Exterminators, Rats, and Bancroft

We used to build parachutes and if they made 5 jumps they would get their wings and move on to dive school. Never had one make it thru five school. 20 years from now, Mids will be doing the same thing.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
It's great to see some things never change! I don't recall ever seeing a professional exterminator, but some of the details of the story could have been written 30+ years ago, i.e hearing them run in the ceilings when laying in the top rack, and Plebes competing to catch the most. I recall two rooms having a competition and hanging their daily body count by the tail on the bulletin board by the door so all could see. Our Company Officer, a non-USNA grad, prior enlisted Marine Major who didn't always toe USNA 's politically correct line was amused and encouraged it.

What events occurred in the last 48 hours ? Perhaps somethings are better left off social media ...
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The short version is a giant live rodent who had been living in the ceiling at Bancroft was dispatched to Rodent Heaven by a plebe. Plebe apparently used a drill bayonet to dispatch the Rodent From A Very Hot Place. Plebe or someone else took graphic photos of Deceased Rodent and posted at least 2 pics on their Snapchat page, as well as sending it to parents and mid's friends. Rodent was the size of a house cat or small dog. Parents freaked, sent to other parents,/friends and an in-depth discussion of bubonic plague, Bancroft infestations of rodents going back decades, and types of rodents ensued on at least one USNA parent social media page.
 
Saw it too. It really looked like someone's pet. Multicolored. Very disturbing given the size of the thing.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
I wonder if the Main Office Squirrel is still around. Duty section used to feed it bran muffins. It would come in rye Main Office, walk around like it lived there.
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The most exciting Main Office watch I ever stood was Army Navy week firstie year. Somehow or another we ended up with a live chicken in a box in Main O...
 

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so here is my "you get what you deserve" post...... my now firstie said he was so irritated plebe year and beyond at all the food the parents send in care packages because it makes the mice problem worse. STOP SENDING YOUR MID FOOD. Mice only come around when they need food or water and if there is food in the rooms at Bancroft they will come around.... simple as that ! They even chew into the wrappers of the power/ energy bars that are individually wrapped.

:bang::bang::bang::bang:
 
NavyHoops said:
We used to build parachutes and if they made 5 jumps they would get their wings and move on to dive school. Never had one make it thru five school. 20 years from now, Mids will be doing the same thing.
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Hoops, that is comical!

Back when I hit the fleet our Co HQ was in a Quonset hut. Mice by the hundreds. Had contests to catch them. Every “kill” was spray painted with a small stencil on the wall. There were whole walls covered with stencils.

No big deal until they started coming home in my gym bag or gear. My wife wasn’t too happy! [emoji34]
 
mjm said:
so here is my "you get what you deserve" post...... my now firstie said he was so irritated plebe year and beyond at all the food the parents send in care packages because it makes the mice problem worse. STOP SENDING YOUR MID FOOD. Mice only come around when they need food or water and if there is food in the rooms at Bancroft they will come around.... simple as that ! They even chew into the wrappers of the power/ energy bars that are individually wrapped.

:bang::bang::bang::bang:
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The Mid Store is well-stocked with snack and food items, so diminishing parental inputs would likely not make a significant dent. Pizzas and take-out deliveries arrive at Gate 1, so there is plenty of food container garbage around. There is the snack bar inside Bancroft Hall, and the Drydock just next door. Our sponsor mids with cars routinely stock up at Trader Joe’s, the Commissary and Safeway on “room food.” Food items walk out of King Hall.

When I used to do room inspections in Bancroft on informal daily walk arounds, I would see the food containers heaped in garbage bins and room trash cans, and get whiffs of food stuck haphazardly out of sight in rooms. You have 4200 mids all of an age when their caloric consumption is at an all-time high, and food is an easy pleasure in a high-stress environment.

They need to get on top of the vermin population, but mids also have to know how to practice “safe storage.”
 
Capt MJ said:
They need to get on top of the vermin population, but mids also have to know how to practice “safe storage.”
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I have used "bear boxes" in the Sierras....perhaps "rat boxes" are in order?" :D
 
And waterfront pier areas = happy homes for Rattus rattus, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus. That’s why pierside boats and ships have rat guards on the mooring lines. Sad to say, rats have long been unwelcome passengers on ships, no doubt for the Phoenicians and early seafarers.

USNA has water, quite rightly, all around, plus is adjacent to Annapolis boat piers.

Metal and glass containers. Plastic and cardboard, nope.
 
helmsdown said:
You sure that's not a lab rat? I've never seen a wild on with two or more colors. Some shade of gray usually.

DD sent me that picture yesterday and I was thinking, who sleeps good tonight knowing they are prowling around.
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I agree that this does not look like a dirty city/harbor rat. WAY to white to have been scavenging
to get that size. I do however smell a rat...
 
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