RATS!

[Wyatt]

I know a few of you are concerned about rats getting into your RV and chewing up wires and such that can cost a lot of money and heartaches.

I put a camera under my RV to alert me if someone tried to steal my catalytic converter, but what I found was a lot of rates moving in.

I finally bought the Mouse Pro and so far in two months I've never seen another rat or mouse under the RV.

Here's a short video I did. You can see near the end with the raccoon the light it emits and the high frequency sounds. Seems to work, so I'm keeping it.
https://vimeo.com/686521273

Oh, this is the 120V model. I put not on a timer so it is activated at sundown and goes off after sunrise.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

I know a few of you are concerned about rats getting into your RV and chewing up wires and such that can cost a lot of money and heartaches.

I put a camera under my RV to alert me if someone tried to steal my catalytic converter, but what I found was a lot of rates moving in.

I finally bought the Mouse Pro and so far in two months I've never seen another rat or mouse under the RV.

Here's a short video I did. You can see near the end with the raccoon the light it emits and the high frequency sounds. Seems to work, so I'm keeping it.
https://vimeo.com/686521273

Oh, this is the 120V model. I put not on a timer so it is activated at sundown and goes off after sunrise.

That’s funny, I guess I was wrong😳

[Eagle5]

Hi Wyatt,
OK; so you are saying you did see another rat after your video above? Maybe you now have fewer of them. I believe Rats do not like Moth Balls, so could you put a tray of Moth Balls near the engine valley? Maybe even putting an open tray of them near the front wheel where the rats would scurry-up into the engine valley. I don't believe any animals are tempted to eat Moth Balls, so I don't have a concern with poisoning the neighbor's cat.
Very clear video!
Eagle5

[reeman]

Rats are nothing compared to what Pine Martens can do up where we fish and camp. Park your truck for a week and go somewhere off grid by boat, come back and no wiring or even shiny things from inside the truck if they find a way into the cab.

They are little tricksters and just love to mess with things that humans create whether of any use to them or not. I have even seen them run off with a coil wire on a logging show, while the owner was away working. It stole the wire perfectly intact and took it up a tree where we found it, guess the little critter really needed one for the family Ford.

Wild bears, even without previous human contact are also very inquisitive, not just for food. Almost as if they were kids trying to figure out what something was by ripping it apart. RV doors are nothing for inquisitive bears except a challenge for them to try to open. A 400 lb juvenile grizzle will just rip a the door off no sweat, a black will be slower but will come back and try multiple times until the door pops open.
I have seem them look at doors and think their way through the puzzle, then like a smart cat look for a weak point until they find one or create one by denting the door before ripping it open. Even car alarms don't work if you are not around, they only make the an inquisitive animal even more curious. Scares off cubs but not the juveniles or adults.

Fishing on the Bulkley a small griz bit a series of holes in a line of one aluminum and two Achilles drift guide boats overnight. Then proceeded to rip up some trailers parked a few klicks away. Almost as if it was miffed at the wealthy American fishermen being guided down from Barret Station.

Rats look for a place to nest, the big critters seem to often have other things on their mind and at times it can be funny what critters can do, even if it hits you in your wallet.

If you have a rat infestation, most likely so called norway tunneling rats chances are that somewhere close there is an easy source of water and food. Remove that option for the rats and they will go elsewhere.

We have neighbors who run rat restaurant compost heaps where they rot kitchen scraps. But we have had no trouble whatsoever with critters trying to find accommodation in our trailer. Our house is another story.
I needed to run trap lines and the slaughter was horrendous for about 4 years until we finally found all the rat tunnels and blocked them all into our old house here in Victoria BC.

[Eagle5]

Wow Reeman - great nature lesson. I had to look-up what the Pine Marten was (video below).
Thanks, Eagle5

The Pine Marten is Nature's Most Adorable Assassin!

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Hi Wyatt,
OK; so you are saying you did see another rat after your video above? Maybe you now have fewer of them. I believe Rats do not like Moth Balls, so could you put a tray of Moth Balls near the engine valley? Maybe even putting an open tray of them near the front wheel where the rats would scurry-up into the engine valley. I don't believe any animals are tempted to eat Moth Balls, so I don't have a concern with poisoning the neighbor's cat.
Very clear video!
Eagle5

Actually, I was poking fun at my first line in the post about people having issues, or being concerned with rats.

I used traps, mint spray, mothballs, you name it. They just kept on coming.
My last resort was the Mouse deterrent contraption and honestly I thought I’d be returning it, with the bad reviews. But apparently it worked.

We were backing packing in Yosemite for a week and when we got back to the car, there was a camper there that had the entire side ripped back like a sardine can. Seriously. The entire side was wide open.

I keep a can of bear spray in our RV in case we have an unwelcome visit…

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Wow Reeman - great nature lesson. I had to look-up what the Pine Marten was (video below).
Thanks, Eagle5

What an adorable Weasel of an animal…

[tim myers]

I was in the process of selling my 2016 FW Storm and started it up for a potential buyer, and was met with an awful gasoline odor. Quickly shut it down, and through investigation found that something, most likely squirrels had chewed through my high pressure fuel line. A couple hundred dollars and about four hours later I had the fuel line replaced. The video really interests me, no idea what might be crawling around under my DP in the storage building when I an not there.

[weirba]

I have really good success with the ultrasonic repellents, like these

https://www.victorpest.com/victor-pe...ith-nightlight

I always set one up outside the wet bay where all the hoses are, even for quick over night stops. For longer stops I set two up, one one the ground near the back of the coach pointed forward and one on the ground near the front of the coach pointed back.

When we do that we never have had an issue.

[bluecal]

I've been using 9" wide sheet metal bands around my tires for the past few years. Seems to work.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

I know a few of you are concerned about rats getting into your RV and chewing up wires and such that can cost a lot of money and heartaches.

I put a camera under my RV to alert me if someone tried to steal my catalytic converter, but what I found was a lot of rates moving in.

I finally bought the Mouse Pro and so far in two months I've never seen another rat or mouse under the RV.

Here's a short video I did. You can see near the end with the raccoon the light it emits and the high frequency sounds. Seems to work, so I'm keeping it.
https://vimeo.com/686521273

Oh, this is the 120V model. I put not on a timer so it is activated at sundown and goes off after sunrise.

So tell me about the camera that you used. I bought a motion sensor with a PIR Alarm for possible Cat Thief, but I stop setting it up as it was too much work.

On rats, I use poison, I know a lot folks hate, but it works. I am trying tp get rid of rats not just have them go to other places on my property. They breed like crazy.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ramik-Gr...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

Periodically I place a few of these pellets where I may have seen rat activity or in location where on a rat can get to. If pellets come up missing, I place a pellet in one of the large Victor traps and I catch them every time. I tend to repeat the process every 2 months or so. When I first started I may have caught 9 rats or so, now I can only get one every two months.

Last year we definitely saw rat droppings on the car engines which made me get desperate. The poison works if used responsibly in safe locations. I don't put under the RV though, but in perimeter areas that the rats would have to come from at night.

Side note: When you gonna paint that Cat Converter?

[Tom Ficca]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

Hi Wyatt,
OK; so you are saying you did see another rat after your video above? Maybe you now have fewer of them. I believe Rats do not like Moth Balls, so could you put a tray of Moth Balls near the engine valley? Maybe even putting an open tray of them near the front wheel where the rats would scurry-up into the engine valley. I don't believe any animals are tempted to eat Moth Balls, so I don't have a concern with poisoning the neighbor's cat.
Very clear video!
Eagle5

I have moth balls in my shed . The other day I was in there and there was a mouse sitting right beside the bowl full of moth balls. It did not seem to bother it at all.