Summer brought a phenomenon never seen in the mountains. We awoke one morning to find the camp filled with huge rats. Black rats, brown rats, and spotted rats ran wildly from the river. They were into everything. Baby chicks were killed and partially eaten. Food for the livestock was scattered. Holes gnawed in the feed sacks left grain pouring onto the ground. Before morning was over, they had found every hole and weak spot in our homes. They ran across the floors and under the furniture. Women forgot their squeamishness and were battering them with brooms and mops. Men got guns and clubs to try to herd them away. Every time one was killed, two more showed up to take its place.
All our metal and glass containers were used to protect our food. Lamps stayed lit all night. We didn’t dare step out of bed in the darkness. There was no place to keep the livestock food away from the rats. Hundreds were killed. We took sticks, clubs, hoes, or any weapons available when we went outside. I was thankful I didn’t have a tiny baby to watch constantly. When we fed the pigs, the rats came in droves to the troughs. They were so greedy, they tumbled into the swill and ate while they swam. The pigs squealed helplessly as food was taken out of their mouths.
The invasion lasted about a month before they went en masse on up the river. We felt a great plague had been called down upon us and was now lifted. Men no longer carried guns every time they went out the door. Sunday afternoons, which had been used as hunting days for the rats, were once again silent and peaceful.
We heard they were Norwegian wharf rats, which had come from a seaport in Louisiana. It was thought that they came up the Mississippi River, The Tennessee River, and eventually into Little River. Almost like one of the plagues in Egypt, they came and went without warning. In spite of the rat invasion, we felt everything was going well on the job.
—Florence Cope Bush – Dorie Woman of the Mountains
I’m terrified of mice and rats. I cannot fathom an invasion of rats like the one Dorie experienced. On one hand there’s the terror aspect and on the other the weirdness of an army of rats showing up in the mountains far away from cities and towns.
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a used copy of Dorie Woman of the Mountains. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. *Giveaway ends November 22, 2023.
Last night’s video: How to Take the Gamey Taste Out of Deer Meat.
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Mice are bad enough. Rats give me chills.
I don’t like mice or rats of any kind, and I haven’t had to deal with any in years. Praise the Lord. 🙂 We had a lot of problems with field rats growing up. I remember Mommy putting our light bread on top of the fridge thinking it would be safe from the rats, but one got up there and threw the whole loaf down to his buddy waiting below. 🙂 She told my Daddy he was gonna have to do something with them before they ate us out of house and home.
I enjoyed this little story and would like to read the whole book.
We sometimes have trouble with rats getting in our feed building. We have chickens, ducks, turkeys, dogs, goats and a donkey so quite a bit of different feed in our building attracts rats and other wildlife that try to break in for a free meal.
Thank goodness I’ve never had mice or rats around. We’ve always had a good cat or two around and evidently they took their jobs seriously and kept the mice and rats away. One of the sweetest cats that I’ve ever had would bring a little dead critter and leave it on the porch for me to find and dispose of. I miss that beautiful cat. Her name was Miss Kitty and she was a Maine coon cat.
Your husband is a natured behind the camera (no matter what he might think!) I’m sure part of it is, he was doin something he knew oh so well. We loved his video last night, thank you so much!!! We’re not deer hunters, but the deer are THICK in E Central IL . My husband is a gun lover and has several guns but just for target shooting. He built a huge shooting berm this past spring, with over 300 railroad ties (that the railroad delivered for free if you took all 300.) Our youngest son deer hunts though, he makes what most think is the BEST deer jerky ever!
I HATE RATS, MICE AND SNAKES! PERIOD! It was even hard to read about the invasion of them. To See pictures of them or in any way shape or form. I have terrible nightmares if I even see pictures. Want to thank Matt for his demo yesterday. I believe I’d eat his venison. Never had a taste for it. You have a gem there Miss Tipper. Have a wonderful day lovely people and God’s blessings to y’all. Bye for now. Jen
So interesting! I’d love to read the entire book.
I loved when you read Dorie, Woman of the Mountains for us! I forgot that part about the rats though! I’ve wanted to get a copy to read aloud with my family when my kids are a little older. I know we’d all enjoy it!
There are a few rats out in the fields but we hadn’t had any in the house until a little over sixteen years ago. At night lying in bed I kept hearing skittering in the ceiling and sometimes a bit down in the wall above our bed. Husband doesn’t hear well and thought it my imagination and I was hearing things. But he did set a couple of traps up in the attic to appease me. Before it was all done he trapped mom, dad, and 3 younger rats. Soon after a little orange and white tabby showed up in our woodpile. We brought him into the house and adopted him. Rusty didn’t want to stay inside all the time though. He became an inside/outside cat. He was the best hunter we’ve ever had. We never had another rat near our house again. He lived until last year when he was almost 16 years old. I still miss him. I love animals so we still have 4 cats (all rescues) and a border collie. Each pet is an individual. Rusty can’t be replaced by anyone else. He sure did a good job of keeping rats away. Now the other cats have taken over his job.
Oh my! I would have freaked out! I can not imagine that many rats.
I would like to read this book. But this part gives me the shivers.
That would be a living nightmare! One timevI lived in an old house WAY OUT in the country and a rat got in. Once I was awakened by something crawling on my back. I was able to reach back, grab it and sling it across the room. I still shudder to think about it. It got into a fight with my smaller hamster. My pet got the victory after much noise…
Rats! That’s one critter I cannot handle. Not only are they nasty, mean, incontinent, thieving and huge, they down right have a odor to them that would make you snarl if you get within three feet of them. Not only do I detest rats, I am not a fan of their kin – mice? My husband use to sit on the backporch with his wrist rocket waiting for any soon-to-be victims of his rocks. He often said,
“A dang squirrel ain’t nuthin’ but a rat with a tail!”
That surely must have felt like a plague to Dorie. I can not imagine it either.
I cannot stand vermin like rats! When she mentioned she was glad to not have a small baby to watch…..just gave me chills! I so love your posts! I am the first one up in the morning and a cup of coffee while reading your daily thoughts, stories and recipes makes for a great start to the day. God bless you and thank you for all the happiness you share!
I just can’t even imagine what those people went through!
How horrifying! I’ve never heard of a rat invasion like this and pray fervently to never see one! We’ve only had pack rats occasionally here on the farm- pretty creatures with their white bellies and furry tails- but messy and destructive like other rodents, so they have to go.
I don’t like rats either. But I hate them being nearby more so I would kill them too.
OMG I absolutely do not do rats or mice. Can’t even imagine the terror that would bring. Nightmares for sure.
I can’t imagine an invasion of rats like they had to endure. I don’t like mice or rats and if I had seen that many, I probably would have run out the door and not stopped. I have a granddaughter that has a pet hamster. She named him Cinnamon Roll. She can really come up with some names, LOL. She keeps him in her bedroom and when she first got him, he would escape out of his hamster house as she calls it. She would find him every time on a bookshelf with her books. She said, ” he must want to learn to read.” 🙂 She’s had him almost two years, but he’s not invited to my house…
New York rats are still the biggest ones I have ever seen!
Wow! What a story! Thanks for sharing it. I especially appreciate resilience reflected at the end of the excerpt: “In spite of the rat invasion, we felt everything was going well on the job.”
P.S. How is Granny today? How are you?
That would be horrible! Rats and mice are so disgusting. I’ve never lived anywhere that there were rats. Mice are plentiful enough and we constantly battle them to keep them out of the shop. Their well dressed cousins, the chipmunks, loved to steal chicken feed until we got our dog. She thinks they’re a fine snack.
I think Dorie was fine example of the pioneering spirit, she did what had to be done, no matter. Morbidly though, I want to know what happens to those rats and what other communities they plagued.
Me too!
Little mice don’t terrify me as much as rats. Where we live we sometimes see big field rats. Mostly in barns and in junk and wood piles. Over 20 years ago when we built our house on my husband’s family farm, we built on an open cornfield. Between the time our first dog died and we got another dog we on occasion saw a mouse in the house. Today we have 2 siberian huskies and they seem to keep mice away. We do have to keep their dog food in a metal trash can in the garage or the mice will get into it. Can not imagine being overrun with mice tlhough.
Being who I am, mice and rats do not bother me in the abstract, but living a rural life we do get invaded with rodents seeking food and shelter when winter approaches. We do set traps and if my home was ever invaded like Dorie’s I would probably have a gun in one fist and a ball bat in the other. What I find far more compelling about Dorie’s life story is how it reveals the way families who grew their own food and depended on themselves and their neighbors, valued that way of life, were impacted by the world beyond their mountain homes where industrial America and mass production and “modern” agriculture lurked all around them. I have friends and family, and a growing number of Amish newcomers, who live “off the grad”, grow and can their own food and barter whenever possible, not merely to avoid taxes, but because that system of exchange builds relationships and mutual trust. Dorie is Greek for gift, which this memoir, written by her daughter, but in Dorie’s voice, truly is.
I have read Dorie Woman of the Mountains and realized she, like my grandmothers, were what you would call “Strong Women – Survivors.” I think about their raising children out on a farm with no electricity and all the work they could handle. Many times when I go in to wash clothes or get clothes out of the dryer, I think of my grandmothers having to build a fire under huge iron wash pots, after having carried the water from a creek to fill it, summer and winter, to wash clothes. They were awesome! They were quite capable of killing any snake, rats or hawks that would get after their chickens or getting rid of Mad Dogs if an alert in the community had come to their attention. I would probably pass out at the sight of a rat, snake, or hawk approaching me.
Matt’s video was really good on preparing the Deer Meat for canning or freezing. My daddy was a bird hunter, never hunted deer as they were not really around in NE MS when he was growing up; but he also added rabbit and squirrel to our freezer meat. I loved all the ways my mother and daddy cooked the different types of meat. I really don’t care for steak BUT no way would I ever have passed up my Mother’s fried squirrel cooked in milk gravy and served with cat-head biscuits.
Oh how terrified I am of rats! I cannot imagine the terror! I loved that book! I pray Granny is doing ok and all of you are well! I enjoyed Matt’s video on processing his deer. Also enjoyed you and Katie with Appalachian vocabulary God bless you and yours❤❤
What a terrible thing to happen to them! We have muskrats or Nutrias in the rivers and creeks in our area. Thank goodness we don’t have sewer rats! I hope I get a copy of today’s book prize! I would have liked to have met Dory!
I remember seeing big rats by the grain bins on the farm as a child. They were scary but not as much as the “rat snakes’ I also saw who hunted them as well. I don’t miss those either.
It would be neat to have a book written by someone who has my maiden name(Bush) although I doubt we are related.
I may not have survived that! My heart would beat through my chest!!
We have chickens and see little field mice near the coop, but having rats like Dorie experienced would be horrible. I cannot imagine!!!
My sister, Toni, and I have a standing date for Friday at six to join you for the book reading. Everything else is put aside. Dorie was one of our first and definitely a favorite.
We fight mice year round!!! Over the years I’ve learned not to be afraid of mice…I just want to keep them out of my house!!! We keep mouse traps set in strategic locations year round. When we had our two house cats they would always let us know when a mouse was on the loose inside the house. If I didn’t hate a litter box so much I would definitely get another cat to keep inside…probably two so they could keep each other company. Unfortunately, cats cannot survive in our neighborhood because of so many dogs and other predators, so they must live inside all the time. I definitely think keeping a cat around absolutely helps with a mice problem. My daughter lives in the city and rarely sees a mouse in her house or yard—I always tell her to just give it time—whether it be a country mouse or a city mouse…a mouse is still a mouse…!!!
Reading Dorie’s memories of the rats gave me a squeamish feeling in my stomach. The thought of having rats take over your environment makes me cringe! I don’t like mice one bit, and I’ve never seen a rat…hope I never do!! I love reading Dorie’s stories!!
That many rats would be simply terrifying! They certainly are destructive creatures. I always enjoy your reading selections. Thank you!
Wow! Never expected a story like this for the day. Would have been awful!
I’ve been fortunate enough to only deal with one “plague” so far and it was nothing like Dorris’s wharf rats. But the Indian Meal Moths that invaded our house from a bag of bird seed about made me crazy! I had to throw out lots of our food staples that weren’t stored in airtight containers and was forever inspecting the walls and corners of the ceilings for signs of them. The kids accused me of losing my mind for walking around the house, suddenly and randomly clapping what they swore was empty air but I was killing those flying pests in midair. No comparison to rats, or the insect infestations some have to deal with, but it sure made an impression on my memory.
I have heard it said that all of Gods creations have a purpose here on earth. I’m still waiting to hear the purpose of mice and rats. When I bought the farm I noticed several rat traps as we went down to check our the cellar. The owner told me he was having a hard time keeping rats out of the chicken feed. I’ve been here 34 years and haven’t seen one yet.
Truly makes you wonder how the general public would react to such a horrific thing. Most people could not make it in the Appalachian world.
Very interesting, I would love to read this book.
Rats are horrible awful creatures! I had a copy of this book until it got water damaged, I never got to read it myself, I would love to have this book back in my life. ❤️
I was bitten by a rat I had caught by the tail. I was a third grader. I planned to cage the thing, like a squirrel I had seen. Rat Bite Fever is a nasty illness. Of course, I had to take rabies shots.
Grandad kept the rats and mice down by having cats in the barn and corn crib. We got rid of the cats when they started killing baby chicks. Then the mice population increased so Dad caught a couple of black snakes to live in the barn. I could tolerate the mice and rats because they ran from me. The snakes terrified me – they would lay on a sill or feed bag and flick their tongues at me. Mom wouldn’t go near the barn anymore so it was my job. I carried a stick or a hoe always with Dad threatening my life if I killed his snakes.
Morning everyone. Loved the story. I grew up by the California beach, mice and lots of them. Lived in the desert for a year, few mice. Lived in the Calif. mountains, few mice. I have always had 2 to 3 cats so not much to worry about. But now that I retired to rural Arkansas, yipes, mice. We can watch the hawks swoop down a catch one. My cat got elderly, so I started to worry. But as it usually happens, a cat finds me and I have to take her home. My old boy won’t have anything to to with the new girl. We have only had one mouse so far in the house. I guess my son has found the entrances. I do sleep better knowing that I have 2 exterminators patrolling the house. Oh, growing up I had mice and rats as pets. Rats are frighteningly intelligent. But these wild rodents aren’t the same. They deserve what my old boy can do. Hope granny and Katie are doing, well.
I’ve been trying to win a copy of Dorie for a long time. Maybe this time I’ll get lucky!
Never saw a rat storm but have heard of mass migrations of squirrels. Something just sets them off, the population explodes and they go sweeping across the country until they crash. Seems they can clean out a cornfield. At least one writer called such events a “biological storm”.
We live on a farm in Southern Ohio where critters roam in abundance. This year is decidedly the year of the rat! Just the other day the electric igniter on our stove which is less than a year old stopped working. We called the repairman who – much to our dismay uncovered a rat’s nest inside the stove. They had pulled out the insulation to make a cozy bed, and had nibbled on electric wires. (I won’t send a picture, I promise!!!!). I had the [dubious] pleasure of cleaning up the mess before work could commence! It is fixed now but the basic problem remains – how to keep the rats out of the stove and out of the house without harming our dogs. Earlier this year they got into the engine block of our cars and made nests- and those cars are used almost every day! I try to be grateful for all of God’s creatures, but rats are really pushing my level of gratitude. !!!!!
I took my car to get an oil change. The repair man showed me under the hood. Mice had chewed where there is something inside that looks like insulating. I only go out once a week or so. But daily like you. UGH.
That would definitely be my worst nightmare!
(shivers!, more shivers!)
I remember when my husband and I first got married and we lived in our in-laws house way out in the country. We woke one morning to white paw prints all over our kitchen. We had been invaded by a wharf rat! Needless to say he didn’t last long!! I am so enjoying your daily November posts Tipper 🙂
Good morning, Tipper. Rats!! Not sure there is much worse than rats and to have this many invading my space, I do believe I would probably have lost my mind. Truly! I have heard a lot about Dorie Woman of the Mountains and would love to read the book for sure. Blessings on you and your family, Tipper, and special blessings on Granny!
Rodents do spread death and disease. I heard that if we’re not for snakes they would take over. No I don’t like snakes. Good story!
We have all certainly grown softer over the decades. I am 60. I live in rural Georgia. I remember Mama ringing chickens’ necks or hanging them by the feet from the clothesline and decapitating them. I remember milking cows, putting in tobacco (backer), and hoeing cotton before the boll weevil forced us to experiment with other crops and many, many other things that would seem barbaric if people had to do it today. Technology is a wonderful thing and pesticides are effective but sometimes I wonder what the consequences of the “easy” life will be on our society.
Reading about the rats caused my mind to imagine what would happen if that occurred today. I just can’t imagine this generation being able to cope. I guess maybe people learn to do what they have to in order to survive.
It must-have been pure terror to have that many rats invading their lives!! A couple of weeks ago I had a little mouse that was wreaking havoc in the night hours. I was not happy until his demise was imminent. I love the resilience of Dorie . She reminded me so much of members of my Mommas family. As always, thank you for sharing your life with us. ❤️❤️ Continued prayers for Grannie.
I cannot begin to imagine that many rats!!! Nasty creatures!!
Yet again the grit and determination of the people prevailed and carried them through.
Prayers for Granny and all of the family.
May everyone have a Blessed weekend as we all prepare for Thanksgiving.
I cannot imagine going through something like that. Reading the story reminded me of the plagues that God brought down on Egypt, yikes! I’ve seen rats occasionally through the years since we live in the middle of farms that grow grain. Here where our house is at we have mice, voles, chipmunks and squirrels. Our cat usually does a good job keeping the mice, voles and chipmunks under control, but she’s 18 and now deaf, so her hunting abilities are not what they use to be.
It always amazes me that some folks keep them as pets. I remember when I was in college, I rented a little apartment and a friend gifted me a hamster to keep me company. Of course, there was a No Pet policy. What I didn’t know was that little hamster was pregnant. She gave birth to a large amount, I don’t remember how many exactly, and then proceeded to EAT several of them. I was horrified. Anyway, time when on and the surviving little hamsters grew and became mobile. They were very cute in shades of white and gold. It didn’t occur to me that they were small enough to slip through the wires of their cages! They all got out! I was able to find all but one of them. A couple of weeks later it was the end of the semester and time for me to move out of that little apartment. I had kept the place clean as I really needed to be able to get my Security Deposit back. On moving out day my landlord came to inspect. I was worried about that loose hamster showing up. Well as things tend to do, that little stinking hamster decided to make an appearance and scurried across the floor in front of my landlord. There goes my Security Deposit. Nope. My landlord looked at me and said, “Look at that! A little white mouse. I’ve never seen one of those before.” I think he was embarassed thinking his building had mice! I never did catch that little bugger.
Such a phenomenon I would never want to experience; jus’ unimaginable. Wow • no words.
I don’t know how I would handle such a thing! We lived next to a river and a railroad track when I was young. Once, in the middle of the night there was an awful loud thundering noise that seemed to last forever. When we went down the stairs for breakfast my dad said that a train had wrecked on the bend. It was a bad turn in the track and once every few years there would be an accident (or near accident). After the officials come and clear the tracks we go and “glean” the spillage. This time it was coal and corn. After carrying many buckets of both we had plenty of coal for the winter and the corn was ground for the chickens. What also came on the train wreck was some rats. I had never seen a real rat in my ten years of life. They got in the chicken coop and made such a mess that my mom cried. My dad and uncle spent a good amount of time setting traps and making bait stations to sit over at night. I think it took almost a month to get rid of them all. Not as many as Dorie’s, but enough to leave an impression on my young mind.
Oh my goodness! That is horrific. I cannot even imagine it happening today. This book is on my book list. I’d love to read more!
I’ve heard that NYC is infested with the large rats!
Also saw a report on national news. Looked horrible.
Have a blessed day.
You never know what life calls us to do it God is always there i will look for the book in the library sounds wonderful I know we listened to many books you have read but that one migh have been missed or that part wow I love stories and especially those that are true to life
Every morning I have to be careful of what’s been left on my doormat by my outdoor kitty Josie. Rats, mice, squirrels even a snake. She makes sure I will be fed. I appreciate her sense of repayment to me. I took her in when she was a young kitten roaming the neighborhood and she hasn’t forgotten it.
My favorite palindrome (the same spelled backwards): RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR. On the grave of American poet Anne Sexton.
I don’t want to ever have to deal with rats….mice are dad enough. one of my uncles had a shed that one time he had big rats, as big as cats he said, they almost destroyed his shed but he got rid of them. I would enjoy reading more from that book.
I agree, this made me think of the plagues of Egypt too. And this is a true story?! Wow! The strength and ingenuity it would have taken to live through and overcome such an unheard of occurrence. And then how she describes Sunday afternoons were once again silent and peaceful, I can almost hear the sigh of relief in that. I don’t think I have listened to any of these readings but will have to go back and listen to your readings of this book; I have enjoyed the current book, 9 Brides and Granny Hite. Thank you.
Oh, I forgot to add that I watched Matt’s video last evening too. He is very good and particular at cleaning his deer meat. My husband and I always cut our own up also. I just like knowing it’s clean and taken care of properly. We took one to a processor once when we were first married and the meat tasted awful. Matt is right that it’s a lot of work, but so worth it.
I don’t like rats no more than the next. My brother sowed oats in the field in front of my house and cut it for hay that year. The hay was stacked in my barn which is right beside my house. Rats came from near and far to get the oats from the hay. They got under my house, chewed holes in the duct work and ran inside the foiled ducts like they were race tracks. Those rats were even bold enough to push up the floor vents and try to come up inside the house. I put bricks on the vents to keep them out.
Needless to say my brother understood loud and clear no more oat hay in my barn…
Carolyn
Carolyn I’ve got a rat problem right now and the little devils do the same thing here! I’ve had to sit different things over the floor vents or they’ll push them right up and come on in. I think these rats are attracted to my dogs feed. When I feed him if he doesn’t come eat it right away or doesn’t finish the dern rats will be poking their heads out trying to sneak his food from the bowl. We’re trying to take them out one rat trap at a time since poison isn’t an option because of my cats and the dog too.
Oh my goodness I can’t even imagine some of the things our ancestors endured! The thought of rats running around and infesting the home just sends chills up my spine. I’ve never eaten deer meat but it sure looks lean and I am sure it would be delicious the ways Matt cooks it.
That does sound like a plague!
Oh my gosh—a rat invasion sounds like a horror movie! We used to get tiny field mice in our really old trailer we lived in while saving and building our cabin. One night I left a big bowl of nuts on the counter. The next morning my husband was putting on his work boots and one was filled with the entire bowl of nuts! We have, fortunately, only had two tiny field mice in our home in all these years. One climbed the chimney and came through an open kitchen window. The second time was a little more mysterious… we were awaken from our sleep one night by the sound of a kids toy piano playing in the attic right above our bedroom. We had several of our kids old toys stored there. My husband looked to make sure no one was in the attic while I waited anxiously. He decided a mouse must have walked across the keys and he was right. He set a mouse trap the next day and caught the little maestro! He then found a tiny crack near a vent where it must have squeezed through and fixed it—and luckily we haven’t been awaken like that anymore. Haha! It probably helps that our neighbor has a very good hunting cat that roams around the neighborhood. Have a great day!
No rats here, but those destructive squirrels, which are rodents as well, are plaguing us. They gnawed on most of the house trim, ripped through our screened porch, and twice ate on the truck’s wiring. I always put out a small nativity each December. Last year they chewed on Mary’s face and Baby Jesus was missing. In the Spring, while raking around the trees, I spied it. Apparently the squirrel had carried it an acre away and it dropped out of the nest. I repainted and repaired both. This year the nativity will be covered with netting.
What a Horror!
What a terrible thing. I can’t stand mice let alone rats. I would love to read this book.
Oh no sir!! I’d been saying Jesus come now cause I ain’t doing rats. Eeek!!
Can you imagine fighting off an invasion of wharf rats. I’m sure it was like one of the plagues. As I began reading the excerpt I knew it was Dorie. I wouldn’t mind having a copy of my own.
Praying for rain today and your sweet mother. Blessings to all.
There are so many things that have gone before us that we cannot relate to. I guess that is why I cannot thing I would ever eat squirrel..as they are from the rodent family. I tried very hard to watch the Deer Hunter doing his thing with the deer meat. I guess it was more that I could stand as all I could do was about 2 minutes. I am Blessed to not at this point have to think about eating ‘Bambi’. It almost brings tears to my eyes. I know, if I was hungry it would be wonderful. Praise the Lord I have been Blessed to NOT be that hungry. My Hubby says, if you were hungry, it would probably taste as good as candy. We as a nation are so Blessed and a lot of the time don’t slow and thank God for those Blessing. Praying for Granny and you guys…and the newest ‘almost here’ member.
I can’t stand mice! I had an elderly cat who was an excellent hunter. When I brought her as she wwasn’t able to stay out, I had two young cats inside already. A mouse was inside and the kids didn’t know what to do–you would think instinct would help them but they walked around not knowing what to do. The old lady went right in and got it! All of them and some others lived to 16. My last cat was a little tortie who could catch mice!! Years ago we had set mouse traps and a mouse got caught by the tail. It was running around draging the trap. I finally got a hammer & knocked it in the head.
Glenda, I can’t eat it either but would if I had to. My son hunts deer and wild turkey and the meat is beautiful and smells delicious but I just cant.
Oh my, I don’t remember that part of the story when you read Dorie Woman of the Mountains to us on YouTube. Maybe I purposely forgot it because I really dislike rats or mice. I have no desire to go through an invasion like that ever.
Oh my word, how horrible. I can’t imagine what those poor people went through. What a story.
Here in Florida we have fruit rats and they are huge! My neighbor had an infestation and while we loved our pink grapefruit tree and always kept the fruit off the ground, to help him we chopped it down. It took a while for him to get them out of his attic but eventually he was rid
of them. It was a real chore.
Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine being plagued like that. Mice are one thing, but rats are a whole nother ballgame.
I love hearing about the life of Dorie. She must’ve been like my mamaw, a very tough mountain woman!
I have never heard of the rat story – but like you – I’m not a fan of any rodent. Thank you for sharing and love your family’s channels and this website. Have a Blessed Day.
I never put garlic on deer or elk meat, it creates a horrible taste but I use garlic on just about everything else. I expect everyone has their own recipe for deer but leave the garlic for pork, beef, chicken etc.
green beans cooked with bacon, garlic and onion yummy.
The rat story makes me want to run. I hate those things.
Blessings to all
A rat invasion sounds horrifying!! I freak out at a tiny field mouse. I associate rodents with filth and disease and don’t want to be anywhere near one.
I’ve only seen one actual rat in my life, but mice are common to northern Michigan, especially during our 6-7 months of winter, when they are all seeking to escape heavy snows and the cold. I find cats to be the best solution. Many thanks and love and prayers to Granny and all Pressleys.
l loved your reading of Dorie Woman of the Mountains. I would love to have a copy. Please keep reading for us.
My gosh I would have been terrified!