Pack rats in engine compartment...solutions?

[John61CT]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/251450949232

 

[SoulRaven]

Howdy:
           Things that work for me:
1) Leave the hood open. (Another RTR lesson!)
2) A Harbor Freight solar powered L.E.D. rope light run underneath the van. ($10)
3) One each, Victor rat trap, placed near each wheel.
4) Food stowed in "air tight" plastic containers.

Using all the above have prevented any hitchhiking rodents aboard.

        Seems in my Dodge B350, there are drainage holes in the frame that act as rodent freeways straight to my fiberglass top which becomes "rodent playground" at night. I've tried many times in a vain attempt to seal all entrances, still hunting holes...hahaha! Picked up a "traveler" in Sturgis last year. That hard core mouse stayed with me for five days. He was smarter than me with the bait, no problem stealing anything I baited the traps with, he didn't get caught. A real "Houdini" of a rodent! He had made a comfy nest for himself with the poison pellets I left him. He spent an entire night carrying one pellet at a time across the inside of my roof to make his bed. I swear, I saw him jump off at a rest stop only to jump back aboard a few minutes later! I put out some sticky traps but aside from some tufts of hair he left, they failed. We co-existed fine for awhile until he started chewing into my brake lights...... So, at 2am, dressed in underwear in a public campsite, knife in my teeth, flashlight in one hand, using the other hand to completely empty out my interior onto the picnic table. Would have been called "certifiable crazy" by any passerby. Unfortunately, he only brought his paws to a knife fight............ Got to give him credit, he was a hard core traveling rodent to be sure! The nest he made out of poison pellets still cracks me up. 
        The absolute worst place for invading rodents I have been to was at the "Portagee Joe" campsite in downtown Lone Pine, California. The ground squirrels there are so thick, it's like a horror movie. They tend to invade tents and even nip at sleeping campers, creepy! Last time I was there, not a ground squirrel to be seen. A fellow camper related that a group of ten or so kids from the Indian School showed up one day with pellet rifles and solved the problem. Thanks kids for the public service!

Happy Trails!
Chuck

 

[highdesertranger]

and the ground squirrels in the Owens Valley are known to carry the Plague, or should I say the fleas on them. not all of them but it is in the population. highdesertranger

 

[Lora]

Howdy:
           Things that work for me:
1) Leave the hood open. (Another RTR lesson!)
2) A Harbor Freight solar powered L.E.D. rope light run underneath the van. ($10)
3) One each, Victor rat trap, placed near each wheel.
4) Food stowed in "air tight" plastic containers.

Using all the above have prevented any hitchhiking rodents aboard.

        Seems in my Dodge B350, there are drainage holes in the frame that act as rodent freeways straight to my fiberglass top which becomes "rodent playground" at night. I've tried many times in a vain attempt to seal all entrances, still hunting holes...hahaha! Picked up a "traveler" in Sturgis last year. That hard core mouse stayed with me for five days. He was smarter than me with the bait, no problem stealing anything I baited the traps with, he didn't get caught. A real "Houdini" of a rodent! He had made a comfy nest for himself with the poison pellets I left him. He spent an entire night carrying one pellet at a time across the inside of my roof to make his bed. I swear, I saw him jump off at a rest stop only to jump back aboard a few minutes later! I put out some sticky traps but aside from some tufts of hair he left, they failed. We co-existed fine for awhile until he started chewing into my brake lights...... So, at 2am, dressed in underwear in a public campsite, knife in my teeth, flashlight in one hand, using the other hand to completely empty out my interior onto the picnic table. Would have been called "certifiable crazy" by any passerby. Unfortunately, he only brought his paws to a knife fight............ Got to give him credit, he was a hard core traveling rodent to be sure! The nest he made out of poison pellets still cracks me up. 
        The absolute worst place for invading rodents I have been to was at the "Portagee Joe" campsite in downtown Lone Pine, California. The ground squirrels there are so thick, it's like a horror movie. They tend to invade tents and even nip at sleeping campers, creepy! Last time I was there, not a ground squirrel to be seen. A fellow camper related that a group of ten or so kids from the Indian School showed up one day with pellet rifles and solved the problem. Thanks kids for the public service!

Happy Trails!
Chuck

I laughed so hard reading your rodent story   I can totally picture all of it.
I have met lots of people lately that have had rodent problems so I'm trying to prevent having any. Thanks all for posting your tips.

 

[caretaker]

Rodents,,,,,they taste like ,,,,,well,,,,,rodents,,,,,gotch ya

 

[bullfrog]

Bleach water, rubber gloves, and a gallon freezer bag are required. When the heart beat stops and the body cools the fleas go looking for another warm body. Long sleeve shirt, gloves, spray with bleach water, turn gallon freezer bag inside out pick up trap and rat, flip bag, release trap and remove, seal and dispose of bag, reset trap and remove and dispose of gloves is how I do it.

 

[caretaker]

Rodents, the other red meat

 

[bullfrog]

They will be back I bet. It is amazing how well the are able to find former food sources and how far they can travel. I had an uncle that used to trap them in a live box then spray paint there tails with bright orange fluorescent paint to identify them. Many came back from several miles after a few days.

 

[Morefun]

I know this is an old thread. I've had wires chewed up by packrats. Not fun. Not cheap repair.
What I have right now are lawn solar lights that I place in the engine and under the truck. I've one of those animal repeller things, battery operated.
I also keep refreshed Irish Spring bar soap cut up and placed around tires and engine.
Never leave food or empty wrappers in the truck. All food in the trailer is put into sealed containers.
Not sure if all that helps but so far so good.

 

[SLB_SA]

Does putting all the tires into water help? Get kiddy pools, stop on top of them, inflate them and add water (& detergent or other item(s)) to the pools? One pool per tire/wheel. Kind of like Bob's "killer bucket" method for rodent control?

 

[vanstu]

Rodents are destructive-- chewing on wiring, plumbing, making nests are bad!

I had a problem with it when I was working on a project car in a friend of mine's barn...

I simply started feeding his Moms' cat in the garage and opened up the van (and hood)...

GAME OVER!

Misty (her name) would line up the carcasses by the door to the van and be very proud of herself...

...and yeah I would give her tuna after a good night...

...cats are lethal to rodents!!!! :thumbsup:

 

[bullfrog]

Have you ever seen how far rodents can jump? You would need a sky hook to hold your vehicle off the ground!

 

[SLB_SA]

Rodent Olympics!!  Rodent High Jump!  Rodent Hurdles!  Rodent Long Jump!  

 

[highdesertranger]

Or squeeze through the smallest hole. Highdesertranger

 

[Cammalu]

There is a guy named Sean Woods on YouTube that baits and tries out everything you can think of for deterring mice and rats. He films it all. This is just one but if you really want to see what works and what doesn’t look around at his videos.