Rats in your van? how to get rid of them? (the rodent, not dirtbag rats)

Hangdog Stevewrote:

Interstingly, he has videos disproving the effectiveness of many of the non-trap suggestions given in this thread, including dryer sheets, irish spring soap, ultrasonic devices and peppermint oil.

Somewhat related, with the help of a trail cam I have discovered recently that red pepper and ammonia “deterrents” do NOT bother, nor deter, the city raccoons that are tearing up our backyard.....

You gotta figure out where the bastards are coming in and stuff dryer sheets filled with mothballs and steel wool inside of aluminum foil at each entrance. The one crucial step most people leave out is then you have to urinate on it(just a little) to activate the deterrent. 110% effective.

I caught 14 rats in one month.

You get a bucket. Fill it 6 inches from the bottom with water. Put a ring 6 inches from the top with peanut butter. Create steps out of books or something. They go for the peanut butter and they can't get out. Drowning is astronomically more humane than dying on a glue trap. In the morning, empty the bucket and repeat.

From my experience, they cant see red light. Use the red light on a headlamp to sneak up on them and capture them in a container of your choosing. 

accidentally zipped one up inside my bag this weekend.  i reached my hand in there and felt something really soft, looked down and it was a dead rat.....  he must have died from exhaustion?  he was probably in there for 12 hours or so.  

i can say is that jtree kangaroo rat fur is incredibly soft.  

BryanOCwrote:

accidentally zipped one up inside my bag this weekend.  i reached my hand in there and felt something really soft, looked down and it was a dead rat.....  he must have died from exhaustion?  he was probably in there for 12 hours or so.  

i can say is that jtree kangaroo rat fur is incredibly soft.  

Yikes!!!!

@gumby boy king HMU if you want to climb in jtree. i'm here until the end of january...waiting out the cold (for the most part)

Andrew Kelleherwrote:

@gumby boy king HMU if you want to climb in jtree. i'm here until the end of january...waiting out the cold (for the most part)

do we know each other?

Mike Swrote:

From my experience, they cant see red light. Use the red light on a headlamp to sneak up on them and capture them in a container of your choosing. 

Those must have been some stoned mice. Maybe they got to your brownie stash.

nope! not yet, anyway

To all the mouse ninjas out there: it does not have to be this way. They are cute little buggers as long as they don’t poop in your kitchen drawer or chew up everything in sight. Past winter, I ran a successful mouse relocation program (my house to state park near by) with this little device. It’s amazing how well it works. My cat, by the way, was utterly useless in this project.

normajeanwrote:

To all the mouse ninjas out there: it does not have to be this way. They are cute little buggers as long as they don’t poop in your kitchen drawer or chew up everything in sight. Past winter, I ran a successful mouse relocation program (my house to state park near by) with this little device. It’s amazing how well it works. My cat, by the way, was utterly useless in this project.

It would probably be helpful  to mention what your little device is and how it works...

I've relocated many a mouse to the nether realm

I’ve never had mouse issues until this past summer for some reason, eventually had it after one ran across my face in the night. The usual wood traps aren’t good enough, I started using these plastic traps which are a lot better. One in the front footwells, by my food and another in my rear water/propane storage I would catch plenty. Funnily enough the mice incursions into the van would come in 1-2 week waves, makes me think the know-how of finding their way into the van was lost in the generation of mice I killed, until the next gen figured it out.

With snap traps if the mouse body gets cold the fleas jump off and look for a new host.

I recently caught two in a sticky trap. They started screaming. I took them out and dispatched them with an air rifle.

I know there is a place in the biosphere for mice and rats but I hate them.

It's so easy to catch them and let them go, let the Owls do their job. 

simplyput .wrote:

It would probably be helpful  to mention what your little device is and how it works...

Tomcat Live Catch Mouse Trap. Put a bait inside. Mouse goes in, the device tilts, and the door closes. 

This little bugger got in our van back in October in Indian Cove. On us--- we left food out in the back, right near a small hole into the crawl space between the outer body and the interior walls. (found hole after the fact) I was up all night with the scratching and chewing! Aargh... Finally after 4 days we got back home. The little critter had been eating his way through our pantry. Enough. We removed ALL the food, and left a sticky trap with granola bar. One night, and success! I'd  like to say we successfully released him into the wild, but the bucket of water tells the end of the story. 

Lesson learned. Keep a clean camp---closed doors---no matter where you are.

Ron Owrote:

With snap traps if the mouse body gets cold the fleas jump off and look for a new host.

I recently caught two in a sticky trap. They started screaming. 

Damn, you can hear the fleas scream?