Rats!

Deb and Ed M wrote:

nomad297 wrote:
Poison is the best solution. Place it in your RV so only the mice and rats can get to it. The vermin will not die in the RV because the poison sends them on a mission in search of drinking water. They will leave your RV and die outside.

Bruce

There's a new kind of poison called "Second Generation" - and it's horrible, due to its long effect life. Usually sold in block or cylinder form - it takes about 10 days to kill a mouse or rat. BUT - if something eats that mouse or rat before it dies (or afterward) - the poison will kill the predator. So not only does it kill the rodents - it picks off owls, hawks, eagles, dogs, cats, etc

It's also brightly colored and smells like fresh bread - pets and kids are attracted to it, too.

I had used it at our work, in a Bait Station; but a mouse must have carried a piece out, because thank God I saw my dog eat it. He had to be treated for 6 weeks, to save his life.

Agreed, skip the poison.

Just coming in out from the cold - Block the entrance
Typical rat poison will very slowly kill most anything that eats the dead rats including yours' or your neighbor's cats dogs or wild animals

not uncommen to see hoods up in campgrounds in Montana pack rats love to chew on anything ken

Makes me glad that I live in RAT-FREE Alberta! Well, it does get cold here, tho.....

A bar of soap has always worked well for me.

Several years ago we had a bumper harvest of our walnut trees. One day watched a squirrel grab a walnut jump up on my van wheel, and then disappear inside. I took the van down to the shop to fix something and asked them to check it out. They spent several hours pulling stuff out of my fender area, and they still didn't get it all out. They must of been laughing all day over that one! I still can't imagine how much stuff those squirrels squirreled away in that fender. I guess that's a good expression!:W

TucsonJim wrote:
We have a serious problem with pack rats in Arizona eating the wiring in our vehicles. Many people swear by putting a mechanic's drop light under the hood and plugging it in when they're parked. The rats don't like the light, and will avoid it.

Another suggestion is to put some rat poison in an area of the hood they might get to. Just make sure you put it where it won't fall out and a child, pet or desirable animal get ahold of it.

Also in AZ. Droplight works good with hood open a little

A thriving cat colony where the RV is parked works well for me. Nothing like seeing a feral cat with a plump rat in its mouth.

I also have had decent luck with the ultrasonic pest repellers, but they need electricity to function.

Of course, there are sticky pads and other traps... the trick is to find the paths where the rats run, and lay traps there, rather than assume they will go for bait. One generation of rats may not bother with peanut butter, another will.

In all cases, I avoid poison... it can do a number on the local ecosystem, from the local barn cat to the owls to the vultures, maybe even the chickens that eat dying/dead rodents.

Bucket trap, Automatically reloads itself..Dump the bucket out in the spring. (I check mine about once a month, have 8 mice this year.) Youtube vids on how to build one, have it deep enough they cant crawl out, or us an antifreeze mix of liquid in the bottom so they drown. That and snap traps does the trick for me. I agree do not use poison, too hard to control where it and dead mice will go. JM$.02.

Bars of soap and mothballs worked for me. Traps also worked well with peanut butter. I put the traps outside mothballs in a sock and used it outside and where ever I thought to be an entrance. I put the soap along the basement top rails where they traveled. Must have worked. Larry