Effective Rodent Deterrent and Rope Lights

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Effective Rodent Deterrent and Rope Lights

December 24, 2016, 01:09:30 am

Having just read one of Judie's posts, I went out to the barn and checked the Lazy Daze. I found fresh rat droppings in my engine compartment and under the engine on the slab. Nowhere else (Other than in the shelves and storage, as usual.). I would like to eliminate the rats living in the Lazy Daze and their eventual wiring damage.

We have a cat who still hunts, but isn't as rat-lethal as he once was. His intermittent hunting precludes using poison. I do use snap traps and Have-a Hart- traps with periodic success. When camping at Karchner Caverns, one of the long term resident geologists had a lamp under the hood of his RV and he told me that the light kept wood rats out of his engine compartment. I have tried putting a bowl of mothballs in the engine compartment of our truck, but it sure stinks up the area. I used to pay my son to take a pellet pistol out at night in the citrus trees and snipe rats for $5 each. He didn't make much, but had a lot of fun. This was the one exception to the "eat what you kill" policy for hunting.

Does anyone have an effective way to keep rodents out of their engine compartment?

Harold

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #1 – December 24, 2016, 07:50:10 am

Hi Harold,

What has worked for me is putting mothballs under the hood. My method has been to take some old pantyhose that I cut up to make small sacks. Tie one end, insert 4 mothballs, tie the end and I tie a bright red piece of yarn on the end. I use the yarn to secure the sacks of mothballs to various things under the hood. The red yarn also makes it easy to find those sacks when I remove them.

I try to get at least one of those mothball sacks on the top of each side of the engine and the rest of them are scattered around the engine compartment. I also use a section of pantyhose as a screen where the air cleaner snorkel enters above the radiator and put a sack of mothballs in there too ( i have had mice chewing on the actual air filter!. VERY IMPORTANT to make sure you remove that before starting the engine. The genset compartment gets a couple sacks of mothballs too.

I put a notecard on the dashboard as a reminder to remove 8 sacks of mothballs from the engine compartment and 2 from the genset. Before I started this routine, I did have nesting materials on my engine and in the genset; the last 8 years have been rodent free.

Good luck,
Steve K

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #2 – December 24, 2016, 09:40:00 am

Rodent damage is insidious and can be costly to repair. After our foray with the motorhome, we started using rope lights under the rig (attached to the chassis) and wound around in the engine compartment. I don't know if these come as LED's, but ours are fairly old, so require electricity to work. A bummer, but our storage area has a plug right by the rig, so we are golden.

Additionally, using zip ties, DH puts fistfuls of GAIN dryer sheets - GAIN because they smell the strongest - around different places in the engine compartment . I don't know if we put them in the generator compartment, but that is a good point.

They got into our car's engine compartment as well. It is parked on our concrete circular driveway and is driven at least a couple of times a week. There is no brush nearby for them to hide in, but they seemed to favor that engine, too. We had two separate occasions of rodent damage to the car engine wires. Finally our repair shop found a different kind of wires and we have had no subsequent damage to the car engine wiring in the last year. Fingers crossed.

Virtual hugs,

Judie < -- listening to a whistling wind

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #3 – December 24, 2016, 10:30:20 am

Quote from: Steve K. - December 24, 2016, 07:50:10 am

Hi Harold,

What has worked for me is putting mothballs under the hood. My method has been to take some old pantyhose that I cut up to make small sacks. Tie one end, insert 4 mothballs, tie the end and I tie a bright red piece of yarn on the end. I use the yarn to secure the sacks of mothballs to various things under the hood. The red yarn also makes it easy to find those sacks when I remove them.

I try to get at least one of those mothball sacks on the top of each side of the engine and the rest of them are scattered around the engine compartment. I also use a section of pantyhose as a screen where the air cleaner snorkel enters above the radiator and put a sack of mothballs in there too ( i have had mice chewing on the actual air filter!. VERY IMPORTANT to make sure you remove that before starting the engine. The genset compartment gets a couple sacks of mothballs too.

I put a notecard on the dashboard as a reminder to remove 8 sacks of mothballs from the engine compartment and 2 from the genset. Before I started this routine, I did have nesting materials on my engine and in the genset; the last 8 years have been rodent free.

Good luck,
Steve K

Steve, what size pantyhose do you wear? I want to get the same size for my mothballs.

Chris

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #4 – December 24, 2016, 10:45:48 am

You can get solar powered LED light strings on Amazon in various colors and lengths for around $10 to $15. They have multiple modes (steady, various blink patterns) so the rats can enjoy a festive light show if you're inclined.

We had one old cat who would hiss at any ground squirrels that came into the yard then chase them into the house so they could eat the buttons off the TV remote, so he was probably an outlier in the concept of effective rodent control. Our current pair are officially retired from anything resembling work.

fu
2015TK

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #5 – December 24, 2016, 10:50:58 am

Chris, are you wanting to send me some new pantyhose?;-) If so, I like fishnets, the darker the better.

If you need some, we still have some hosiery from when we cleared out our parents' homes. Garter belts not included.

Seriously though, the sacks of mothballs have helped repel the critters that wanted to camp in our rig while it was hibernating. It is parked in a wooded area from late November to April, under an Rv cover with screening over the exhaust pipes, old prescription bottles of mothballs (with holes in the caps) and fabric softener sheets in each exterior storage compartment, and those sacks of mothballs in the engine compartments. Before I undertook these measures, I had mice eating the air filter and an engine compartment full of shredded leaves, yuk. Thankfully they had not done damage but I do think I was lucky to avoid an underhood fire when I started the engine before discovering the nesting material.

Maybe your tough wild west critters need something more intimidating than pantyhose though? Stinky socks or ....

Merry Christmas,
Steve K (keeping warm by wearing pantyhose like Broadway Joe Namath did back in the old days!)

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #6 – December 24, 2016, 10:53:23 am

Harold,

There has been a great deal of discussion on the topic of rodent control.

A few of us use Fresh Cab packets. Balsam scent "blinds" the critters sniffers and since they are poor sighted visually, they rely on their sense of smell to keep them wary of danger. It is said that the Fresh Cab scent messes with this very important olfactory guidance and they prefer to go elsewhere.

It's inexpensive and its scent lasts several months before the packets need to be replaced.

I have them everywhere in my LD. Two zip tied in the engine bay (although they are above the engine so I think I'll dangle a couple more a bit lower). One zipped in the generator. One in each bay. One in each enclosed area of the coach...sink, dinette seats...everywhere I can think of.

After traveling and parking at home, I've only once noticed a nibble on a packet under the hood. No droppings to be found. Check YouTube for their videos. Pretty impressive stuff.

As far as under hood lighting goes, I've purchased a 12 volt LED rope light that I have yet to install, but I've heard good things about them. I think it was Andy who first brought this method to light.

Good luck. I'm really not a big fan of rodent infestation.

Kent

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #7 – December 24, 2016, 10:55:55 am

Thanks to all of you for the good ideas. I'll be heading to Home Depot for mothballs and a rope light this morning. Considering who comes through the line, I know I won't raise any eyebrows buying nylon stockings at Walmart.

Thanks again,
Harold

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #8 – December 24, 2016, 11:02:13 am

Thanks Kent,

I've never heard of the Fresh Cab rodent repellent, but I'll look into getting some.

Have a good Christmas and I'm still looking forward to that cup of coffee!

Harold

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #9 – December 24, 2016, 11:19:23 am

I once had a rodent infestation in which my paper air filter was shredded. Unfortunately I was unaware and upon starting the engine a portion of that material got sucked into the air flow sensor and beyond. I am consequently dead in the water and had to enlist the aid of a mechanic friend to help me get started again.

My permanent 'fix' for that problem was to form fit a piece of ¼" hardware cloth in the air horn and secure it with RTV. No rodent has been able to pass that barrier since.

As to chewed wires, I guess I've been lucky there, so far.

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #10 – December 24, 2016, 11:33:10 am

We have also had good luck with Fresh Cab. Many Tractor Supply stores stock it.

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #11 – December 24, 2016, 12:09:16 pm

Over the years I've seen many attempts at rodent control. I've seen nests with mothballs in them, I've seen poison in the nest and drier sheets as well.
The only thing that has worked consistently is light. The little bastards just don't like it so they move on to a darker spot.
With newer LED strip lights, it's easier to make a lighted area without using too much power and this is the way I do it now.

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #12 – December 24, 2016, 01:50:55 pm

   We too have had our battles with mice and rats at different times while our RVs have been stored. We have trapped them and poisoned them and this has also been the case with other vehicles we have stored for the winter also. I have not tried the LED lights or the Fresh Cab scents which Ken suggested but I am glad for the help and ideas here on LDO and all of those who contribute to it. I too am going out to storage today to try to apply some of the suggestions to prevent future problems for our LD and other resting vehicles.

   Thank you to All and Happy Holidays!

Karen ~ Liam
   98 ~ MB

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #13 – December 24, 2016, 02:45:52 pm

Merry Christmas to the rodents. So far my gifts include 1 have-a-Hart, two snap traps, one lovely electrocution trap, two bags of mothballs, and a couple of sticky trays just for good measure. No LED light ropes yet and no partridge in a pear tree.

Thanks for all of the good ideas.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone here on the forum!

Harold

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #14 – December 25, 2016, 03:44:34 pm

These are also very effective at repelling vampires, werewolves, and tigers.

fu
2015TK

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #15 – December 25, 2016, 05:58:02 pm

I understand having rodent problems when the rigs are parked longer (e.g. storage for the winter). Does anyone worry about when you are "parked" at a site for a week or two?

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #16 – December 25, 2016, 07:11:14 pm

"I understand having rodent problems when the rigs are parked longer (e.g. storage for the winter). Does anyone worry about when you are "parked" at a site for a week or two?"

Rodents are opportunists. They don't check the calendar or mark your tires with chalk . . . they just hop aboard when it seems propitious. We always hook up the underhood lights whenever the wheels are not going to be moving for more than a couple of hours during dark hours. Might be overkill, but we are in the "once burned, twice careful" camp.

I always thought campers were marking out their territory when I saw lights on the ground around the perimeter of a rig, but now I'm wondering if that might be a rodent prevention ploy.

   Virtual hugs,

   Judie <-- Sierra Vista, Arizona
   Adventures of Dorrie Anne | Photographing the West

   Today:    Christmas Persimmon
   ******************************

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #17 – December 25, 2016, 07:32:02 pm

Quote from: JandS2 - December 25, 2016, 05:58:02 pm

I understand having rodent problems when the rigs are parked longer (e.g. storage for the winter). Does anyone worry about when you are "parked" at a site for a week or two?

Some places seem to be worse than others. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is one. They have signage warning about pack rats. We have boondocked on BLM land near Salida, CO a few times and found evidence of rodents in the engine compartment. It doesn't take long if they are a problem in the area. Luckily we have never had wiring damage but did find evidence of minimal damage to the engine air filter once. That said, we seldom have seen evidence of them.

Jim

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #18 – December 25, 2016, 08:55:29 pm

A High Desert environment with sage and buck brush usually has a large population of Chipmunks and their close cousins. I can't remember how many times I've see the little buggers jump up into the undercarriage of both the RV and the Toad. My Jiggs would be frantic trying to get to them... to the extent that he once tore apart the fairing around the wheel well on my Honda to the extent that I had to have it repaired. Don't know which is worse, dog or rat!

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #19 – December 26, 2016, 03:25:07 am

We were in Idaho with plans to hike in the pioneer mountains early in the morning the next day. Some where along the way we picked up a mouse when we were stopped. Later we herd it scratching for a couple of hours in one of the cabnets just after dinner which kept our 10 year old son up. He did not want the mouse hurt, we did have a plastic have a heart trap and baited it with peanut butter. There was some noise and scratching till about 10 pm when the trap did it's job. we had a captured mouse. The next morning when we hiked, we left the little guy somewhere along the trail about a couple of miles from where we were camped. My son insisted that we add more peanut butter for the little guy to enjoy before we released him to go on his way. Otherwise we have been free of rodents while we have been traveling but have had our fair share while our other RV has been stored. We have only had our LD since April and just today I saw mouse droppings on the battery, they are fresh. I bought some Fresh Cab and hung it in the Engine compartment and one in the Genset compartment. No LED light ropes available here on island since the Christmass Rush. We will have to acquire them elsewhere later.

Karen ~ Liam
98 ~ MB

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #20 – December 26, 2016, 10:51:51 am

So if light is a good deterrent, has anyone tried just leaving the hood up when parked to keep the engine compartment "protected"? I do so when I notice critters jumping up onto the LD understructure.

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #21 – December 26, 2016, 10:39:45 pm

"has anyone tried just leaving the hood up when parked to keep the engine compartment 'protected'?"

From what I've seen, that's pretty common practice, especially in desert areas. Does it work? No way to be certain, but it can't hurt.

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #22 – December 27, 2016, 09:33:11 am

"So if light is a good deterrent, has anyone tried just leaving the hood up when parked to keep the engine compartment "protected"? I do so when I notice critters jumping up onto the LD understructure."
----
Several years ago, the Ladeze had a gathering at Ridgway State Park out of Ouray, CO. Like many other locations (mountain, desert, other), Ridgway has a varied "squirrel" population, and in September at that elevation, these are very active prepping for winter. Several of us left the hoods of our rigs propped open, hoping to deter the busy little critters from using the engine compartments as granaries. Leaving the hoods open did accomplish one thing: an opportunity to watch the squirrels hauling piñon cones into the engine compartments, either via the grill or from the tires and/or undercarriage.

As ever, YMMV.

Joan

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #23 – December 27, 2016, 11:40:50 am

Thanks again for all of the great suggestions. Christmas eve day was spent cleaning up rodent mess and setting traps. One rat in a have a hart, one in a snap trap, and one unfortunate rabbit in the have a hart. The little electrocution trap hasn't yielded anything, but I'm still hopeful. I really can't get myself to place the sticky traps; they are rather inhumane, even for rats. (I'd use them for politicians, but that is a different and more insidious infestation)

I checked my truck, driven 600 miles a week and a half ago and left with a clean engine compartment, and found a HUGE rat nest in the engine compartment which had to be removed and cleaned out as well. One half of a large craftsman I/O vacuum full of leaves, twigs, snail shells, and fuzzy and foil insulation, formerly wrapping my battery and AC. Placed stockings full of moth balls and no inhabitants since then.

Rope lights are on their way.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Re: Effective Rodent Deterrent?

Reply #24 – December 27, 2016, 09:39:39 pm

I'm surprised that nobody has suggested the thing that has worked for years for me, and perfectly! Rodents seem to hate the smell of "original Irish Spring soap" as much as I do. I always leave a few bars in the engines of my RV and tow vehicle every summer, also in the coach front and back, and wherever I think they might like to nest, and have never been bothered again. Years ago all the electrical wires in my camper van were eaten up in Southern California by rodents so I know how horrible the repairs can be. The nice thing is that you can just put the bars back into the boxes and use them the next year, just as effective.

Kristin from Alaska
1997 MB

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