We have moved coach To a house we are remodeling to be able to move into..no food in coach, yet rats immediately found their way into compartments. .they quickly ate the peanut butter off the traps and chewed up Irish spring soap ...i thought was a detterent..any good idea on how to get rid of these things would be appreciated...also dealing with way to many rats around the house..
Go get some cats.
Howdy Dalegass,
Here's a link to post with some helpful advice: Rodent control - Fresh Cab (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=19517.msg137919#msg137919)
Good Luck, Dave A
"Bar bait", usually available at hardware stores, looks like ears of corn all stuck together, break it apart into pieces....eats 'em up from the inside out. This works on mice or rats, pretty strong stuff.
In my warehouse where the coach is stored I keep rat bait and rat killer around the inside floor area and around the entire walls. Never had one that I know get to the coach. I always take all the food out before storage. Any railings on the walls I also put rat killer on them. Rodents can really mess up your systems so protect at all times. My house batteries are stored inside a cover in my bay and when I replaced them I found some old droppings, I think they were from the previous ownership but thats all I have ever seen.
We did have a cat that was hard on the local rats!
Get some rat traps(the big mouse trap things), melt some chocolate and pour it on the trigger.
JD
D-con cubes did the trick for us but we could place them where pets (dogs and cats) can't get to them. We tried everything including traps baited with peanut butter and only the D-con worked.
Craig
You do have to still worry about the dogs and cats if they might catch/eat the poisoned rodents. Use of rodent poisons is also having a devastating impact on the (beneficial) predatory bird population such as hawks, owls, and other birds who catch and eat the rodents.
Poisons Used to Kill Rodents Have Safer Alternatives | Audubon Magazine (http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/conservation/poisons-used-kill-rodents-have-safer-alternatives)
Rat Poison - Bird-safe Alternatives | BirdNote (http://birdnote.org/show/rat-poison-bird-safe-alternatives)
Electric traps are a much safer alternative.
The very best rat trap bait we have ever found was a piece of apple--- works every time.
We have to be careful here in Tucson when trying to eliminate the packrats, as I do not want to pass on poison to the coyotes. I am looking at the Fresh Cab option. So far, the Pure Peppermint Extract has been working ...
The proven bait on a trap that I have used for years is 1/2 peanut pushed under metal tang on trap making sure it is secure. Then put peanut butter on the peanut. Another trap that works ... A bottle of cooking oil. Mouse enters bottle neck and falls into oil. Everything is so slick ( including the mouse) that exit is impossible. A curious hungry mouse in our coach invented and did efficiency trial with great success!
I know this thread is about rats, but iwhat is effective against other rodents, e.g. squirrels, chipmunks, etc?
I just remembered what the caretaker does up at the ranch, puts a big bucket in the house, with a piece of wood (like a ramp) leading up to it and a piece of chocolate in it! Works great on mice...no rats thankfully, so not sure about rats but who doesn't love a good Hershey's kiss?! (that's what he used!)
HA!! This is great! I am seeing visions of Tom & Jerry!!
I don't know if we would have a problem if we didn't use Fresh Cab, but we do use it and we're pleased that we have no problems. (We also like the Fresh Cab aroma, and so for us that's a small "plus.")
For storage, I put LED christmas lights all around inside the bays and under the FT, around the wheels, around the engine. I've read many places that lights keep the ciritters away. Who knows, but the LEDs don't use much power.
Rats and other rodents go and return to where there is food and water. DO NOT leave anything around (especially dog and cat food). They can smell food in a garbage can also, so seal up any thing that goes in there and keep the can clean. Prevention is the best tool in my mind, But if rats show up just traveling thru, sometimes the 22lr or .177 cal air rifle is able to connect with them. Have a great day ---- Fritz
Quite a few years ago we had no exterior cats and I was raising turkeys and other poultry and the rats really came around. I put out rat poison and really killed them, but one of the rats that had eaten the poison got into the dogs pen and she ate him and nearly killed her. She had kidney problems ever after that, so if you have pets poison is probably not a good thing. If the coyotes eat poisoned rats and they die, to me would be a good thing as they are also a pest.
I have had success with pure peppermint oil, moth balls by the box full, barn cats.
Well ... I WANT the coyotes around to eat the rats! I don't see them as a pest at all. The other thing that eats the rodents are the rattlesnakes. I prefer the coyotes and the desert foxes.
Coyotes are part of the grand chain in the animal kingdom and we need them as much as all other animals. The animals we do not need are the Human kind that murder innocent children etc for some weird reason. They are the ones we should put down after they do these things.
JohnH
Recently, I heard that small amounts of lead were effective. I'm not sure of the science involved. Paul
The first thing I would suggest to blocking any entry to the interior of the coach. Use steel wool up under the chassis where the hoses and lines go into the bays then expanding urethane foam to fill any of the small holes. If you have to keep the dump bay open for water and electric, block off any extra space around the hoses or cord. I never leave my dump hose hooked up to help prevent critter entry. I work off of my water and holding tanks so all I have to worry about is securing a space for the electric cord. Fill em or dump em when you need to.
Just my thoughts. Peggy will not share space with rats.
@Kent She shares space with you!
Set em' up I knock em' down. Boom! :P :P
see ya
ken
Used to have two jack Russell terriers , they took care of all rodents , not keen on poison for all the reasons listed .
Otherwise LOTS of traps
It is some what messy, but if you put grease on the water hose and electric the mice and bugs will not use them for entry into your coach. And when you are ready to leaves the site a little rubbing alcohol and all clean.
I've had good success with the Victor electronic rat trap baited with peanut butter.
I used one of those electric traps once and when I checked the trap all that was left was a ball of fur. It worked very well!!! ---- Have a great day ---- Fritz
Bacon or sausage grease ? ;)
I had a friend wit 2 Jack Russell's and an OLD GMC motorhome. In Montana one summe a ground squirrel got in the coach. The squirrel didn't survive....neither did the under dash wiring, nor any upholstered surface. Believe I'd use a 12ga instead.
Hey Jimmy, what time is it ?
In my house found "mouse evidence" behind the refrigerator. They were munching on the dog food from the dog bowl. Laid out several traps using peanut butter and then bacon that I cooked a little with a lighter. No luck at all. Finally put a piece of dog food on the trap. Bingo! Moral of story bait with whatever they are eating! Hmmm I wonder if some extra wire from the coach would work? :D
see ya
ken
Ken ---- Ever consider leaving the dog food outside and have a mean cat wandering around?? ---- Have a great day ---- Fritz