I was recently parked in the mountains of Colorado, next to a family member's cabin, surrounded by thick brush and trees. Even when visiting someone, I always sleep in my van. I had been there for a week or so when early one morning (5:30 am), I awoke to hear a few strange noises. I listened for a few minutes, the noise stopped, so I just blew it off, thinking it was a squirrel/bird/whatever. The next morning, it happened again. I remembered reading here where someone had a packrat in their rig. Thinking, "No way!", I raised the hood as soon as it was light enough to see and sure enough, there was the tail, protruding out from underneath the battery box.
I located three small new nests! Researched the little boogers and managed to get rid of it, after over a week of trying different things.
First, I removed the nesting materials with a vacuum, an air compressor, a coathanger with duct tape on the end, anything that would fit into those tight spaces. I then took the van to a car wash and power washed every place I could reach. It seems their scent attracts other packrats. I then used a 50% solution of pine sol and water on the areas where the rat had nested.
I arranged to park the van in a concrete parking area in town and moved into the spare bedroom in the cabin. I then used a product called Repel All, found at Ace Hardware. It is not a poison but has a strong odor that animals don't like. I then sprayed the liquid spray all under the hood, on the tires and tailpipe. I also sprinkled the granular form all around the van and on the tires. I checked it every morning and evening for a week to make sure the packrat was gone.
It did take a couple of power washes/applications of the Repel All to finally get rid of it. After two weeks, I left the area. On the way out of town, I stopped at the car wash and cleaned the stinky stuff off as best as I could. The first 60 miles were driven with the windows open!
No apparent damage was done (so far, so good).
If I had not read the other thread, it never would've occurred to me to check under the hood. Thanks!
I located three small new nests! Researched the little boogers and managed to get rid of it, after over a week of trying different things.
First, I removed the nesting materials with a vacuum, an air compressor, a coathanger with duct tape on the end, anything that would fit into those tight spaces. I then took the van to a car wash and power washed every place I could reach. It seems their scent attracts other packrats. I then used a 50% solution of pine sol and water on the areas where the rat had nested.
I arranged to park the van in a concrete parking area in town and moved into the spare bedroom in the cabin. I then used a product called Repel All, found at Ace Hardware. It is not a poison but has a strong odor that animals don't like. I then sprayed the liquid spray all under the hood, on the tires and tailpipe. I also sprinkled the granular form all around the van and on the tires. I checked it every morning and evening for a week to make sure the packrat was gone.
It did take a couple of power washes/applications of the Repel All to finally get rid of it. After two weeks, I left the area. On the way out of town, I stopped at the car wash and cleaned the stinky stuff off as best as I could. The first 60 miles were driven with the windows open!
No apparent damage was done (so far, so good).
If I had not read the other thread, it never would've occurred to me to check under the hood. Thanks!
