Rope lights vs mice video

[CharlesinGA]

If the lights didn't work, people would not keep using them. I have read of several people who used them, laying on the ground around the RV and never had issues. Pack rats can be a serious problem and do a lot of damage.

How to Get Rid of Rats in Your Car Engine like a Pro | Pest Dude

Interestingly, I just the other day saw a video by a diesel pickup shop that was showing the rats nests they found in the V of the engines. Diesels tend to have an open V between the cylinder banks, both Ford and GM, no intake manifolds blocking it and a great hiding spot under the turbos...... until they get cooked by the heat and the nest material catches fire.

I opened the air filter box on my old Ford Ranger a few months ago. It sits alot, inside the shop. Pulled top off, there is the air filter, air enters the box underneath it from an opening behind the grill. In the bottom of the box I found acorns and pieces, chipmunks probably. I don't have pics, but I ended up putting 1/4 inch hardware cloth over the opening secured by the screws that held the intake duct in the radiator support. Time will tell.

Air filters almost all have metal diamond mesh bonded into them on one side, for strength and to keep rodents from eating thru the air filter and getting into the engine's intake system.

I'm mostly concerned about wiring harness damage that could leave me stranded somewhere.

Charles

 

[jymbee]

If nothing else, the blinking lights will irritate them enough that they will go to a neighbor's friendlier place!!

Or the blinking lights will annoy your neighbor enough that you wake up in the morning wondering where the lights went.

 

[Professor David]

We use these when we go to the AZ dessert for two months. It's the annoying blinking light think. The sites are spaced far apart where we go so I don't think we are bothering neighbors

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So far no pack rats. I have no idea if it really works.

 

[SMR]

We just arrived in Arizona and the neighbors warned us about pack rats.
Was told some people use coffee grounds around the camper to help deter them. Sites are close so not sure about being able to use lights.

 

[DonTom]

If the lights didn't work, people would not keep using them.

IMO, most people use them because they think they work because so many others use them. Many have never used them and have had no problems. I assume the reverse is true too, that some have used the lights and still got the packrats--at least after a while to give time for the rats to get used to the lights being there.

I sure would like to see some scientific evidence that they work. I have mine on blinking right now. I think the only people who can see them will be those who are walking around outside in the middle of the night. I cannot see them at all inside my RV. Likewise, I cannot see anybody else's from inside here since all my windows are covered, and I assume the same goes for others.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[DonTom]

Was told some people use coffee grounds around the camper to help deter them.

What makes people think that will work? Again, any real evidence?


-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[Kirk]

I would NOT consider that "many use it" evidence of anything. Many people believe all types of nonsense. Nonsense gets popular very fast.

It is very difficult to prove what was the reason that something didn't happen. I can tell you what my experience was, which really proves nothing so each of us must decide. When we were at Boyce-Thopson Arboretum in AZ for 3 months, they warned us of a packrat problem and suggested the use of lights under the RVs and around the engine compartments of vehicles. There were 5 RV sites with volunteers in each and all of us had rope lights in a ring just under the edges of our RVs and inside of the wheels, was well as a light above the engines of each of the vehicles with the hoods open. Even though we regularly saw evidence of packrat activity near the RV sites, none of the volunteers experienced any problems from them, while we were there. RV sites were probably at least 200' apart and some cases, much farther. About 2 years later we were volunteers with the COE in Kansas where there was some packrat population but we were not made aware of it so I didn't deploy the lights as I had in AZ. After a month I was going to move the motorhome and it would not start. It was towed to a shop where they discovered that the wire harness to the fuel pump had been chewed apart above the fuel tank, where there was a nest with baby rats in it.

It is up to you to draw your own conclusions, but I still kick myself for not having deployed the rope lights, since they were in one of our storage bays.

 

[DonTom]

but I still kick myself for not having deployed the rope lights, since they were in one of our storage bays.

As I said, I am using them right now. Probably what is more important is that there is no evidence that they do NOT work. They are cheap enough and easy to set up.

Kinda like the tire covers I have on my RV even here. Some believe they don't do a thing, some believe they do. All I know is that it doesn't hurt to use them, so I do. I always have them with each of my RVs anyway.

BTW, are these pack rats mainly just a desert problem? I am wondering what caused my DC cable under this RV to open from the battery to the furnace, refrigerator, and other stuff when I was at the French Camp near Tom's Place, CA a couple of years ago. That is at 7,200' elevation. I have that cable running across the floor inside this motorhome. No way I can even see the cable underneath this rig, I would have to jack it up above me.

And how come I see no hoods up at places like the Sonoran Desert RV Park in Gila Bend? I know they have all types of little animals in that park during the night, I cannot see why pack rats would be an exception.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[Kirk]

BTW, are these pack rats mainly just a desert problem?

There are packrats in many different types of area. My Kansas attack was in eastern KS, host RV site at a COE lake campground. Pack rats, also called wood rats, can survive anywhere there is shelter and food, from dry deserts, mountains, and plains to your home and yard. They prefer areas with little disturbance but can live anywhere that there is sufficient food and shelter. I don't know why but they seem to be common in some areas and nonexistent in others. I suspect that predators play a part in that.

 

[DonTom]

here are packrats in many different types of area. My Kansas attack was in eastern KS, host RV site at a COE lake campground. Pack rats, also called wood rats, can survive anywhere there is shelter and food, from dry deserts, mountains, and plains to your home and yard.

I wonder why I only see the hoods up in the desert RV camps. Never in RV parks and other places.

But what happened to me at the French RV camp convinces me it can be a problem high in the mountains. However, I never saw the cable where it opened, so I cannot even be sure if it was caused by rats.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[DonTom]

I suspect that predators play a part in that.

Perhaps not enough rattlesnakes in those areas with all the pack rats! I would rather have the rattlesnakes. Perhaps that is why I do not see any hoods up at Gila Bend. The rattlesnakes do the job for us!

And there, they have plenty of rattlesnakes. They find many right in the RV park. They have many warnings. You will first see the signs when you register and they also tell you as you're signing in.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[SMR]

Pee on your tires, take a video of yourself doing the chicken dance and post it on the RV Forum......that might help.
I asked the neighbors and they said some did lights and they didn't and nobody had any problems last year.

 

[DonTom]

Pee on your tires, take a video of yourself doing the chicken dance and post it on the RV Forum......that might help.

Yeah, perhaps that will also help, but I don't think I will try that without more evidence. The light thing, just like the tire covers, I am willing to do even lacking good evidence that such stuff works.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[John From Detroit]

I'm mostly concerned about wiring harness damage that could leave me stranded somewhere.

Some years ago we pulled out headed south for the winter..Only went about on hour the first day but I Commented the rig was not running well.. Wife did not hear anything wrong. Seemed to be misfiring (Chevy Vortec V-8) Local chevy dealer would not look at it found a shop that would.

They replaced two plugs and re-did their primary damage.. Rodent damage.

My ears are.... Well. grew up listening to engines (on the farm) and later in cars on the road. I know when the sounds they make. both proper. and improper.

 

[JudyJB]

I like the idea of predators making a difference. When I was at Usery Mountain Regional Park a couple of winters, no warnings about pack rats, but lots of coyote howling at night, and one night the howling was about 300' from my rig. I knew exactly where they were because I walked around that area--did not see anything, but they were apparently celebrating killing something.

Probably commercial campgrounds are too close to roads and are in towns where there are more stray dogs???

Only partially related to this discussion is when I had a Saturn about 20 years ago and would spend weekends with my elderly mother in her cottage in the woods on the edge of Lake Huron. Had a lot of chipmunks up there. I took car in for an oil change, and mechanic said he removed a bucket of acorns from various places in the engine compartment, so I know all sorts of rodents can get into your engine area. But at least nothing seemed to be chewed--just a winter storage area, apparently.

Headed to desert places in late February, so will put lights under vehicle then. I don't think decorating your patio with them does any good.

 

[jymbee]

...but lots of coyote howling at night, and one night the howling was about 300' from my rig. I knew exactly where they were because I walked around that area--did not see anything, but they were apparently celebrating killing something.

I always believed that until fairly recently, but lately I've read what appears to be more accurate information. Some examples:

The sound of coyotes howling and yipping at night sometimes causes people concern and alarm. Some mistakenly believe howling indicates that a group of coyotes has made a kill. While coyotes howl for a variety of reasons, it is not likely because they have downed prey.

Interestingly, research suggests that groups of coyotes howl more on evenings with less moonlight, again to defend their territory or to communicate with other family members.

I've also learned about pack rats in this discussion. Not having any rats in our home area I did not fully appreciate the kinds of damage they can do!

 

[gwinger]

I keep a container of Liquid Fence Animal Repellent powder in my Toy Hauler. We stayed at one campground that was overrun with Chipmunks. I had the bike under a canopy and spread the stuff around the bike. The Chippies would get about 3 feet away and move on. Even the occasional stray dog or cat would not come near.

 

[DonTom]

"While coyotes howl for a variety of reasons, it is not likely because they have downed prey."

I never heard that one before about downed prey and I would not buy into that idea without some solid evidence. There is so much BS about wildlife that many people simply accept as true because somebody else said it.

The house I sold a couple of years ago NW of Reno in Cold Springs Valley, was just above White Lake, within walking distance to CA. It was near the last NV exit on 395 North, Exit 83. Anyway, coyotes are heard every night there, no exceptions that I can recall. IMO, they howl because that is what they do, no reason is necessary. But it is mostly saying to other coyotes, "Stay out of my territory! " They all start howling at the same time, at random times during the night from many different areas of the desert. So they receive answers from the other coyotes in the area. While coyotes will sometimes hunt in a pack, they usually travel alone. Wolves are more likely to be in a pack. But when coyotes are not hunting, they prefer to be alone and tell the others to stay away. And the howling between them keeps their distances away from each other.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

 

[jymbee]

And the howling between them keeps their distances away from each other.

-Don- Tucson, AZ

Yeah, I tried that howling thing last year at a campground that was pretty overcrowded. Didn't go over all that well...

 

[DonTom]

Yeah, I tried that howling thing last year at a campground that was pretty overcrowded. Didn't go over all that well...

Yeah, it works better for coyotes than for humans.

-Don- Tucson, AZ