Rodent Combat!!

[flagmanruss]

Pursuant to a conversation above:http://forum.mopar1973man.com/threads/3799-Stock-Filter-Box-full-of-mouse-nest... What have you done? What tools & devices have you used? What has worked for you? to keep Rodents, mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels out of your vehicles. I"m posting this under Campers & RVs because this is an annual rutual with them... though advise need not apply to only RVs. Please be as specific as possible... brand names, sources, how you used it. Russ

[jlwelding]

Go to your local coop or better find a farmer that puts out gofer bait to kill gofer's in pastures. And that stuff is a little more powerfull, but we used the store bought stuff in the packs because you can throw it under things where you cant reach and they tear the paper off to get the little goodies:drool: Becarful not to poisen your dog:lmao:we had to pour peroxide down boss dog to get him to puke, and man let me tell you a volcano anit got nothin on peroxide:lmao2: Put the packs under your hood like batt box, some place it will ride. The ones that know where the warm places are will do all the damage. I could tell you some other things to use but might not be such a good idea, if you know what I mean.My boss was on a rampage after they screwed up his H3 but he had a lot of money to pay us to do this stuff.

[Mopar1973Man]

Well... I've been using a Ultrasonic boxes in to vehicles now that seem to work really well but the problem is they are no longer produced. But in the RV I'm got 2 Black And Decker Ultrasonic boxes in it... Then I tore through the RV looks for entrances (plumbing, electrical, etc) and was going to spray foam them but Jayco has good tight plumbing and electrical. But since I've got covered belly I tucked a few moth balls in each hole I could find. So far so good...

[Wild and Free]

Would be pretty tough to keep them out of the engine compartment if thats where they are nesting. If long term storage i would use dryer sheets spread around as I have had good luck with them. Steel wool tucked into small holes they would enter. Could tape shut other areas like air box intake ect. Just make a not of what you did to what so you don't forget to remove it when its time for use again.

[flagmanruss]

To keep mice out of the cab of the Dodge, I found the cowel drains behind the hood hinges. I stuffed SS pot scrubber pieces (SS steel wool) which has blocked the mice from the cab. On some vehicles, I've screened the cabin air in the cowel area with either hardware cloth 1/4 x 1/4 wire screening or my favorite, aluminum gutter guard expanded metal which is more maleable. I've used the gutter guard on a variety of air cleaner intakes... I've had to be creative... the JD tractor I formed over an round tube & put a hose clamp on it. Sheila's Subaru I went under the intake, reinstalled the screws, folded it over the top & ran some self tapping screws into it. I have not gotten access to the cowel on the Cirrus... The hinges go into the area so can not plug the drains. There was something I could not get appart to get in. I've had to clean the blower & heater out periodically. I've tried to remember to switch back to recirculate when I get home but it isn't long before I forget just once. I'm afraid the new-to-me camper likely has plumbing holes through the floors... I can't see the areas, inside or out?? I'd rather block them out but have used dryer sheets for now. There were mouse droppings on the kitchen counter... Sheila was unhappy. She found the electrical access door open, which she locked & packed arpound the hole with pot scrubber... added the dryer sheets.I had an ultrasonic repeller in the attic which did not work... maybe it was broke. Maybe it could not penitrate the insulation or too large an area? I feel like I need to do much more... but what & how??Russ

[Wild and Free]

Get a bunch of cats and ferrets and don't feed them, let em hunt for lunch.

[flagmanruss]

We lost our cats some years ago... Momma & 2 young ones... Momma was a "Maine Coon CAt" ferocious. Once took a steak of a lit gas grill! The neighbors get cats, clean them up, get them their shots... they don't last outdoors. Coyottes. Coy/dogs. Gut piles disappear overnight. I used to have chickens & Ginny hens... The chickens that slept in the coop lasted (until a hawk got them) several years in. The ones that made a nest outside (so I couldn't collect eggs) disappeared. I'd find the feathers. Every once in a while, I'll hear an owl...

[pepsi71ocean]

we never had this problem because we would leave the trucks plugged in all the time in the winter, and the mice love only the top of the warm motor, specifically between the APPS bracket and the intake. enough sound deadening material to tell my truck was getting louder, LOLI would say the best thing to do is be at the vehicle constantly, moving it, or even running it here and there. mice will learn that as soon as they feel a huge vaccume such them up against the filter tell find a new place to hide.Now what i would like to know is what to do about spiders and snakes in my truck.:banghead:

[jumpjg]

Had some rodent combat last night, though not truck related. It was a warm day yesterday & we has the central air running. One time as the system cycled on I heard a terrible racket coming from the compressor assembly, sounded like the condenser fan was hitting the coils. I went out with a flashlight to inspect - the noise stopped just as I was going out. All looked & sounded normal. This morning I took another look & found the remains of two mice hung up in the fan guard - it wasn't a pretty sight. Actually it didn't bother me at all because I hate those rat b@$tards!Condenser 2; Mice 0Joe in St Louis

[flagmanruss]

I have had mouse nests in heater blower cages... I hope the b@stards got dizzy. Drop the blower, clean out the blower, heater core etc. Yuck!! I ought to cut the fan schroud on the backhoe... whenever it's started, there's a clanging of acorns in the fan. Maybe if there was a hole in the bottom, they could fall out!

[flagmanruss]

Found mouse evidence in the toy hauler on our camping trip... returning to the search for holes, steel wool in hand.

[Mopar1973Man]

Man those little critters are getting into everything... I'll admit (knockin' on wood) no problems with mice in the houses, trucks, or the TT (Travel Trailer). Ol' Mickey Mouse must just like you...

[flagmanruss]

The refridge is against the shower wall... I crawled in under the 'fridge. Where the H & C water lines come through the floor I stuffed with steel wool & a 12 x 18 hole in the plywood where the drains go down... too big for steel wool! There apears to be a "painted fabric" (stiff) under the trailer frame but there's a hole & I can see daylight out the bottom. I'm going to try to fit sheet metal around the drain pipes & screw it down to the plywood floor. I'm thinking to make 2 overlapping sections with the pipe holes in it. The trick will be getting a drill/driver in there. I'm off to slay the dragon! (I'm reminded of a cartoon... dragon sitting by a pile of armor using the lance as a tooth pick... "Sometimes the Dragon Wins!")

[flagmanruss]

I crawled as far as a fat guy can under the camper refridge hoping to make a template... having failed with steel wool, to plug around the bathtub drains where the mice have been getting in. I can see more openings I can't possibly reach under the tub. I'm going to remove the finished panel under the lip of the tub & access it that way. I don't want to refinish the panel or the room TYVM!

The top edge is under the tub lip... a screw in each top corner but the rest appears loose. The bottom is behind a piece of quarter round moulding which will have to be pried up... wonder what it's hiding. The verticle edges seam to be sealed with bathroom white silicone calk which should cut with a razor knife.

I really do not want to be opening things up but I don't see any other way to keep the critters out. Hot today... more heat coming... not good for my MS. I'm going to have to plan to work the cooler hours.

--- Update to the previous post...

That was interesting... like Mike, I'll share my mis-adventure... I thought I was just going to free the panel in front of the tub & slip it out to gain access to the area under it where the plumbing goes through a good sized hole in the floor.

I removed the quarter round along the floor, cut the sealant on the verticle edges, removed the screws in the top corners. I could not get the panel to start. I could not really see it but I was able to slip a firring piece under the tub & up against the panel from the 'fridge side... a couple of taps with a hammer to free it up, I thought. The firring burst right through the luan. Nothing to loose now, project became a demolition project.

I ripped the luan off what I discovered to be a 3/4 x 3/4 frame that it had been glued & stapled to before covering with a wallpaper like surface treatment. The panel was clearly installed before the tub but I was not about to remove the tub (with the liklihood of damage & destruction) so this destruction was inevitable. Now that I have it open, I can see the tub resting on a plywood platform stapled to & supported by 2X4s. I have both the tub & sink drains through the hole in the floor as well as hot & cold water lines. The hole extends under the right corner of the front 2X4. I'm considering cutting away enough of the 2X4 to access the hole... plug the hole & then install 2X4 again.

I'm actually relieved that I have both drains & do not have to wonder if there is another one on this side of the trailer... though there likely is on the kitchen side.

[Mopar1973Man]

Ummm... Mine easy but not very big...

[flagmanruss]

Very similar tub... and support underneath... but all my staples were hidden. I could not have worked on the floor through your cut out. I don't know why they needed such a huge hole in the floor. I have decided that... like so many cabin cruisers I worked on... when I reinstall, I will put a wood block down each side & make the whole panel removeable with a few screws & finishing washers. That way I can easily access any time in the future.

additional

It was too hot for me in the trailer @ 95* so I went looking at materials to replace the panel with. After striking out at the home stores, I tried the local RV place. I ordered a drip gutter for over the front escape window (previously discussed) as they offered me a decent price. At first they didn't seem to have anything for the panel but when the older lady came by, she said all the had was "ceiling materials"... she took me in the back for a look-see. It was a similar material, only had it in white... used on ceilings & walls. They sold me a cut off scrap that will work for me for $15. A bit pricy (they had me then) but it will do the job correctly & be a decent match.

[flagmanruss]

We were sitting having dinner... we both saw a large grey mouse run up the newly bricked chimney. A few minutes later a smaller mouse comes scooting down the brick, pauses on the deck before ducking in the whole where the chimney goes through the deck. I guess the mason & his carpender did not do a good job of sealing the wood against the brick. I remember stuffing the gaps with steel wool when we built the house. Here we go again!

[Mopar1973Man]

Sounds like a time to grab a can of expanding foam and fill those gaps. Stuff with steel wool first but put a layer of foam over it...

[flagmanruss]

The mason repaired the chimney & added a brick face... his "carpender" cut the wood overhang... supposedly closed it all up. There is a board hanging now that I'll have to have someone climb up a ladder to fix (about 3 stories). Once we get closed up & sealed we might have a chance to stop entrance. In the meantime, Sheila bought "TomCat" mouse traps... new fangled no touch traps. She had baited with peanut butter & placed it by the chimney on the deck, where the mice had crossed. The mice tripped it without getting caught & ate the peanut butter.I had bought old fashoned Victor snap traps. She set one & caught the first mouse in 10 minutes... total of 4 in the next hour. Strictly stop gap until we get the access closed.She thinks she hears mice over our heads at night. Probably a squirrel... last time I caught a red squirrel. I also screened the gable end louvers so I wonder how they are getting in this time? Nephew due to do electrical in attic over the weekend... lets see what he can find. (I anchor traps with wire or light chain to keep a near miss from disappearing with my traps!!

[Mopar1973Man]

Dang... The war continues on doesn't it? Wow!