A Damn Mouse

[Cheechako]

......And any dog will get it rather fast. My dogs can smell a mouse as soon as I let them in the garage. They go nuts until I get them out or they find it! Once I found it living in the shop vac... they were entering from the hose. My dogs were going crazy rolling the shop vac around.....

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Eric,

This is second hand reporting, but the technique sounded good to me:

Put a small genset (Honda sort of thing) below decks. Open up lockers, etc to allow free circulation of air. Even turn on a few fans. Close all ventilation off (ports, hatches etc). Disembark wife, child, pets etc. Fill fuel tank on gen set, start it up and leave the boat closed up until it runs out of fuel a couple of hours later.

Return to boat, open up, ventilate thoroughly and search for dead creatures. My source for this technique said that the rodents usually (!) came out of their hidey holes before succumbing to the CO.

Haven't done this myself, but can believe that it would work.

Good luck and cheers,

Jim

[rebel heart]

Had dinner with the bumfuzzles and Pat relayed a story about a boat near them from a ways back. Rat swam to the boat, went into the exhaust, chewed a hole in the exhaust hose, and used it as the point of entry / exit.

How something can chew a hole in a hose from the inside amazes me.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

G'Day Eric,

This is second hand reporting, but the technique sounded good to me:

Put a small genset (Honda sort of thing) below decks. Open up lockers, etc to allow free circulation of air. Even turn on a few fans. Close all ventilation off (ports, hatches etc). Disembark wife, child, pets etc. Fill fuel tank on gen set, start it up and leave the boat closed up until it runs out of fuel a couple of hours later.

Return to boat, open up, ventilate thoroughly and search for dead creatures. My source for this technique said that the rodents usually (!) came out of their hidey holes before succumbing to the CO.

Haven't done this myself, but can believe that it would work.

Good luck and cheers,

Jim

Ugh, the whole boat would smell like exhaust. I think I'd rather flood up the floor boards with fresh water and then go through every inch.

[Kenomac]

When we used mortar and concrete to fill in the rat burrows leading into our cellar, I had to mix crushed glass with the mortar to prevent the rats from digging and chewing back through. It didn't stop them fron trying, but they only dug an inch before moving on. Wood barriers don't even slow them down.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

What type of rat is that Del?

A rat catcher. Thee Chinese crested, Mr. Willy.

[capngeo]

Just poison the damn things and be done

[minaret]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Had dinner with the bumfuzzles and Pat relayed a story about a boat near them from a ways back. Rat swam to the boat, went into the exhaust, chewed a hole in the exhaust hose, and used it as the point of entry / exit.

How something can chew a hole in a hose from the inside amazes me.

We do an almost universal retrofit for Seattle Yacht Club members. They mostly have very large powerboats, located on Portage Bay in fresh water, near the Arboretum. There has always been a big problem there, due to the nearby swamp, of musk rats building burrows in the exhaust hose of these large powerboats. I know at least one sank as a result. We install a stainless steel cage over the exhaust system. Some of them are big enough for me to crawl into, I can see where a big musk rat might think it a perfect pre made burrow. I'm sure the same thing is possible on a smaller scale.

[DeepFrz]

Jack Russel Terriers are also good raters.

[Roy M]

We had a boat sink at our docks several years back. Rats had entered through a portlight, left open for ventilation. Finding little to eat, they commenced on the engine seawater intake hose, gnawed through it until it got too salty for their tastes, and departed when the boat took on too much water. This is no joke.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Roy M

We had a boat sink at our docks several years back. Rats had entered through a portlight, left open for ventilation. Finding little to eat, they commenced on the engine seawater intake hose, gnawed through it until it got too salty for their tastes, and departed when the boat took on too much water. This is no joke.

This should be posted in this thread as well
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1115121

[delmarrey]

Some people have all the luck..........

Caller : Hi, our printer is not working.
Customer Service: What is wrong with it?
Caller : Mouse is jammed.
Customer Service: Mouse? ... Printers don't have a mouse!!!
Caller: Mmmmm??.. Oh really? ... I will send a picture.


.

[rebel heart]

Tonight, hopefully, will be day four of no noises or traces of mr jerkface rat.

[rebel heart]

son of a bitch is still here

tried chewing through some tupperware. i put a trap out along that area, and now am putting poison in the boat as well. bromadine or whatever it is. i think i'd rather deal with a rotting rat carcass than a week or two's worth of damage from a rat. and it's not like the thing isn't crapping and pissing all over the place.

what a horrible creature.

[Seaworthy Lass]

I wouldn't count on there being just one!