Rodent defense?

EMrider · 09-02-2009, 06:47 AM

Just curious how other SMB owners protect against rodents, both while camping and during storage?

For years I had zero troubles. But after a recent camping trip got a rude surprise after putting the van into storage for a couple weeks. Somehow a mouse/rat, not sure which, had gotten inside. There was crap everywhere, but worse part was that the beast had chewed thru virtually every water line inside the van. Huge mess and a costly fix too.

I don't know if the mouse/rat somehow got inside the van from outside, or if it was a stow-away in the camping gear from the prior trip.

How to avoid this in the future?

Traps?
Poison?
Wheel covers?

Any tips appreciated.

Thanks
Rob

Ford_6L_E350 · 09-02-2009, 09:09 AM

You've just pointed an advantage to all the feral cats in our neighborhood. Now when I hear the cats fighting I will just smile and go back to sleep.

Thanks!!

Mike

Veg Hed · 09-02-2009, 09:19 AM

Oh man....I had some rodent troubles this past winter in the Baja. We picked up two little critters on our last night in Agua Verde. We drove to La Paz and all I could find were those inhumane sticky traps. Well they weren't sticky enough and the little mice walked all over them. So I finally found some snap traps...We caught one the first night we used those but the other one somehow eluded us for a week. It seemed like he was taunting us...walking around the inside of the van where we could see him, scratching on our cast iron skillets at 1am and eating the peanut butter off of the trap with out setting it off. Finally in El Chorro we caught him, but only after he had successfully driven me crazy. Seriously, I could hear him in the walls chewing and scratching...I was about ready to start stabbing through the van walls with a kitchen knife on day 7.

Now when my van is parked I keep a couple of snap traps set on the inside...I haven't caught one since Baja but I'm ready. I guess there are the catch and release traps that are supposed to catch more than one at a time but I'm not sure how they work. If it was me and I had my van inside in storage I would buy about 10 snap traps and set one on top of each tire and the rest around the outside of the van....Get 'em before they even get inside that way you won't have to deal with the smell of a dead mouse if you do catch one. Good luck...

EMrider · 09-02-2009, 05:43 PM

Thanks for the info.

I'm sure the rodent that wreaked havoc in my van was living like a king for at least a day or two. I suspect the water lines were targeted once it got thirsty.

I'm going to use some poison and traps inside the van as a precaution and see what happens. My big concern is during storage, more so than when camping. I'll also make extra sure that I remove all food from inside.

I just heard from Peter at SMB today that the fix involved replacing every water line in the van's interior. Ugh.

R

SMBDAD · 09-02-2009, 05:50 PM

I would recommend against poison. Imagine something dying inside the walls. You will be replacing things just to get the stink out!

**BroncoHauler** · 09-02-2009, 06:06 PM

At home when we have tree rat problems, we use a Rat Zapper. Works great, no mess.

Herb

EMrider · 09-02-2009, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bronco_hauler

At home when we have tree rat problems, we use a Rat Zapper. Works great, no mess.

Herb

Thanks Herb, that looks like an ideal solution.
R

want-one · 09-03-2009, 03:21 PM

My wife has me put Bounce frabic sheets all over the van we have not had a problems since and then the van smells good also.

Ford_6L_E350 · 09-03-2009, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by want-one

My wife has me put Bounce frabic sheets all over the van we have not had a problems since and then the van smells good also.

I knew Bounce was good for repelling mosquitos, and now you tell me it is a rodent repellent also? What else can it do?

Mike

**BroncoHauler** · 09-03-2009, 06:12 PM

[quote=Ford_6L_E350]

Quote:

Originally Posted by "want-one":24uhtak3

My wife has me put Bounce frabic sheets all over the van we have not had a problems since and then the van smells good also.

I knew Bounce was good for repelling mosquitos, and now you tell me it is a rodent repellent also? What else can it do?

Mike[/quote:24uhtak3]
It can cure twitchy steering problems in Quigley modified vans.

That's my "I've had three beers with dinner in Bloomington, Indiana" answer, and I'm sticking to it.

Herb