatula, though. Tibbie: I'm kind of concerned, as I pick up our new furkid on Wednesday afternoon, which is just 2 days from now. I need to make sure nothing harmful such as mousetraps, etc. (we don't use poisons) are around for him to get into. P.S. I'll try to post pics of my new boy on Thursday.