MICE!

[johninsd]

A lot of posts talk about keeping rodents out of the house part of the coach but they also like to get into the engine space where they can do serious damage to the wiring etc. as they chew. I had such an infestation a few years ago and needed to replace the engine wiring harness - covered by insurance I'm pleased to report as the cost was north of $3k. The bottom of the engine is wide open so I don't know of a good way to close off that access point. Since then I've parked at home with the hood open and check every day or so for signs of infestation, cleaning as necessary with steam and dilute bleach. I also keep a couple of electric traps by the tires and catch a rat every week or ten days. The electric traps make it easy, just dump the dead ones out and put the trap back in place. I use dry dog food as bait, much less messy than peanut butter and apparently just as effective. I dump the dead ones in the canyon behind my house where the local coyotes can properly recycle them - a win win (well except from the rats' standpoint). By the way I've seen posts that say the trap must be cleaned between catches to remove the "smell of death" which is said to warn other rats off. But I've found that it makes no difference to the rats and the local county vector control agent told me that a dead rat smells like fresh meat to other rats so may actually attract them to the traps.

[GPCPL]

My property is boundaries on two sides by USFS property. I've been here for about 25 years, and mice, moles, and ground squirrels have always been a problem. I used to buy the Tom Cat bait in 5 gallon pails (2 buckets a year). I would bait 25 bulk bait stations around the trouble areas. It helped, but it seemed I was always refilling the bait stations and not making a whole lot of headway. A few years ago, a ferral cat showed up. I stopped baiting and started feeding and watering the cat to keep it around. The rodent problem has significantly diminished. That cat works better than any bait or other type of repellent.

[tetranz]

Originally Posted by johninsd

A lot of posts talk about keeping rodents out of the house part of the coach but they also like to get into the engine space where they can do serious damage to the wiring etc. as they chew. I had such an infestation a few years ago and needed to replace the engine wiring harness - covered by insurance I'm pleased to report as the cost was north of $3k.

I discovered that that a few months ago. See here. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/e450...ml#post6182406

I think they were probably rats while it was parked out in the woods of east Texas. I managed to make a temporary fix to drive it somewhere to get it fixed properly. I didn't think of claiming on insurance but luckily it was only one wire and they didn't need to replace the whole harness so it didn't cost all that much.

I think I read somewhere that the problem of rodents being attracted to the soy wrapping has been pretty much debunked.

Now we're back in New Hampshire. I've winterized the plumbing etc but not done much for mice yet.