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Old 12-19-2014, 11:09 AM   #1
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Question Rodents in ceiling and walls

We have a 37 foot Big Horn, 2007, and recently have heard scurrying in the ceiling and walls, probably a squirrel or other rodent. Anyone have any bright ideas how to get rid of them short of hiring an exterminator?

I am very leary of poison due to the smell once they die. In our old house, we were able to trap and release, but the situation is different in that I have no idea of their pathway used for entry/exit, and placing the trap along their paths of ingress and egress is critical.
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Old 12-19-2014, 11:25 AM   #2
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moth balls all over the inside and all storage compartments. Rodents may decide to leave on their own because they don't like naphtha odor. There is a sound-making device that we use in our MH. Don't know whether it works because...er, because we haven't had any varmints in the coach.

Have you removed all food items that aren't in glass, plastic or metal containers?
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Old 12-19-2014, 04:42 PM   #3
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Get rat traps and bait with peanut butter.
We had an entire family of squirrels in the walls of a travel trailer a few years ago. Baited Have-A-Heart traps with PB and dropped Mom & Pop off a few miles from our house right before a camping trip. At the camp ground, the babies came out of the fridge vent and ran all over our feet and hands, but couldn't get back in so they set up house keeping the spare tire (rear bumper with cover). On departure day, I put them all in a nearby tree and ask the DW to watch as I pulled away from the camp site. She was laughing and crying when she got into the truck 100 yards away. Seems they ran after the trailer as it was the only home they had known. But no more scratching in the ceiling after that and I blocked ingress routes under the TT.
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Old 12-20-2014, 12:59 AM   #4
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Recently, I have become a believer in Peppermint Oil. Bought from a health food store.

I live in the country. In February I noticed some fabric missing from the engine hood.





I learned about using Bounce dryer sheet and Irish Spring soap. I used them, changed the dryer sheets every month, and thought they were working.

In November, I read a thread (from a truck forum) referencing that those two don't work, and I decided to check on things. The soap had chew marks on them. I flipped them over to see if the chewing is still happening. I also noticed that a lot of the fabric was missing.





I had done the usual engine maintenance since February and never looked up towards the engine hood, so I didn't notice the missing fabric.

The next day, I checked on things again. This time I noticed the soap had been drug towards the the middle of engine from behind the passenger side battery.




Looking closer, the dryer sheet had been drug down towards the engine valley. There were also droppings on the fuel bowl. I pulled the soap and dryer sheet out, and below the dryer sheet I saw this:





I got some tools out and started retrieving. This is what was in the engine valley:






Found all the missing fabric. Took the truck to the car wash to clean out the rodent signs. Learned of the Peppermint Oil. I put a couple of drops on three cottonballs for the engine compartment. One near each battery, and, one dagling on a string from the fuel bowl. I also put a cottonball in a dryer sheet for each wheel rim that I remove when I go to drive the truck, and, install them when I park the truck for the night. I checked the next day and there was a couple of droppings around. I cleaned them out. After that clean out, I have not seen any sign of rodents in the engine compartment since.

I've become a believer in Pepperment Oil. It smells pretty good, also.

Rich
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Old 12-20-2014, 09:45 AM   #5
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I heard charcoal around tires or wherever they may crawl up. Haven't tried yet, but going to.
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Old 12-20-2014, 04:11 PM   #6
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Quote:
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I heard charcoal around tires or wherever they may crawl up. Haven't tried yet, but going to.
Mouse traps around the base of the tires should help.
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Old 12-21-2014, 07:49 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SkiSmuggs View Post
Mouse traps around the base of the tires should help.
Place them on top of the tires and you won't get ants, possums, amadillos massing with the traps.
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Old 12-21-2014, 09:23 AM   #8
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We had mice in our now gone Titanium so I decided to close up their little doorways. The first thing I did was convert the power cord entry hatch to a Marinco plug in style. Next was to spend a couple hours on my back with a can of insulating spray foam - the worst places were the pin box and the gap way up there, then it was around the landing gear legs. A pair of water drains had some larger then necessary holes through the basement covering. Stainless steel wool works well in those places that you can't get foam into. For a mouse to gain entrance, all you need is about a quarter inch of gap.

What I have actually found to be worse are the legions of chipmunks where we live, backed up to a big woods. They ruined one TT refrigerator, filled the air cleaner of my little diesel yard tractor after they had eaten the insulation off the glow plug wires, shorting them out. The also ate enough of the housing of the last trucks heater valve (ain't fun hauling a 12K 5er and having the engine go into limp mode). Then there were the plug wires and filled air cleaner on another truck........

A photo of chippys from the tractor air cleaner - and yes, that is one of the two 'bodies' I found it it:

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Old 12-21-2014, 11:23 AM   #9
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Mouse Spray Deterrant

This is a rodent spray out there that you can coat the undercarriage of trailers and trucks to keep mice etc. away. From what I've read it works but has to be done annually.
We us "Fox Pee" which I get at the Agway Farm/Garden store near us along with the smelly dryer sheets. Haven't had any so far - two years ago we had our bed and dresser well lived in by the mice.
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Old 12-21-2014, 08:08 PM   #10
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I use the block-style mouse/rat poison, TomCat. It works very well. When mice die from it they simply dry-up, no smell that I've noticed. Most of the time they will find a way to go outside to hunt water, as the poison makes them very thirsty, because they are bleeding internally (Warfarin).
I've used TomCat in all my RV's, garage, house, etc., never have noticed an odor of dead mice, even though I find a dead one once or twice a year that didn't make it outside.
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