I live in Tucson. My toy hauler sits on the side of my house. Pack rats are prevalent.I found evidence of rat activity in the storage compartment. I've heard dryer sheets or moth balls will work to keep them away. I really hate the smell of moth balls and it's a smell you can never get rid of.So,I really don't want to use them unless it is the only thing that will work. I did put some dryer sheets in there. Will they work? Any suggestions? Those little moofers haven't done any damage yet,but the can be very destructive.Thoughts??? Thanks!

I have heard dryer sheets work as well, however I have never tried it. Maybe put some glue traps also if you can check regularly. Goodluck, I hate those effers

I will be paying attention to this thread. Last year my truck spark plug wires got ate up twice. I ended up moving my truck out of that storage area. After the second time I put foil tape around the wires.

Yeah,those little sob's are very destructive. I left a car outside of the garage for about 1 week while I did some work on the buggy. In that short period of time they built a nest and had babies!!!

Rat poison works. Comes in little trays about 3 inches long. I know you probably don't want poison near your stuff, but if you can find a spot where the rats will eat it but it doesn't touch your stuff, it's worth a try.

I recommend you DO NOT use rat poison. The rats see it as a food source and bring more. Then when it comes time that they start dying, they find somewhere to die. And you are not going to want the smell of some decomposing dead rat smell in your toyhauler. Best way is either you try and deter them with things they dont like, or you use traps that will catch them. The best are snap traps as this will usually kill them instantly. The glue traps work as well, just know that if they dont get there head caught, they will try and eat their way off it. I caught one in my backyard before and it started eating the plastic of the glue trap to get itself free. It will not hesitate to knaw off its leg either leaving a nice blood trail.

Build a shop that you can park it in. I know a guy than can build it for you.hehe.

Best thing I have found is the victor electronic rat trap... got a good deal on one from ebay but I think home depot or lowes has them. A little dab of peanut butter in there and and they walk in and get zapped. Gotta check it daily tho till you have the population down. It even works for those pesky rock squirls that can dig tunnels under your foundation. One weekend I took out a full family of 4 pack rats and 9 squirls... about one every hour for a while there.
No animals up the food chain affected also which is a good idea if you have dogs.

I have had a problem with mice crawling up the front fiberglass cap on my Weekend Warrior and getting into the ceiling. Anybody elese have this issue or know how to deal with it ? Dont mean to hijack but your post made me think about this .

Looks like a good option for depleting the population. I wonder if there is anything that can be used to keep them away?

Just wondering if you held it by its wings

LMBO!!!

If there is a hole that they come through fill it in with a wad of coarse steel wool. they can't chew through it.

No if you pull the cover off the popane tanks and look up. Its wide open under the fiberglass cap all the way up. I thought about expanding foam with a long tube and filling the top area where the roof boards are. But i dont want to damage anything. I am going to try mouth balls in the ceiling threw the speaker holes this week so my wife will sleep in the bed.

Where I found the evidence of them was in the pass through storage area( I have a 5th wheel). I search that compartment and can't figure out how they could possibly get in. I've search underneath the trailer also. Nothing!

Weekend warrior trailers have holes in the bottom of the battery boxs for drainage . Are your battery boxs in that area ?

No.The batteries are in the front compartment where the gennie is.

You could try Decon,,,,,,Its a poison that makes them feel like they are sufficating then they leave the rig to the outside air. I have never had a rat die anywhere near a decon cube.

Only bummer would be if you had dogs...

What's with Tucson peeps having rat issues? John has the same problems. I say build a new shop, your trailer will love you for it.

Buy 2 have a heart traps and some peanut butter, bait them every day. Give therm 45 minutes in the sun and their dead meat ! Throw there little carcasses into the desert as a warning to the others. Pour gas into their dens and burn the little effers out, its WAR !! Never show them any mercy or they will know you are weak and will bring all their buddys over to feast on your trailer. (if I sound a little crazy its just the heat)

Sounds like MAC.

[quote name='steinberg55' date='Jul 24 2010, 08:40 PM' post='3767775']
What's with Tucson peeps having rat issues? John has the same problems. I say build a new shop, your trailer will love you for it.
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It's not Tucson in general. It's those of us that live in the rural areas with large lots( ie. 5 acres). There are an abundance of pack rats. It just comes with living in the Sonoran desert.

Sandy,you are a funny mofo!!! It's like freakin' Caddy Shack. Those little suckers are destructive.

Very true, I should of reminded people of that.........I would not do this is you have pets or your neighbors because if the dog eats the rat they will have the poison.



Brandon

I like your style. I cant begin to tell you the damage those little ef's have caused to all my yard equipment.
Tomcat ultra bait blocks are what I use. Put them around your battery's and nooks and crannies.
Out of reach from pets forsure.

That's the funniest not so funny $h!t I've seen all day

Omg

If you have a truck or car leave the hood open a few inches. they won't build nest in there. you can also open up your bay doors and they won't go in. For some reason they don't like the openness. worth a try. moth balls have worked for me before. first moho they chewed though tons of stuff. all of a sudden stuff didn't work. lots of chewed wires. little bastards.

Decon Decon

Just make sure there is no water close by for them to drink. The Decon makes them thirsty and soon as they take a drink the Decon activates and kills them. Only takes a short time. Have a water source about a couple hundred feet from the Decon and some shinny bobbles like junk beads by it. If they are pack rats they love to carry that stuff back to there nest. Soon as the water hits there belly they will grab a bobble and head for the den. Fifty feet and there dead. Better yet put that stuff in a live trap. They will be dead when you come out to check. Had them under our house one time years back. When we got them all dead we went under the house and found all kind's of stuff. Old hub cap's anything shinny they would bring to there nest. That's why they are called pack rats.

Thanks for all the feed back and good ideas. I did put a bunch of Bounce dryer sheets in there right before we went on vacation last week. They seem to be working. No evidence of the little effers when I checked yesterday. We'll see. I'm going to try a more permanent solution to try and eradicate or at least decrease the population.

I've tried the fabric softeners for the dryer, but the mice kept coming back into the motorhome. Today i picked up a couple of the ultrasonic electronic mouse repellers from Home Depot. I just have to keep the motorhome plugged in for them to work. I also heard that irish spring soap works, never tried it though.