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Rat problems in boat storage?


corpusmalibuguy

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This is kind of a random topic, but I recently rented a boat storage for my Vride to keep it out of the weather and was curious if anyone who keeps their boat in this type of storage had ever had any problems with rats chewing on your wires or hoses or anything like that. It is a garage type enclosure with a roll up door that you can lock down, pretty much like any regular storage shed. I know I sound paranoid, but I have heard of it happening to vehicles that have been stored for long periods of time. Anyone?

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A little of topic, but just recently heard flea and tick collars work to keep spiders and other bugs out. Mostly for the RV'ers. You can put them in the frig/water heater exterior access.

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About three times a summer we get two or three of those pest bombs, the ones in the can you pop the top on and run like Hell., and set them off in the storage as we leave for the houseboat friday eve. Seems to keep all the critters and bugs away.

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If I left our boat where I thought there was even a chance of bugs getting in and making a home I would bomb it every month or so. This summer when my dad took the boat down to Shasta to help out at our churchs high school camp there was a flee infestation on one of the HB. The people who were on that HB had their sleeping bags and other stuff infested also and when it came time to leave they loaded up our boat with their stuff Mad.gif Our boat came home with flees Vomit.gif Not a whole bunch of them but you could see them on the cover and other places. The first thing my dad did when he got home was open up all the hatches, flip the seats up and then drop two bug bombs inside the cover....the next day all our boat needed was a good cleaning. :)

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I had a rat get in my detached garage and nest in my boat one October. chewed the corner off both sides of the back seat and chewed through my heater hose. We took the boat to the lake, not noticing the back seat because the chewed areas were hidden. idled out and I noticed that the temp was not comming up like it should. Lifted up the engine cover and noticed the water level was getting deep and had a bunch of chewed up seat foam in it. Shut down the engine and started looking around, noticed the back seat was chewed. We pulled the seat out, and there was a nest of about 7 baby rats. We put on a pair of ski gloves and threw about 4 out and the others scrambled.

That boat was in perfect condition until that point, and I about cried.

I didn't want to use poison because I have a dog. didn't want traps in the garage because I have young kids. I finally put traps in the boat where kids couldn't get to. I then put traps in the rafters of the garage. In the next week, I caught 5 rats.

Lesson: I always have rat traps in the rafters now, and when the boat is parked for more than a couple weeks, I put a trap in the boat where kids cant reach it.

BTW: there were two things that caught rats when other baits failed.

1. A piece of Beef Stick.

2. a piece of Snickers bar.

I sold the boat the next spring and had already talked to Merced and got the info for the new skins. The new owners re-skinned the back seat.

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The boat has only been there for a couple of weeks, so I don't think I should worry just yet, but I am definitely going to get some poison to put in there. Is it safe to say that it should only be a real problem if it is left untouched for more than a couple of weeks? Or could they nest in there and start multiplying in that short of a time period? I am just afraid I am going to store it after a day on the lake, and two weeks later I am going to take it out and run it and all of the sudden rats are going to scurry around while I am on the lake...or even worse they chew into my seats and hoses. I guess I will just poison the you know what out of that storage shed. Good thing I am not an animal lover...well, at least not mice and rats.

mrothwell- How long was your boat laid up in storage untouched when you had your problem?

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The boat has only been there for a couple of weeks, so I don't think I should worry just yet, but I am definitely going to get some poison to put in there. Is it safe to say that it should only be a real problem if it is left untouched for more than a couple of weeks? Or could they nest in there and start multiplying in that short of a time period? I am just afraid I am going to store it after a day on the lake, and two weeks later I am going to take it out and run it and all of the sudden rats are going to scurry around while I am on the lake...or even worse they chew into my seats and hoses. I guess I will just poison the you know what out of that storage shed. Good thing I am not an animal lover...well, at least not mice and rats.

mrothwell- How long was your boat laid up in storage untouched when you had your problem?

about 3 weeks.

It was late fall, and due to weather and my schedule, I had not been out. It didn't take long. I still get a queezy stomache every time I think of my beautiful boat with rats in it.

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The trouble i see with poison is that the rats do not know it is poison, they think it is food and are attracted to the area because of the food. You may kill the rats but you may also attract more than would normally be found in that area.

did you know that Alberta is a rat free province. we have a government rat patrol department that is responsible to maintain that status.

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The trouble i see with poison is that the rats do not know it is poison, they think it is food and are attracted to the area because of the food. You may kill the rats but you may also attract more than would normally be found in that area.

did you know that Alberta is a rat free province. we have a government rat patrol department that is responsible to maintain that status.

we have a government rat patrol in the states, too.

i think they have a different mandate.

i'll check with W (he's the leader of the pack) and get back to you.

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Well, I bought a whole bunch of rat poison boxes and sticky tape things. I think I will try the sticky tape things first. I don't want to attract any rodents but I also don't want them in my beautiful boat. I might throw a little poison down too. I am just worried that they will eat the poison and then go die inside my boat and well that would just be gross. We will see what happens.

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Well, I bought a whole bunch of rat poison boxes and sticky tape things. I think I will try the sticky tape things first. I don't want to attract any rodents but I also don't want them in my beautiful boat. I might throw a little poison down too. I am just worried that they will eat the poison and then go die inside my boat and well that would just be gross. We will see what happens.

....worse yet, a rat could eat the poison put out by your neighbor, scamper into your yard, die and then get eaten by your Labrador Retrever named Chet that you've had since you were in high school (14 years) then the dog comes inside to die on the hottest day of the year and you come home from work to find him.... Long shot, but it could happen...

(I cried like a 3 year old for a while after that...)

Rat poison is bad!

RIP Chet!

Love, Daddy! Cry.gif

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Speaking of rats..

Did any catch this story on the news the other night.

A guy was trying to get rid of a rat. He chased the rat into a leaf/wood pile and couln't get. So he set the pile on fire, figuring the rat would die.

Only the rat, catches on fire, runs out of the pile and straight into the guys house........... I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

They said the whole house burned down. I'll try and see if there is an AP story or something to post. We busted up laughing when we heard it. Idiot!

Pat, that's a horrible way to lose a Lab. I hope you found the guy that did that........

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Speaking of rats..

Did any catch this story on the news the other night.

A guy was trying to get rid of a rat. He chased the rat into a leaf/wood pile and couln't get. So he set the pile on fire, figuring the rat would die.

Only the rat, catches on fire, runs out of the pile and straight into the guys house........... I'm sure you can guess what happened next.

They said the whole house burned down. I'll try and see if there is an AP story or something to post. We busted up laughing when we heard it. Idiot!

Pat, that's a horrible way to lose a Lab. I hope you found the guy that did that........

There was some inconsistancies in the guys story - sounds like it was an arsen job.

Pat - that's the reason I didn't put poison my garage - I'd have a real had time explaining to my 8yo little girl, who was a baby when the family dog was a new puppy, what happened to her dog.

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Pirates II coming this summer........... Can't wait!

Sweet. I had heard that they were going to make a 2nd but didn't know it was that soon to come out.

Another great exchange...

"You cheated"

"Pirate!"

:lol:

And..."If you were waiting for the opportune moment...that was it!" :lol:

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