Before I put the cover on for the winter...

[GPW]

I got the trailer all ready for winter , cleaned spotless, new rug , and so we opened it up the other day looking for some jack stands , and there were a dozen baby frogs inside the door … We gently removed them to the Garden …
The FoamStream door is so tight it whistles when you close it , yet the critters still get in …

[NevadaBlue]

Baby frogs! OMG, that would be a surprise.

[Tom&Shelly]

More cat food tom...get ya a lady cat and a tom cat..problem solved.....10 cats In a year.then no problemo!

Problem with that around here Slow: Outdoor cats don't live long with our coyotes, bobcats, etc. Wish they were as good eating the rodents!

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Had the Taco in to get all weather tires this morning, and our mechanic found more rat nesting material on our engine. (I thought Shelly had been cleaning it out every morning before work--nope)

So I stopped by our hardware store and bought one of these:



It's a flashing yellow LED, which evidently the pack rats around here don't like. The guy at the hardware store said it will work, but only if we wash the engine with degreaser to get rid of the smell of previous rats. It was up to nearly 50 degrees, and may not be again for awhile, so we immediately took the Taco to the car wash, only to find he doesn't have degreaser. So Shelly gave it a power wash, to my consternation, as I was afraid water might get in the air intake. But, the engine started, so I guess we're okay there. Not sure water is enough to get rid of the rat smell.

I'll report on how well it works. We get our money back if it doesn't (if we follow directions, which means using degreaser if we have to).

Also bought one of these



which I have more faith in. Right now it's in the cab of the truck, to see if we have any customers there. We may try it under the truck, though I'm afraid we'll attract rodents who wouldn't otherwise bother us. Then, there is the Jeep, the porch, and workshop. Plenty of good spots to try. I think this one may only work on rats, (the Rid-a-Rat claims to work on mice too) but the mint and Irish Spring do seem to keep our mice away.

Tom

[NevadaBlue]

I kept a tin pan of mothballs on the ground under the engine compartment of the truck and a small tin can (secured of course) of moth balls in the engine compartment. Packrats wouldn’t come near. That was at the old place, thankfully we don’t have the little monsters here.

[tony.latham]

Pigtail is ready for the dead of winter...



But am I?

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

...I'll report on how well it works.
Tom

Well, it was either the yellow flashing light (Rid-a-Rat), or the sudden drop in temperatures, or maybe just washing out the engine compartment, but no problems now with rats in the Taco.

Meanwhile, the Jeep seems to be rat/mouse free using the combination of a lump of used cat litter, a lump of Irish Spring, and a Victor mint scented thing.

We didn't catch any rats in the Taco with the electronic rat trap, so Shelly put it on our open porch. Hate to go after "free range rats" like that, but it is how one of the little buggers gets into its nest in our attic (we think). She caught one last night, so it's now a frozen dinner waiting for the crows to find it. She reset the trap, and we'll see if it catches more, or we hear any more running around in the attic.

Meantime, I'm pretty sure I saw a mouse out of the corner of my eye in the garage/shop as I changed the bandsaw blade Sunday afternoon, so it's time to put some snap traps out, along with the experimental pieces of Irish Spring.

Tom