Critters in basement

[beninan]

It had come to my visual attention that I have critters in the basement of my apartment.
Yes, the land-lady is taking care of the situation. So no heath worries here, only potential beer worries.
I came to this realization while moving some bottled apfelwein and beer to the basement after finding out that my beer storage closet keeps a constant temp of 90+ degrees F.
I'm sure the apfelwein and other various sealed beers would be fine down there, as there's probably no way any critter is going to get into them, but what about placing fermenting beers down there?
I've been thinking about fermenting another apfelwein and leaving it in the basement, but do you think the smell of fermentation would attract creatures? Do you think that there may be some fermenter chewing and beer dumping going on? should I play it safe and only use glass fermenters down there? Or not even ferment down there at all?

 

[doctorRobert]

My house has mice. It was built in the 20's, gaps everywhere. its probably just too easy for them to get in so I've learned to just live with traps everywhere. I've never seen any evidence of mice near any of my brew stuff (I don't store bulk grain though; only bagged stuff for a short amount of time).


I wouldn't worry about fermentors for two reasons. Fermentation stinks most of the time and because your fermenters are sealed, if mold and bacteria cant even get in, I doubt a mouse will smell it and wanna chew through plastic.

 

[SKMO]

90+ degree closet in Maine in the Winter ? Is your house built on a nuclear waste disposal site, or do you keep the thermostat set at 120 degrees?

What kind of "critters and creatures" ? Bugs, mice & rats, or larger mammals with teeth that can chew through a Better Bottle? Thought the landlady was taking care of this?

Hey, doesn't Stephen King live in Bangor ?

 

[GoodRatsBrew]

Have you ever stopped to think about what rats do for fun?
Sure they crawl around and scurry,
yeah they're always on the run but a rat sure likes a good time
just like you and me
I'll prove it with a tale about a rat-infested brewery

It started with a little lad named Vermin McCann
who fell upon a drink that made him feel like quite a man
he rounded up his furry boys,
though some wore a frown
they quickly changed their tune and they slammed a couple down

[Chorus:]
One, two, one-two-three-four!
Come on all you good rats
we'll send you to heaven you'll find the pearly gates in the froth and the foam
'cause in these vats you've made quite a creation
a potion that turned the Guinness to gold!

Like mice behind a piper,
rats from all around soon headed for this factory in old Dublin Town.
They surely heard the news about this fancy new rat-brew they come,
they saw, they had a taste and knocked back a few

The rats were in a tizzy
addicted to the bone the hairy lugs were giddy
they were never going home
like a bunch of drunken pirates prepared to walk the plank they drank,
they sang, they took a plunge and in the beer they sank!


Don't worry they don't take too much...

 

[beninan]

90+ degree closet in Maine in the Winter ? Is your house built on a nuclear waste disposal site, or do you keep the thermostat set at 120 degrees?

The closet has a heating duct going through it to the upstairs and it's uninsulated, so the heat radiates off it.

What kind of "critters and creatures" ? Bugs, mice & rats, or larger mammals with teeth that can chew through a Better Bottle? Thought the landlady was taking care of this?

I noticed a half eaten granola bar under my lazy chair, and while moving my apfelwein to the basement, I saw a rat underneath the oil tank. It looked scared as hell when it saw me, so I felt bad for the poor thing and pelted bricks at it. The land-lady is aware of it and we have been on the phone with her today about it. She left some poison (not what I would prefer) to try to kill anything, but I recommended some snap traps so they wouldn't die in the walls/wherever. She said she will drop off some traps tomorrow.
As for the chewing concern, I don't have any better bottles, only glass carboys and plastic buckets. I'm not sure how well it could chew threw a bucket, but I would think the glass would be fine.

Hey, doesn't Stephen King live in Bangor ?

Yes, within walking distance of my apartment. Big house, black iron fence with bats on top. Owns a public park/baseball field in his back yard. My mother use to take blood samples at the hospital, and oddly enough, she had be the vampire for Mr. King once.

 

[beninan]

Have you ever stopped to think about what rats do for fun?
Sure they crawl around and scurry,
yeah they're always on the run but a rat sure likes a good time
just like you and me
I'll prove it with a tale about a rat-infested brewery

It started with a little lad named Vermin McCann
who fell upon a drink that made him feel like quite a man
he rounded up his furry boys,
though some wore a frown
they quickly changed their tune and they slammed a couple down

[Chorus:]
One, two, one-two-three-four!
Come on all you good rats
we'll send you to heaven you'll find the pearly gates in the froth and the foam
'cause in these vats you've made quite a creation
a potion that turned the Guinness to gold!

Like mice behind a piper,
rats from all around soon headed for this factory in old Dublin Town.
They surely heard the news about this fancy new rat-brew they come,
they saw, they had a taste and knocked back a few

The rats were in a tizzy
addicted to the bone the hairy lugs were giddy
they were never going home
like a bunch of drunken pirates prepared to walk the plank they drank,
they sang, they took a plunge and in the beer they sank!


Don't worry they don't take too much...

Lol nice! is that from something?

 

[beninan]

Maybe I should contact Mr. King and maybe he will write a book about a rat infested home brewery!

 

[Mongrel]

Lol nice! is that from something?

it's a great song

 

[beninan]

it's a great song

I just searched it, and now I realize that I have heard it before. I'm not a huge Dropkick Murphys fan, but their music is still good. I never actually sat and listened to the lyrics of that song, maybe I've never been drunk enough listening to them lol.

 

[GoodRatsBrew]

Dropkick Murphy's song called "Good Rats"

 

[Mongrel]

Their music really lends itself to drinking.

 

[SKMO]

Hey Beninan - You're a good sport. I was just trying to give you a bit of a hard time.

I can definitely relate to dead rodents in the walls. When I was in college we moved into a mouse infested old farmhouse and set out poison bait. A hot September ensued with several pounds of decaying rodents in the walls and no AC. Lasted for months, it is a unique smell you will never forget. I think thats where I learned drinking beer as a defense mechanism.

 

[beninan]

Hey Beninan - You're a good sport. I was just trying to give you a bit of a hard time.

I can definitely relate to dead rodents in the walls. When I was in college we moved into a mouse infested old farmhouse and set out poison bait. A hot September ensued with several pounds of decaying rodents in the walls and no AC. Lasted for months, it is a unique smell you will never forget. I think thats where I learned drinking beer as a defense mechanism.

I sensed the sarcasm

I guess I could just play it safe and only use the glass fermenters in the basement. I would hate to risk it and see 5 gallons of beer and staggering/singing rats on the basement floor from using plastic.

 

[D0ug]

FWIW,

rodents like things that are sweet, and they can chew through cardboard, wood, mortar, and plastic.

I think glass is probably a good call in this case. Just sayin'...

 

[Homercidal]

Glass is fine. Rats can chew through most plastics easily, any type of wood product, and even aluminum (although it takes them some time.)

If I were you, or if you were me, I'd either build a blowgun from a copper pipe and a milk jug (PM for instructions) or just hang out down there with the BB gun...

And BOO to the poison. Traps are better, due to the not dying in a wall thing and not poisoning any neighborhood cats.

 

[beninan]

Glass is fine. Rats can chew through most plastics easily, any type of wood product, and even aluminum (although it takes them some time.)

If I were you, or if you were me, I'd either build a blowgun from a copper pipe and a milk jug (PM for instructions) or just hang out down there with the BB gun...

And BOO to the poison. Traps are better, due to the not dying in a wall thing and not poisoning any neighborhood cats.

yea I'm not much of a fan of the poison either, but one bad is already missing, and another bad has been half eaten. The land-lady just dropped off a couple traps and I set them up in the basement. I think sitting down there with a gun would be awesome tho.

I just bought the ingredients for a cheap batch of apfelwein, so I'm going to ferment that in a glass carboy down there and see how it survives.

 

[Ace_Club]

so I felt bad for the poor thing and pelted bricks at it.

Please, don't ever feel bad for me...

 

[certaut]

if you got enough snakes aren't a problem

 

[jfr1111]

^^^+1. And if the snakes multiply, just get half a dozen snake eating gorillas.

 

[Ace_Club]

And then wait for the gorillas to freeze in the winter...problem solved.

 

[beninan]

I live in Maine, snakes are kinda a rare sight, and 99% of the time they are small little garter snakes. Maybe I should follow in my mother's footsteps and get a pet python. Although, I'm not sure if I would want it to eat wild rats.

And the gorillas won't live long with my pet cthulhu

 

[certaut]

Well if you don't like snakes or gorillas, then you could put the carboy in a kiddy pool, and put a few small alligators in the pool.
If you end up with too many alligators sell then to farmers that have a beaver problem.
Environmentally friendly pest control

 

[Homercidal]

I live in Maine, snakes are kinda a rare sight, and 99% of the time they are small little garter snakes. Maybe I should follow in my mother's footsteps and get a pet python. Although, I'm not sure if I would want it to eat wild rats.

And the gorillas won't live long with my pet cthulhu

cthulhu's are a good choice. They are patient as hell. You just have to deal with the cult followers...

 

[jfr1111]

cthulhu's are a good choice. They are patient as hell. You just have to deal with the cult followers...

The white, well-off, tenured professors turned detectives can also be a nuisance altough they tend to die pretty quick or turn insane.