Rat Headach in the Bus

Dave5Cs · April 14, 2013, 04:27:13 PM

We have all talked about critters in the Bus and putting Dryer sheets everywhere and that does work some. Last night I went out to the Bus behind our house at the ranch and low and behold there was black ink all over the floor. We used universal refill kits to refill our printer when traveling. They work well but when you park it for awhile, remember to remove all ink products. Not only on the floor but I found little black foot prints on a wall and up the tile to an upper cabinet. Found out fantastic actually cleans ink off anything except carpeting which we have little of.

I set a trap with peanut butter, next day he was waiting for me at the entrance door with some new head gear.

He also chewed through our plastic bottle of eye glass cleaner, under the bed he chewed all the covering off of a whole package 40 batteries. They looked like gray metal with no name on them, to include the package also. He chewed some under padding of the carpeting we do have in the bedroom. He didn't chew the wiring for the bed lift or at least not that I have found yet. He chewed through manila envelops we had pictures in and some of the pictures got corner damage.

Went through looking for entry holes and found a few but it doesn't take much for them to get in.

So you might check all your stuff especially if you are not in it a lot for a period of time. Put stuff in thick plastic tubes where possible he didn't get through them but the lids should lock down somehow. luckily most of ours do but the battery box with c and D's just fit over the tub and didn't lock so he found it and knocked it off.

All paper should be taken out or locked away. He dragged out through a cabinet door napkins and they were spread all over the place.

No serious damage but could have been, if I hadn't done my weekly walk through which will be my every 2 day walk through.

Dave5Cs

belfert · April 14, 2013, 04:59:51 PM

I know from experience that mice can get into almost anything. A Scout camp I help with I used to toss out tons of mustard, ketchup, mayo, and syrup packets because the mice got into them. We tried a bunch of ways to store them and the mice got into them. The camp also stores a lot of winter gear over the summer. The mice were getting into Rubbermaid containers full of gear so someone had the bright idea of sealing the lids with duct tape. The problem is all the gear got moldy because the containers were sealed tight.

I had mice in my bus only one year. I found that someone had left some food in the cargo bay. I remove all the food to the house after every use and no more mice.

Lin · April 14, 2013, 05:34:00 PM

We had a mouse problem a couple of years ago. He/they got into some boxes of pasta and were storing them away for the future. We found pasta in all sorts of places. There was even a plastic water bottle filled with them. Even though it's been some years, every once in a while I open something and find more pasta. We used dryer sheets and mint, but it was the poison that got rid of them. The real irony is when we found some of the poison also stored away.

Dave5Cs · April 14, 2013, 05:58:02 PM

I thought it kind of funny because the eyeglass cleaner he ate through is 75 % alcohol and 25% water. So I originally thought he fell down the entry steps from the weight of the trap around his neck but now I believe he was just Drunk and tripped, LOL

Dave5Cs

robertglines1 · April 14, 2013, 06:52:37 PM

Posted this earlier this year; found one mouse entry by skin of about 4 ft black snake-shed in it. Where air line for parking brake came thru. Saw snake later in shop,but sure opened doors slow for awhile. Also mice eat air lines also. Been there! Lots of bait around bus and in bus now. Bob

B_K · April 15, 2013, 08:50:36 AM

Quote from: robertglines1 on April 14, 2013, 06:52:37 PM
Posted this earlier this year; found one mouse entry by skin of about 4 ft black snake-shed in it. Where air line for parking brake came thru. Saw snake later in shop,but sure opened doors slow for awhile. Also mice eat air lines also. Been there! Lots of bait around bus and in bus now. Bob

Bob just get you a pet black snake to keep in the bus and you won't have to worry about those air lines any more!

BK

Mike in GA · April 15, 2013, 10:07:22 AM

I had posted here a couple of weeks ago about mice problems, and I got a lot of useful suggestions. After putting out traps, sonic blasters and dryer sheets, and getting a couple of mice, I decided to examine closely for possible entrance points. I pulled the spare tire out from behind the front bumper, and crawled in the compartment on my back with a flashlight.
Lo and behold, there was a mousehole where a couple of cables feed from this compartment up into the steering wheel tower. From upstairs in the drivers seat you can't see that the support tower is open on the backside, so I am pretty certain this was their entry point.
Now, Great Stuff foam has a new product that has a bitter insecticide in it that critters don't like to chew through, so that hole is well plugged and I am hopeful the proverbial door is closed.
More as it develops.
Mike in GA

muldoonman · April 15, 2013, 06:54:56 PM

Bought a new alfa while building our home out here in the country years ago. It had a sealed metal bottom that looked better sealed than the holiday rambler we looked at. Dang mice still got in . Solved it by leaving kitty puss in coach while we went back and forth to old house a couple hours away. He didn't mind and would have um stacked by front door when we came back everyday until he cleared um out. They got the message and no more mice. He got bored after that. Still have him and he thinks he's doing us a favor by bringing the ones he hammers into the house though his pet door. Bad Kitty!

Dave5Cs · April 15, 2013, 08:22:32 PM

Thanks Mike i forgot about that one by the steering post. I will try the great stuff.

Dave5Cs

sommersed · April 17, 2013, 09:29:47 AM

I have some property where the whole valley has a huge mouse population so of course, I have many visitors in the night.

I've found that if you put some of the newer type traps that have the large yellow head, and butt that head straight against the walls where the little vermin prefer to travel, they are dispatched rather promptly. I've also found that no peanut butter, cheese, or anything else is needed using this method.

Since starting this procedure, no nests are even started, for they are gone almost immediately.

Just my way!

Ed

AndyG · April 18, 2013, 04:04:35 PM

An RV or bus cannot be sealed tight enough to keep mice out. You can make it harder for them though. I had mice a couple of years ago and put out poison. The poison worked BUT.... I could smell him but not find him. It took a couple of days and the stink just got worse. My new policy is traps only, this way if it is dead and stinky I'll know where to find it. Just threw one out this morning. What is your favorite way to de-stink the coach after the fact?

Dave5Cs · April 19, 2013, 04:27:03 PM

There was no smell. He was in there 1 maybe 2 nights and then got him in a trap head lock. He was 6ft from where I put the trap in the kitchen. He was on the bottom step. He was ready to get off at thr next Stop.

Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III

Mike in GA · April 20, 2013, 07:45:20 AM

I found three dead (trapped) mice and one live one in my step well the other day. Now that I have sealed the suspected mouse holes and removed all food, they seem to focus on the steps as their best chance to escape. That's where I had set three baited traps.
That makes a total of five removed in a week. Hope that's the last of them, but I will keep checking and resetting traps 'till I see no fecal evidence of activity.
Mike in GA

Dave5Cs · April 20, 2013, 03:55:22 PM

Get um Big Mike. Lol

Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III

white-eagle · April 21, 2013, 04:30:08 AM

Obviously, you all are missing the best method. Just live in the bus. We have the occasional visitor, and i even got blamed for the problem originally. My wife noticed a missing favorite piece of chocolate and figured i sampled some. she found it still partially wrapped, but the chocolate licked off the outside. He also stole some pretzels, but obviously either was full of chocolate or was not that hungry. He (or she) is now gone.

Because we live in the bus, there is plenty of not damaging food versus wires and such.

Be careful of of chipmunks also. Last year, i was walking back to the bus to see Chip or Dale waving at me from behind the glass of the front destination sign. Mocking me like that didn't help them last that long. lol.