OREGON '23...............Postcards from the Road

[maki2]

OH cool, we're both around Flagstaff, then

Just for another week or two until it cools off near Kingman and Lake Havasu.

 

[Markw]

Just for another week or two until it cools off near Kingman and Lake Havasu.

Yeah, I'm here until my disability check hits and I get a few things done to the van (need to build a new power box to accommodate the 2nd battery etc).

 

[abnorm]

We've been in this campground for 4 days................I just opened my van hood and I find a HUGE rats nest with BIG rats inside on top of my engine...........................Vengeance is MINE !



I've been treating the front tires with fresh P....................then

I saw strange fresh cut vegetation on my passenger rear tire........(behind the sliding door)..............That's when I looked in the engine compartment....................

Tomorrow: ACE has Moth balls.....and rat traps

 

[user 22017]

We've been in this campground for 4 days................I just opened my van hood and I find a HUGE rats nest with BIG rats inside on top of my engine...........................Vengeance is MINE !

View attachment 34324

I've been treating the front tires with fresh P....................then

I saw strange fresh cut vegetation on my passenger rear tire........(behind the sliding door)..............That's when I looked in the engine compartment....................

Tomorrow: ACE has Moth balls.....and rat traps

Disgusting. Now I don't even want to be a nomad

 

[maki2]

Spring rat and mouse traps are the most deadly! Too bad your cats are not doing any free range hunting. Of course it is safer for the cats not to be free range.

September is the month many rodents are actively looking for warm dry places to nest and have their litters. I should check my engine compartment. I need to check my oil and add washer fluid anyway. Maybe I will do that tomorrow as well as putting on the new windshield wiper blades. Or maybe the day after tomorrow as I have some income generating work I need to do that is a higher priority.

Fortunately I have not seen any mouse poop in my engine compartment in 2023. But the year is not yet over so it could still happen.

 

[NctryBen]

Disgusting. Now I don't even want to be a nomad

Haha, I have way more rodent issues at home… mostly the house. I put lots of sticky traps everywhere when I’m gone. It can smell some when I get home, but if I don’t control them well let’s just say they multiply very fast. I’ll be way more cautious as I am out more full time.
Might be worth a little research as to where rat populations are worse. But the best thing would be learning how to repel them… I’ve never had a rat problem but they are just big mice… right?

 

[Morgana]

I forget if it's in the Hitchhiker's Guide or some other Doug Adams story, but there's a truck driver who's always driving in the rain -- turns out the rain gods have a crush on him and just follow him everywhere. Maybe the rat gods have a crush on you ...

 

[abnorm]

^That ain't right.............Beware of DOUG................

 

[bullfrog !]

Time for the “Let’s go a hunting” song!

 

[abnorm]

^ We're in town shopping............2 kinds of RAT traps.......Moth Balls..........even a cheap strobe light made for lighting pumpkins !

 

[wayne49]

Sticky glue traps are silent, but not deadly, leaving one with a moral dilemma as to the method of actual execution of the vermin. [Brand name: "Tomcat", available at Raley's in Tonopah, Nevada.]

The magic cat piss had washed off, a hurricane will do that.

 

[wayne49]

By the way, I encountered a couple of Coconino NF's "Blue Ridge Hotshots" vehicles in Tonopah headed south on US-95, earlier this week.

Today in Goldfield the rest of the group hit the Goldfield Visitor Center for a potty break, while I was parked there.

Easy guess as to where they had been, the National Fire Incidence Bamboo feed had 20 to 30 listings all in Oregon.

 

[abnorm]

Thanx................At this point I like the SNAP ! of a good trap.....................

Editted to add:
We've been traveling off/on with the Hannah Caravan this season.........we just learned one of the Caravan campers lost their rig to FIRE in North Nevada....................more info as it becomes available

 

[LargeMarge]

^ We're in town shopping............2 kinds of RAT traps.......Moth Balls..........even a cheap strobe light made for lighting pumpkins !

.
In their cooking oil section, Wal*Mart carries a tub of bacon grease.
.
Handling traps while wearing disposable gloves to reduce the human scent, we load the trip and the wood under the trip with this bacon grease.
.
Glancing through the ingredient list, I think that particular product is ideal for rats.
I think it is far less appropriate for human consumption.

 

[maki2]

Not a problem for Doug, he loves to eat bacon and can supply lots of freshly cooked bacon grease.

 

[abnorm]

^ Well YES.........................but I'm not wasting BACON or Bacon grease feeding Rats !

 

[user 29855]

Haha, I have way more rodent issues at home… mostly the house. I put lots of sticky traps everywhere when I’m gone. It can smell some when I get home, but if I don’t control them well let’s just say they multiply very fast. I’ll be way more cautious as I am out more full time.
Might be worth a little research as to where rat populations are worse. But the best thing would be learning how to repel them… I’ve never had a rat problem but they are just big mice… right?

I don't have any personal experience with this method, but Youtube has many videos of traps that consist of a "bridge" across a 5 gallon bucket with a few inches of water in it. The mouse or rat attempts to cross the bridge, which then rotates, and dumps them in the bucket to drown. No, I really don't give a s*** about humane treatment of rodents.
You can choose to add water or not.......

 

[dreamrunnerjt]

I have used the sticky traps. After a mouse is caught I go get my hammer, quickly kill it and throw it in the outside trash. I have only used in a house so far.

 

[abnorm]

I don't have any personal experience with this method, but Youtube has many videos of traps that consist of a "bridge" across a 5 gallon bucket with a few inches of water in it. The mouse or rat attempts to cross the bridge,

Stairway to Heaven

 

[maki2]

No mystery as to where rodents will be. They are where there are sources of food and water.

Rodents in the desert areas dig their nest among the roots of the various bushes as the soil is softer there and that also provides nesting materials as well as food and water. The branches and small leaves of the bushes get wet from rain and also dew so that provides water for the rodents. As birds also land in bushes they might drop edible seeds under the bushes. So if you camp right next to a wash with vegetation you have considerably increased your chance of rodents in your engine and dwelling space.

In higher desert areas they eat Juniper berries and the seeds contained in fallen pine cones. So they frequently nest near those trees. They also eat seeds, fliers and nectar from the wild flowers.

Of course grass seed is also a major food source for rodents so pretty much every place you have a source of natural food you will have rodents in that area. They eat various plants roots as well.

If you cook and eat outside or feed a dog right adjacent to you vehicle then you are the person guilty of attracting rodents over to your vehicle. Same thing happens if you set your garbage out right close to your camp. But people are often idiots and I have seen numerous times where they put their garbage container just a few steps away from the RV door for the convenience and then they complain about getting rodents. Or they set up their camp kitchen and chairs right outside the door. You just can’t teach them much of anything when they are unwilling to change a bad habit. They might remember to make changes in case there are bears, raccoons and coyotes around but never think about doing that for rodent prevention.