[Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Topic: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats (Read 915 times) previous topic - next topic - Topic derived from What’s this cold wate...

[Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

January 16, 2023, 05:14:21 pm

[Split discussion of rodent prevention here - Michelle]

Quote from: Elliott – January 16, 2023, 05:10:15 pm

Despite my absolute best efforts, the rats are winning this year.

We have had problems as well. Might be why I had to make an electrical bypass for an ABS sensor.

I have tried most of the usual solutions. I have had the best results with Victor plastic snap rat traps and a bait of peanut butter, nuts, raisins and attractant gel.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #1 – January 16, 2023, 05:36:27 pm

Elliott; in Yellowstone, we had everything trying to get in our warm bays. With mice & rats, believe it or not, peppermint oil works! Get some cotton balls and add a few drops of oil and not only you won't see them, your bays will smell better as well.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #2 – January 17, 2023, 09:47:23 am

Peppermint oil and cotton balls in a soda can cut in half crosswise, then cut tabs about 1" down the length, then fold the tabs over the cotton balls to keep them in. Run a wire thru the can and tie the wire to something that you are trying to protect in the coach.
We have done the aforementioned to our coach for years when it is in storage 30 miles away. Never a rat, mouse or red squirrel ever done any damage.
Some say the peppermint oil works. Some say it doesn't. All I know is what I have experienced with our coach in a building where the landlord had red squirrels chew up the wiring on his boat and his Corvette (don't know about any Classified Documents, tho) and now hasn't had ANY critters chewing his stuff since he started using the peppermint oil/cotton balls, soda can treatment.

Re: What’s this cold water line running under my black tank?

Reply #3 – January 17, 2023, 10:01:45 am

Concur city inlet pipe.

Pack rats are very clever and impossible to deter and difficult to kill. There a hundreds of home brew remedies out there. Do what makes you happy, but having endured pack rat invasions in Montana for 40 years, I can attest that Just One Bite is the only product that will eradicate them completely. String a bar on baling wire/coat hangar wire, and secure it in the engine bay, generator area, fore and aft utility tunnel openings, and in the wet bay...don't just lay them loose, or they'll just haul it off to their nest, and they'll still destroy or steal your stuff. They nibble a little J1B and go out the way they came in, to hydrate and die elsewhere before doing much, if any damage.

For 9 years, HF blinking rope lights have worked well in Q as an additional non-lethal barrier to them getting in the coach...game cams prove they stay away from the lights...guess it disorients them...and grumpy old people.

Amazon.com : Just One Bite II 16 oz. Rodent Rat Bait Cake Blocks - (Pack of...

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Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #4 – January 17, 2023, 12:21:49 pm

It looks like rats really like blue plastic!

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #5 – January 17, 2023, 12:28:43 pm

@Woody & Sitka I don't want to do poison... our dogs roam the property unsupervised and I don't want to take the chance. Otherwise anything is fair game. I've heard mixed opinions about rope lights including some "scientific" ones but really don't care at this point, I'm throwing everything I have in the war chest at them. I'm even thinking about applying cling wrap to the trap door where my power cord exits the coach and spraying it with expanding foam. I'm pretty sure that's how they're getting in even though I have a wood plug in there with steel wool

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #6 – January 17, 2023, 12:51:10 pm

I'm even thinking about applying cling wrap to the trap door where my power cord exits the coach and spraying it with expanding foam. I'm pretty sure that's how they're getting in even though I have a wood plug in there with steel wool
[/quote]

I think the most likely intrusion point is the utility tunnel openings at each end. These are nearly impossible to seal up completely as far as I can tell. I had a brief intrusion by a chipmunk (I think) and I found evidence that he was in every single basement compartment. Fortunately he only chewed up some cardboard and a pair of gloves before I got wise to him. I continued to find his stashed walnuts for weeks and they were everywhere. On another occasion I found a huge nest of grass clippings on top of the generator. That was so hard to access that I had to pull the generator out and crawl up in the space behind it and in front of the axle to get it all out. Luckily again, no wiring damage.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #7 – January 17, 2023, 01:20:16 pm

Yup, look where the wires/hoses enter the "center structure". I suggest bronze or stainless steel wool (marine store) as it will never rust.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #8 – January 17, 2023, 01:44:30 pm

Quote from: Elliott – January 17, 2023, 12:28:43 pm

@Woody & Sitka I don't want to do poison... our dogs roam the property unsupervised and I don't want to take the chance.

It's not just your dogs, it's the beneficial predators (bobcats, coyotes) and raptors (owls, hawks, eagles) who are at risk for secondary rodenticide poisoning as well.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #9 – January 17, 2023, 02:47:43 pm

There is a mouse house that will electrocute the critter. The unit will also send you an email when it has succeeded. I also learned I had a squirrel problem with this device.

Amazon.com : Victor M2 Smart-Kill Humane Wi-Fi Enabled Electronic Rat Trap...

You can also get some of these. Safe for other animals. Amazon.com : Outpost Rat Bait Station | Single Rat Bait Station Targets...

My son had a rat that got in his trailer out in the country. He went and bought 4 of these and set out around his trailer. Friday night he set them out all of poison got eaten. He reloaded all on Saturday. Sunday had to reload again since all of bait was eaten. After 2 weeks of this he was out of bait. When he went back to Solutions he told them that the stuff must not be working. The salesman told him he must really have a bad problem since he has gone through so much bait. Half way though the second tub of bait was when he was able to not have to replenishing the bait stations.

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Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #10 – January 17, 2023, 04:40:48 pm

Quote from: wolfe10 – January 17, 2023, 01:20:16 pm

Yup, look where the wires/hoses enter the "center structure". I suggest bronze or stainless steel wool (marine store) as it will never rust.

I used fireproofing spray foam. Keep moisture out also

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #11 – January 17, 2023, 04:57:43 pm

Ditto on the spray foam.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #12 – January 17, 2023, 07:34:06 pm

Quote from: turbojack – January 17, 2023, 02:47:43 pm

You can also get some of these. Safe for other animals. Amazon.com : Outpost Rat Bait Station | Single Rat Bait Station Targets...

The trouble with baits of any kind is that the poisoned rodent gets bitten/eaten by beneficial or desirable critters - family pets, predators, raptors. While the initial delivery device might be pet and predator safe, the poisoned rodent is not. And the poisoned rodent is likely slower and easier to catch, making the whole secondary poisoning scenario more likely.

The old coumadin-based rodenticides at least had a treatment if a poisoned pet was found and diagnosed early enough (high dose injection vitamin K followed by a 30 to 60-day treatment of the same, but orally-delivered). The new "safe" rodenticides are neurotoxins and the only thing you can do for a pet or beneficial predator poisoned by it is palliative care.

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Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #13 – January 18, 2023, 12:41:14 am

We're have a place in the desert west of Tucson. LED lights under the coach and in the engine compartment, peppermint soaked cotton balls in spice jars in all the bays and a few sticky traps for good measure. And, I save all our used cat litter and sprinkle it around and under the coach. So far, not rats, mice or other varmints out here..

The cat has served as an "early alert system" for mice ia couple times in the past. When there's was a mouse in the bay, she parks herself in front of the vent under the shower. That's when I pull out traps, bait them with peanut butter and that has gotten rid of them them out pretty quickly.

Thanks for a few more suggestions to add to the arsenal.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #14 – January 18, 2023, 10:39:47 am

Rat X is a non-toxic "bait" that might work.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #15 – January 18, 2023, 10:56:16 am

Quote from: Dave Larsen – January 18, 2023, 10:39:47 am

Rat X is a non-toxic "bait" that might work.

I have used Rat-X with varying results. "Something" ate an entire bag of it overnight, and in the next weeks, our rat problem got worse. I caught a couple rats on glue traps baited with Rat-X. Recently, with the rat infestation bad (maybe two or three living in the belly of the FT,) a pile of bait went untouched for weeks.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #16 – January 18, 2023, 11:03:38 am

Quote from: Joe Phebus – January 18, 2023, 12:41:14 am

We're have a place in the desert west of Tucson. LED lights under the coach and in the engine compartment, peppermint soaked cotton balls in spice jars in all the bays and a few sticky traps for good measure. And, I save all our used cat litter and sprinkle it around and under the coach. So far, not rats, mice or other varmints out here..

Different strokes for different rats, even in the same neighborhood. (We are west of Tucson as well.) We had our worst infestation with me spraying all around the RV with pepper spray three times a week, and a bright LED stage light underneath that varies the pulse, pattern and color every five seconds or so.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #17 – January 18, 2023, 11:11:39 am

I made some "secluded" feed stations with a PVC pipe (about 6" in dia) with one end closed off with 1/4" mesh wire and the opposite end with an opening just large enough at the bottom for chipmunks or mice. A board screwed on the bottom keeps the assembly from tipping and the entry end is detachable to facilitate rebaiting or carcass removal. Baited a "snap-trap" with PB or peanuts glued in the trigger cavity. I have even mixed some rat poison with ground up cashews or peanuts. The critters love the mix (or should I say : past tense--loved?).
Nice thing is I can use small mouse traps or the next size larger and the weather doesn't affect the setup. The critters seem to like the seclusion of the PVC enclosure.

Usually I would see mice trails to our bird feeder pole when the snow melted. This year? ZIP! NADA! ZERO!! Seems my concoction and trap setups work.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #18 – January 18, 2023, 11:22:17 am

Anyone using the ultrasonic repellents with results?
Which brand works best?

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #19 – January 18, 2023, 11:28:29 am

Quote from: folivier – January 18, 2023, 11:22:17 am

Anyone using the ultrasonic repellents with results?
Which brand works best?

I had one in the shop - didn't work. I had one along with the stage light and pepper spray for the RV - didn't work.

I think the rats can get accustomed to anything. They gnaw on Irish Spring soap, and use dryer sheets as bedding.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #20 – January 18, 2023, 11:46:56 am

I've never had rats but I have had mice and have had success with plain old Victor mouse traps and glue traps.
Some mice can lick the peanut butter off the Victron trap trigger without tripping them so I started jamming a small piece of almond into the trigger along with a dab of peanut butter. That gets 'em every time.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #21 – January 18, 2023, 02:00:52 pm

Bait stations front and rear, commercial type. Then sticky traps along the walls of my indoor storage. Then I put sticky traps in each basement compartment with two back to back at sewer hose. Then put three inside coach. Have caught some inside basement compartments but never inside coach.
It's not easy for sure to keep them out.
Larry

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #22 – January 18, 2023, 07:35:41 pm

I've used mothballs in the past and they were quite effective. Side effect is that the coach smelled like my grand mother's Hope chest long afterwards. Try spreading them around the perimeter of the garage. The rats/mice are most likely getting in through the utility tunnel entrances at the top of both ends of the bulkheads...not sealed in any way at the factory. Every tunnel cover I've taken down has had nesting material and droppings from the years before I owned mine.

Quote from: Elliott – January 17, 2023, 12:28:43 pm

@Woody & Sitka I don't want to do poison... our dogs roam the property unsupervised and I don't want to take the chance. Otherwise anything is fair game. I've heard mixed opinions about rope lights including some "scientific" ones but really don't care at this point, I'm throwing everything I have in the war chest at them. I'm even thinking about applying cling wrap to the trap door where my power cord exits the coach and spraying it with expanding foam. I'm pretty sure that's how they're getting in even though I have a wood plug in there with steel wool

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #23 – March 12, 2023, 03:50:08 am

Quote from: Woody & Sitka – January 18, 2023, 07:35:41 pm

I've used mothballs in the past and they were quite effective. Side effect is that the coach smelled like my grand mother's Hope chest long afterwards. Try spreading them around the perimeter of the garage. The rats/mice are most likely getting in through the utility tunnel entrances at the top of both ends of the bulkheads...not sealed in any way at the factory. Every tunnel cover I've taken down has had nesting material and droppings from the years before I owned mine.

I used mothballs during a few months in storage along with a chest full of internet solutions...No rodents, but that Mothball smell won't go away anytime soon, took a few months to clear.

Re: [Rodent prevention] split from Re: I hate rats

Reply #24 – March 12, 2023, 10:14:59 am

While living in Florida in a stick and brick, we had an issue with black snakes under the house at times. Threw some moth balls under there and then 2 days later, crawled back under house to retrieve those stinking things! Like to have never gotten rid of the smell. In 3 years now, have had great luck with the peppermint oil and cotton balls.

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