Hungry rats wreak havoc on Chimacum football equipment
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CHIMACUM, Wash. -- Football is a big thing in Chimacum, but a horde of destructive rats have put one local team's season in jeopardy.
In the chilly fall months, there's not a lot for a 9- or 10-year olds to do in Jefferson County but play football. With the season just around the corner, coach Darrin Dotson drove to his storage locker last weekend to get the pads, blocking dummies and helmets.
"I opened up the door and there was about six inches of foam on the ground and it came spewing out on my feet," Dotson said.
The destruction was the work of rats or mice.
"Yeah, one of these blocking dummies had a practice jersey pulled inside it, it was being used as a nest," Dotson said.
Helmets were chewed and some were yellowed. Others were full of droppings. Dotson did his best to wash everything with bleach, but he said they still smell like a rodent restroom.
"I'm not going to use any of that gear," he said. "To me, it is a complete loss. I am not going to take the responsibility for any child getting sick."
That means Dotson's son, Cole, will have to wait to see if the league can raise enough money to buy new pads and equipment.
"I've used that stuff on my own time, too. I hate to see it destroyed," Cole's brother Lane said. "I hate rats. I hate that they did that to our stuff."
The league had about $5,000 in its bank account, and it spent all but $1,000 of that on new helmets. But the big question is whether pads and other equipment will arrive in time for the team to be ready for its first game, which is scheduled for September 15.
League officials hope parents and local businesses will help them replace the rest of the damaged equipment.
In the chilly fall months, there's not a lot for a 9- or 10-year olds to do in Jefferson County but play football. With the season just around the corner, coach Darrin Dotson drove to his storage locker last weekend to get the pads, blocking dummies and helmets.
"I opened up the door and there was about six inches of foam on the ground and it came spewing out on my feet," Dotson said.
The destruction was the work of rats or mice.
"Yeah, one of these blocking dummies had a practice jersey pulled inside it, it was being used as a nest," Dotson said.
Helmets were chewed and some were yellowed. Others were full of droppings. Dotson did his best to wash everything with bleach, but he said they still smell like a rodent restroom.
"I'm not going to use any of that gear," he said. "To me, it is a complete loss. I am not going to take the responsibility for any child getting sick."
That means Dotson's son, Cole, will have to wait to see if the league can raise enough money to buy new pads and equipment.
"I've used that stuff on my own time, too. I hate to see it destroyed," Cole's brother Lane said. "I hate rats. I hate that they did that to our stuff."
The league had about $5,000 in its bank account, and it spent all but $1,000 of that on new helmets. But the big question is whether pads and other equipment will arrive in time for the team to be ready for its first game, which is scheduled for September 15.
League officials hope parents and local businesses will help them replace the rest of the damaged equipment.
Here is the website to help them out! Please it's my little brothers first year of football and I want him to have a good year!!!Â
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http://chimacumyouthfootball.com/Home_Page.html
If anyone like me, wants to help but doesn't have a lot of $ to give - my company is collecting cell phones on behalf of CHIMACUM YOUTH FOOTBALL. We will donate the fair market value for each received phone to the school to replace their uniforms. Phones can be mailed to:
Â
Cell Seattle
17701 108th Ave SE #143
Renton, WA 98055
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Thanks in advance for your support!
First off, wouldn't the storage facility be liable for the damage?
Second, 20-20 hindsight, next time place generous amounts of D-con in the storage facility.
The nasty rats chewed the insulation off the wires in my John Deere tractor, I had to buy and replace a very expensive original equipment wiring harness. I did an experiment by tasting the new wire insulation, to my horror, I discovered the insulation tasted like cheese. This is a blatant example of job security. Next week I'll tell you my theory of the John Deere mole intelligence development research facility, where they train moles to force the largest mower deck destroying rocks to the surface and effectively avoid capture.
 @semprecoraggio Kobota has the same training facility.  I have personally witnessed the Townsend mole place the biggest rock they can find on the mole hill at the exact elevation of the cutting head.Â
Hopefully the Seattle Seahawk players will see this story and perhaps a player can help them out with a donation. Some families will be able to help buy stuff but there are lots who just do not have the extra income to help. Good luck boys with your season and that you get to play.
I smell a rat. Just hope they're not owned by James Cagney. "You dirty rat!" (Yeah, old reference, I know. ;) )
The garage I used to work at would put dryer sheets in the battery boxes and it would keep rats from chewing the battery cables, which they otherwise love. I wonder if it would have helped to put them in the helmets.
@Insomniac Dreams Rats also hate mint- I had a rat try to move into my garage. Mint essential oil (not the kind you use in baking, its not strong enough and has sugar so they eat that) on cottonballs scattered though out where you don't want them- change out once a month. I'm not sure why the rats don't like it but believe it is because the strong scent burns their sinus. Mint plants also work if you can plant a lot of them.
Remove any food that they can get to, and set out tons of tomcat snap traps, end of families of 'em. They love peanut butter... they must be killed so they don't RETURN.
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http://tomcatbrand.com/snap_traps.html
Rats are getting to be everywhere. When you don't allow their natural predators to do their jobs they end up taking over. Right now cats are the easy target for coyotes,foxes and raccoons. Try to keep one species out and another species will take over. If they don't like rats then tell them to bring ina bunch of cats and dogs. They'll help to keep the rat population down.
I believe the rodents are the mascots.
That sucks. However, it's nice of Komo to note where the community could help out.. You know .. with a web address, account number or phone number to talk to... Oh wait...
Ugh. This is horrible!
Alright, who's responsible for feeding the rats? Â Obviously they haven't been doing their job.