Tis the season; Pack Rats

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splitshot

splitshot

Head cook, Bottle washer, and Peace keeper.
10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Nov 17, 2006
Threads
550
Messages
7,973
Location
Rodent Central, Az
After discovering fresh cacti under the hood of two drivers.

Night #1, two traps:

101_1395.webp




Within 20 minutes, both were loaded with a tenant. Second set and 1 hour later, I had 2 more squatters that moved in. Might set another record this year.
 
That wasn't what I had in mind when I suggested a new pet.:flipoff2::hillbilly:
 
This not pc because of pita and all but my cat would have one hell of a time with them pack rats. My big orange fuzzy bastard is one hell of a mouser and scorpion exterminator.
 
I think Toyota uses cheese flavored fuel injection wiring.:hillbilly: Saw two different cars with rodent chewed wiring recently. :frown:
 
Happens to RV's a lot

RV's sit for very long periods of time and often get infested. There are a myriad of home brew suggestions - the two that seem to make the most sense are.

1. Ferret cage litter. Tube weasels are one of the best little furry predators, and smaller furry things know it. If you happen to know somoene who has one, ask them for some of he wood shavings. Bag it in some mesh and leave it under the hood. Should keep the little fockers out of the engine compartment.

2. Mothballs. Same idea - pungent smell.

Or, keeping it in a nice indoor garage. :flipoff2: Bonus points if orange ginger mouse elimination unit has access.

Glenn in Tucson
 
tucson_sailors said:
1. Ferret cage litter. Tube weasels are one of the best little furry predators, and smaller furry things know it.
Click to expand...

Very true. Raised ferrets as a teen. The whole neighborhood had a mouse infestation. We just had feet and tails.:eek:
 
tucson_sailors said:
RV's sit for very long periods of time and often get infested. There are a myriad of home brew suggestions - the two that seem to make the most sense are.

1. Ferret cage litter. Tube weasels are one of the best little furry predators, and smaller furry things know it. If you happen to know somoene who has one, ask them for some of he wood shavings. Bag it in some mesh and leave it under the hood. Should keep the little fockers out of the engine compartment.

2. Mothballs. Same idea - pungent smell.

Or, keeping it in a nice indoor garage. :flipoff2: Bonus points if orange ginger mouse elimination unit has access.

Glenn in Tucson
Click to expand...
I have always head to dump your used cat liter under your rigs that are parked for the long term. JOhn
 
I live up in the Rio Verde Foothills next the the Tonto, and have battled those bastards for years and then stumbled on a LED strobe light one day at ACE on Tatum and Dynamite. Comes with a magnet on the back and decent alligator clips to attach to the battery. No problems in over two years on a couple of my trucks that sit outside. A tad pricy at about $40 a pop, but so is the cost or TVM of fixing a wiring harness. I can get the name of the unit if anyone is interested. Invented by a guy out of Cave Creek.
 
oilbrnr said:
I live up in the Rio Verde Foothills next the the Tonto, and have battled those bastards for years and then stumbled on a LED strobe light one day at ACE on Tatum and Dynamite. Comes with a magnet on the back and decent alligator clips to attach to the battery. No problems in over two years on a couple of my trucks that sit outside. A tad pricy at about $40 a pop, but so is the cost or TVM of fixing a wiring harness. I can get the name of the unit if anyone is interested. Invented by a guy out of Cave Creek.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting. You leave the strobe in the engine compartment I would guess?
 
Yup. I had my doubts about the alligator clips but they've held and I have a 3 mile one way washboard out of my house to get to pavement. At night it really illuminates under the hood. This shot is the one in my DMax. SOBs prior to this knawed off the wires to a knock sensor right in the intake valley. If course they did it right at the sensor so having enough lead to solder was a PITA. Since I've put these in, no more issues.

Rid-a-Rat.com

image.webp
 
oilbrnr said:
Yup. I had my doubts about the alligator clips but they've held and I have a 3 mile one way washboard out of my house to get to pavement. At night it really illuminates under the hood. This shot is the one in my DMax. SOBs prior to this knawed off the wires to a knock sensor right in the intake valley. If course they did it right at the sensor so having enough lead to solder was a PITA. Since I've put these in, no more issues.

Rid-a-Rat.com
Click to expand...

Cool idea^^^^, worth a try.:cheers:
So far, 5 in 2 nights, the trapping will continue, we had one even make it into the house through the dryer vent and chewing it's way out of the hose.
 
We have a hansom Turkey Vulture that stops by in the morning to see if breakfast is served.:cool:
 
Some folks around here leave their hoods open. They hate the light. I had a small work light on a timer under the hood of my F250 when I was not driving it. The bastards can do damage fast. I once heard that the attraction to the wire harness has to do with oil used by the wire manufacture to lube the wire before it is slid into the protective outer sheath. I have a dollar bounty on them with my son and his pellet gun. PETA and the politically correct folks can kiss my ass.
 
I've killed 4 already this year, worse in spring and fall - and I leave the hoods up on all vehicles inside the garage. No problems with our cars, but the dog has gotten pretty good at sniffing them out and then I set Hav-A-Hart traps with peanut butter. The last one she managed to chase down after I lifted her doghouse and she caught and killed it. Good dog!

An acquaintance of mine had them in his hangar where he kept an MD520 NOTAR and a Bentley Silver Spur - sure enough, one got into the engine bay and chewed through a harness that the Bentley dealer had to remove the engine to find and replace = over $10k in repair costs. Still cheaper than if it had gotten into the engine bay of the helicopter, however.

I hate them and usually kill about 4-6 a year coming in off of the desert.
 
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