Rid a rat

[Ted Rue]

Has anyone used Rid-A-Rat packrat repellant system? Your comments on effectiveness of this product. Also comment on rope light deployed under RV as rodent preventer???
Truevet@comcast.net
2017 Newmar 38

[HarryStone]

Any rodent repellent is a short term device, only working until the rodent figures it out. Hours or days only. Get traps or poison

[Rocky Larson]

I have the ropes, enough for around the MH and under the car. Only use them when remote boondocking or if most others around have theirs on. I also use Fresh Cab in the basement compartment. Snap traps and sticky boards if not a hazard to other animals.
The main thing to remember is the goal is to make your unit less attractive than the unit next to you.

[Ted Rue]

Originally Posted by HarryStone

Any rodent repellent is a short term device, only working until the rodent figures it out. Hours or days only. Get traps or poison

Do you have any experience with Rid a Rat LED light strobe system for engine compartment?

[HarryStone]

Originally Posted by Ted Rue

Do you have any experience with Rid a Rat LED light strobe system for engine compartment?

All you need do is ask any competent pest management person

[Ted Rue]

Originally Posted by Rocky Larson

I have the ropes, enough for around the MH and under the car. Only use them when remote boondocking or if most others around have theirs on. I also use Fresh Cab in the basement compartment. Snap traps and sticky boards if not a hazard to other animals.
The main thing to remember is the goal is to make your unit less attractive than the unit next to you.

ok thanks!

[Kraken]

Search for every possible opening and stuff it with bronze wool. It's like steel wool but wont rust. Pay particular attention to where the power cord comes in. If the rig is plugged in, make sure the cord is 90 degrees vertical to the ground and give it a shot of silicone lube at that point. The goal is to make it as hard to climb as possible for them to climb it.

[HarryStone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVN9JXUJXdY

[astrnmrtom]

Effectiveness = zero.

The simple answer is research has shown there is NO effective rodent repellant, with one exception. In one study, a statistically significant number of mice avoided an area that contained cat urine.

The truth is, controlling rodents in structures is tedious, often dirty and physically difficult work. Professional rodent control techniques are based on three things: Exclusion, baiting, and monitoring. Exclusion is the #1 step and the most difficult - prevent entry. Exterior bait is the second because it reduced local populations which reduced what's known in the industry as "Pest pressure." Monitoring gives you verifiable feedback as to the effectiveness of your methods. You could throw sanitation in there because it makes a structure less attractive, but pests still need shelter and while you can keep a spotless RV, it still smells like food and provides perfect shelter and protection from predators.

Think of any advertised rodent repellent to be the pest control equivalent of those miracle diet pills you see on TV that claim to "Melt the fat off without changing your diet or needing to exercise!" or the product on the Auto Parts store shelf that claims to be: "Engine rebuild in a can!." No matter how much proof there is that they don't work, the promise of a simple solution that takes little effort is very attractive to the consumer.

One final thing circling directly back to your question - if something like Rid A Rat worked, I'd be answering all these questions by shouting YES! from the rooftops because it - or things like it - would have made my 16 years in institutional pest control waaaayyy simpler. Rodents, ants, and stinging insects made up over 90% of my "pest" work orders and phone calls. I'd even suspect the solution would exist in the form of a "sticky" thread in most RV forums because rodent problems are so common across all makes and models of RV.

[Mr Ted]

Originally Posted by HarryStone

Ive often said these lights just make it that much easier for the Rodents to see to get around... This proves just that

[Chuck Q]

The rodents ate my rope lights.

[HarryStone]

Originally Posted by Chuck Q

The rodents ate my rope lights.

[R.E.D.]

Originally Posted by HarryStone

Exactly! and they ate my bars of Irish Spring bar soap (another urban legend for mice repellent).

[astrnmrtom]

Originally Posted by R.E.D.

Exactly! and they ate my bars of Irish Spring bar soap (another urban legend for mice repellent).

Yet Irish Spring, lights, and drier sheets, ultrasonic repellant, peppermint oil, moth balls, etc are the myths that just keep on giving.

I think back to grandmas treating colds with chicken soup. Or how many generations of moms told their kids they'd catch a cold if they went outside without a coat. Some myths just have a lot of inertia, and today with the internet, it's even easier to keep them going round and round. A common comment is: "I heard it works."

While it really doesn't matter if someone wants to use such methods, what I am always afraid of, and why I usually try to throw a bucket of cold water on these suggestions, is people will try the home remedies because it's way easier than using proven methods. Crawling under and around an RV to find and plug holes is hard, and understandably difficult for us older folks. Much easier to pull some drawers and toss in some drier sheets or bars of soap, or to put out some pretty rope lights. Plus, it's often viewed as safer for pets, and prevents secondary poisoning of predator species from baiting. Yet doing so leaves openings for rodents to access the RV and once inside, they pee and poop all over, make nests, do damage sometime in places difficult to clean like air conditioner ducting and dash vents. Then there's the Hantavirus... I'd be much more accepting if people suggested sealing up the rig FIRST, before using whatever home remedy they want. You wouldn't go off on vacation leaving your front door wide open even though you'd left a light on because you heard it discourages burglars, but people will leave the rodent door open because they've heard mice don't like a certain smell.

Ok, sorry. Rant mode off.