Not one of the cool kids...

[ttpadilla]

Try Deep Woods Off or Repel 40.
You survived the invasion of the slobs , don't let the critters bother you either...

Thanks!  Tomorrow is my day off, and I'll be driving the hour into town for one of those. Any ideas about how to repel carpenter bees? We have 4 wooden bathroom structures, and those gigantic bees are very territorial, patrolling and chasing anything that comes near the structure. There were 6 of them at one of the bathrooms yesterday, and I couldn't even get inside to clean it. I can handle the one or two at the other bathrooms, with careful timing, but they're certainly intimidating!

 

[GotSmart]

Thanks!  Tomorrow is my day off, and I'll be driving the hour into town for one of those.  Any ideas about how to repel carpenter bees?  We have 4 wooden bathroom structures, and those gigantic bees are very territorial, patrolling and chasing anything that comes near the structure.  There were 6 of them at one of the bathrooms yesterday, and I couldn't even get inside to clean it.  I can handle the one or two at the other bathrooms, with careful timing, but they're certainly intimidating!

RAID.  Ask and you will be shown which one has the stream spray that you can shoot them out of the air with.

 

[rvpopeye]

HOT SHOT

 

[offroad]

The carpenter bee curious males do not sting. Hit them with fly swatter. Or ignore them. The females tend to be at flowers or in the nest and avoid people unless trapped, and they will sting.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_carpenter_bee

 

[ttpadilla]

Saturday, a terrified mother ran up to me, begging for Benadryl. Her 12 year old son had been stung by a bee (they were unaware of this allergy, so didn't have an epi-pen), and his reaction was immediate: severe swelling of his face, neck, torso, and arms, profuse sweating, fever, and what appeared to be uncontrollable twitching, which it turned out was due to severe itching all over his body. I didn't have any Benadryl (and would not have been allowed to administer it if I did have it, although I suppose I could have "accidentally" left some on the picnic table nearby...), but did call for an ambulance, and had the kid brought over to my motor home for observation. Fortunately, it was a moderate, rather than severe, allergy, and his throat didn't close up and he continued to breathe, and remained responsive.

It took more than 30 minutes for a fire truck to arrive, and the occupants did nothing more than take his blood pressure, and berate us for not having Benadryl on hand (of course THEY didn't have any either). The ambulance arrived 10 minutes later, loaded him into the ambulance, and treated him while waiting for Life Flight to arrive. 10-15 minutes after the ambulance, Life Flight was finally overhead, but with the tree cover up here it was unable to land. They drove the kid back down the road several miles (it takes nearly 20 minutes to travel 4 miles on this steep, narrow, winding road) to an opening in the trees.

That's as much as I know about his particular case, but it leaves me a little fearful about the chances of survival in a real emergency. Rattlesnake bites, severe allergies, heart attacks, and other injuries are distinct possibilities here. While I can perform CPR, and treat some pretty bad injuries, there's nothing I can do about rattlesnake bites or anaphylactic shock. The hospital is an hour away from here, so driving isn't a better option. I never fully appreciated the logistics of emergency response in these remote areas.

 

[ttpadilla]

The carpenter bee curious males do not sting. Hit them with fly swatter. Or ignore them.   The females tend to be at flowers or in the nest and avoid people unless trapped, and they will sting.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_carpenter_bee

Whew, good to know, thank you!!

 

[cyndi]

Next time you go to town pick up some Benedryl, for you and our dog. It should be in everyone's first aid kit.

 

[highdesertranger]

dang nana where did they send you, the hell of all campgrounds. highdesertranger

 

[GotSmart]

The Grandmother of my current cat would follow me out to the chicken pens, and hunt down mice while leaving the chicks alone. She would also get snakes. One bite behind the head, and let them go for the plymouth rock hens. Soon the hens were eating snakes and mice on their own. Since the previous property owners would use feed sacks to build up the floor instead of digging a drainage ditch, I was constantly pulling up bags exposing mice and snakes.

It only took one cat and a flock of chickens.

 

[ttpadilla]

I got curious and looked it up, and someone, somewhere, has determined that a 'gang of cats' should be referred to as a Clowder, Clutter, Pounce, Dout, Nuisance, Glorying or Glare of cats.

Guy

HAhahha, that's hysterical!  I was thinking more of leather-clad cats on Harleys when I said gang, but I like Clowder of Cats a lot! Thanks for the chuckle, Guy!

 

[ttpadilla]

The Grandmother of my current cat would follow me out to the chicken pens, and hunt down mice while leaving the chicks alone.  She would also get snakes.  One bite behind the head, and let them go for the plymouth rock hens.  Soon the hens were eating snakes and mice on their own.  Since the previous property owners would use feed sacks to build up the floor instead of digging a drainage ditch, I was constantly pulling up bags exposing mice and snakes.

It only took one cat and a flock of chickens.

You've nearly convinced me to take on the extra traveling companion.  I checked the mouse bait drawer today, and either the bait has caused these b!#$*#s to grow, or I have something bigger visiting now, as the size of the droppings in the drawer have tripled! Even worse(?!) is that I finally put a glue trap in the entrance to the engine area of the motor home, and they dragged it back behind the curtain into the engine/transmission area itself.

 

[WriterMs]

Cleaning my van for a short trip later this month, I found an unused box with two of the round mousetraps I had mentioned before.

They are D-Con brand (not Raid.. sorry). You do have to bait the little round "house"... I used peanut butter very successfully. Once baited, you turn the outer disc to open it.. and then put it where the mouse travels. When the door is closed, check the trap -- it will tell you if a dead mouse is inside (so you can dispose of the whole thing) or if it was accidentally tripped.

The larger invader may be a pack rat.. and they can do a lot of damage to your wiring. Somewhere there is a thread on those, I think. As I recall many have success using a cheap string of LED lights during the night.

 

[GotSmart]

Squirrels, Pack Rats, Chipmunks~~~ Cute little beggars that will chew your wires.

 

[masterplumber]

Urg! I've had squirrels chew through enough wires to keep the truck from starting, and then used the material to build a nest on top of the engine, all in one weekend. Better get after them Nana. Best wishes for a good outcome.

 

[ttpadilla]

Having been told (by my boss) that I would not be able to drive up this Saturday to attend my granddaughters' 2nd birthday party, I decided to visit on Tuesday/Wednesday, which are my regular days off. I was worried about leaving the motor home overnight, fearing I would return to a home overrun by rodents.

Earlier in the week I had placed the two glue traps that I had purchased behind the front grill of the RV, and one of them had disappeared overnight. It seemed that it had been pulled inside the the engine where I would have to access it from the mound between the driver and passenger seats. When I returned (it was a wonderful trip btw. Nothing like seeing those babies to set my heart aglow), I found that the other glue trap was also missing. I looked underneath the motor home and everywhere under the "hood" that a flashlight beam would reach, then looked about 15 feet away, and saw BOTH of them, missing the rodents, and savagely chewed up, lying in the foliage. There was a small amount of gray fur on each of them, but clearly the traps that WriterMS recommends are the way to go, as those glue traps are a joke. I decided to check the "bait drawer" in the kitchen, and as always, banged on it before I opened it. And saw.... A very large mouse (or worse) perched on the back edge of the drawer, with two feet gripping it, and a tail hanging inside. It didn't look like a regular rat tail, nor did it seem large enough, but I've never seen a pack rat, so I don't know if that's what it was. Clearly, the bait has been an open invitation to all things rodent, so I really must get it out of here. I slammed the drawer shut, and kicked all the drawers and cabinet doors on that side. I started up the motor home to make sure everything (other than the transmission) still functioned, and so far, I'm lucky.

Hours later, while reading in bed, we (Bella and I) heard something pretty large making a commotion nearby, but couldn't tell whether it was inside, or underneath, or just right outside. I just told myself it was a curious raccoon, and tried to ignore it.

Definitely making a trip into town as soon as possible for DCon Traps, dryer sheets, strings of LED lights, and anything else I can find.

 

[Almost There]

Definitely making a trip into town as soon as possible for DCon Traps, dryer sheets, strings of LED lights, and anything else I can find.

Multi tasking at its' best!!...

Add regular type spring mouse traps and some rat traps (they're bigger) to the list as well...peanut butter works better than anything else for bait because they have to lick it rather than stealing the whole chunk of cheese and running off with it. You already have the gloves to handle them afterwards. I use gloves and a pair of vice grips or pliers to open the trap afterwards and drop the offending body directly into the garbage can! When not in use they get stored in ziplocs.

I know none of us like using the mouse traps because then you have to empty them but it's the safer choice as opposed to bait traps. Bella and desirable wildlife can be harmed by consuming the rodents that have feasted on the bait.

 

[GotSmart]

Here are a couple of ideas.

 

[ttpadilla]

Here are a couple of ideas.

Think any of those ideas would work on mice?!

 

[GotSmart]

Think any of those ideas would work on mice?!  

Let us know.  

Peppermint oil on cotton balls.  Fresh oil about every 3 days.  That repels meeses  

 

[ttpadilla]

Let us know.  

Peppermint oil on cotton balls.  Fresh oil about every 3 days.  That repels meeses  

I'm going to do that right now. I used eucalyptus oil on cotton balls under the sink, as everyone says that bears are attracted to peppermint. However, I'm far less worried about bears than I am about mice, so peppermint oil it shall be!!!

Thanks, Smart.