We are now minus one pack rat. But not quite in the way in which we had intended.

Last night right after dinner we decided we were going to drive around and see if we could spot any elk or moose. We all piled in the truck (including Bella who hates these just-before-dark drives and we can’t really figure out why) Rick started the truck and backed up.

Eeeeewwwwwwww. What was that smell? All of a sudden Rick announced that the truck didn’t have any steering. What????? We knew what the stench was—pack rat—but why didn’t we have any steering?

We all got out of the truck that wasn’t going anywhere and I put the dogs in the house. Rick popped the hood and started scooping out a lovely nest made of ferny material and some black chewed on piece that used to be covering something in the engine. He peered closer. Yup, there was the “monster” (as Rick called it) pretty chewed up with guts and gore splattered everywhere in the engine compartment. He said “the belt is gone!” At first we thought the monster chewed the fan belt in half or had run off with it, but then he found it lying there completely off its gears or whatever they are called. Apparentely he got caught in the belt when we started the truck and it threw the belt off the heads.

We got rid of the pack rat carcass and stood there for a minute trying to understand just what this meant. Did we have to call a tow truck to come all the way in from Laramie? We saw a diagram under the hood that shows how to thread the belt back on, so Rick got busy trying to figure it out.

It’s not a simple thing to do since it’s not just the fan belt, but drives lots of other things too. They don’t call it a serpentine belt for nothing! It winds in and around all the little belt heads (don’t laugh I don’t know what to all them) in a rather intricate pattern.

Rick tried his best while I offered moral support and held the flashlight. By now it was starting to get too dark to see very much, so we gave up after coming very close to having it back on. Rick came in and went online, found a video of how to put it back on and now we feel pretty confident we can get it back up and running today. Good thing we hadn’t planned on going in to Laramie to shop until tomorrow!

So, therefore the score above: pack rat: 1,  us: 1. We got him but he got us too.

Traps were set everywhere last night: under the truck, near the entry to the fireplace where they had been getting in, by the canoe. One trap was sprung with nothing in it, the one under the truck netted one mouse.

So, if you are still thinking in the back of your head that pack rats are cute, maybe you’ll change your mind when you see the havoc they can cause.




Starting to change! Another post still on the way today with photos from our walks of the past couple of days. I need to catch up if only these dang pack rats would leave us alone!

Click on a picture to enlarge it!

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