Unwanted Visitor

[Damiana]

In Xtapa Mexico in the middle of the night I heard rustling in the garbage and woke up from a dream thinking it was an agitator (this marina has a 12 foot agitator swimming around the boats). I pulled the bag of garbage up an out jumped a rat that quickly disappeared into the bilge. Every night for the next month I tried to kill the rat with every conceivable trap.

For three nights I left a steel spring trap unstrung with peanut butter as bait. This gets him used to eating the peanut butter with out fear. Then I set the spring on the trap but he would not touch. He knew that it was going to kill him. This guy was smart.

I tried floating a small cup of peanut butter in bucket of water thinking he would fall in and drown. In the morning the peanut butter was gone but no rat. I still can’t figure out how he got the peanut butter without help.

I got a long plastic drain pipe, capped on one end and suspended it on a string so that when he walked down the pipe to get the bait it would tilt up and trap him. My mistake was to put a bell on the pipe. In the middle of the night we heard the bell but it also warned him of danger and he ran up the pipe before it was vertical.

I finally got cyanide poison from a Mexican hardware store. I put it on a Ritz cracker. It took him a few nights to eat the cracker but it did the trick. I knew he was dead but where? I was lucky to find him a few days later before he stunk up my boat.

Rodent’s teeth grow constantly and they need to chew to keep their teeth from getting too long. They will destroy a boat in no time. Keep him feed with peanut butter and kill him ASAP.

Jeff

[gbendaly]

now I am begining to sense that there is more than one culprit!!
I have sealed all possible accesses to the cabin and placed cheese
in the middle of large newspapers that I smeared with glue
I am told that the mouse/ rat will get entangled and stuck while trying to reach for the bait and eventually dies from exhaution
remains to be seen ..
I ll be back on the boat this week end and advise
thanks to all the information
G

[beachgirl1952]

I have this friend here on his small catamaran ...
of course he had a rat, otherwise I wouldn't post here ...
he caught the rat in some sort of cage, put the cage in his dinghy and wanted to row ashore to set the rat free ...
yes, how silly can one be ...

after he left his boat, while rowing, the cage accidently opened, the rat jumped out of the dink and .............

swam back, right away to the catamaran ...

the next day when the rat was caught again, the friend killed him (don't know how ) ...

[gbendaly]

Hey I don't mind killing a rat
even if it does not invade my boat
G

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by gbendaly

now I am begining to sense that there is more than one culprit!!
I have sealed all possible accesses to the cabin and placed cheese
in the middle of large newspapers that I smeared with glue
I am told that the mouse/ rat will get entangled and stuck while trying to reach for the bait and eventually dies from exhaution
remains to be seen ..
I ll be back on the boat this week end and advise
thanks to all the information
G

- - Glue really stinks/smells and the rat will avoid it. Use traps first and poison second. But kill it quickly.
- - Probably the only good part of having a rat , is that very quickly they will start to build a nest somewhere. In the process the rat will collect all the "lost in the bilge" items and put them in the nest. It is amazing what stuff I found that had been lost for years. The downside is that the rat will start to eat/chew anything they think can be used as nest material like foam insulation and refrigerator insulation and rubber shock mounts, etc.
- - Don't wait - KILL IT!

[Kefaa]

In our house, we found they liked the motor on the furnace. The humming does something for them. So, when they were poisoned, guess where they died?

Rule #1 - Bury the dead. Only poison them if you can find them. Consider a 120 degree boat with a rat dead inside "somewhere". A couple of months and the smell will go away but those are two bad months.

Rule #2 - Think party. Not everyone likes crab dip. If one bait does not work - try another. Peanut butter, cheese, soy oil, an exterminator used pulled apart cotten balls (worked for some reason). Rats are quick learners (Everytime I smell peanut butter someone dies - best keep away from that smell).

Rule #3 - Put up the "No Vacancy" sign. If they got in once, they will come back. You need to find where they came in/on and block them. If not, at least make it easier to go to your neighbor's. (Consider your neighbor is doing the same).



A couple of other hints:

• If the rodent is on the boat still, a cheap option to drive them out is Bug foggers. Close up the boat, except for one exit point and put in two house size bug foggers. This will usually drive them out (it is unlikely to kill them unless they walk right up to it.). However, it is temporary and some don't seem to mind it that much. (Added advantage of killing any bugs on board)
• Theory: Most poisons drive the rodent out in search of water - where they die outside. In practice, they appear to have the ability to read a West Marine or Home Depot catalog so they can find the most expensive items to chew through instead. ("Look! Kevlar - those will quench our thirst...)
• Poisons have a long shelf life and should not be placed on directly on a surface you use for food or where children may contact the surface afterward. A piece of wax paper under is probably best and put it in the corner or under the table. They want to be seen as much as we want to see them.

[gbendaly]

Originally Posted by osirissail

- - Glue really stinks/smells and the rat will avoid it. Use traps first and poison second. But kill it quickly.
- - Probably the only good part of having a rat , is that very quickly they will start to build a nest somewhere. In the process the rat will collect all the "lost in the bilge" items and put them in the nest. It is amazing what stuff I found that had been lost for years. The downside is that the rat will start to eat/chew anything they think can be used as nest material like foam insulation and refrigerator insulation and rubber shock mounts, etc.
- - Don't wait - KILL IT!

beleive me osirissail , I ll do my best especially after what I have seen
the f... thing chewed some electrical wires and cut through the brass wiring can you belleive it, not to mention the sound proof insulation of the engine compartment... this week end I will check if its caught in the glue (which by the way has no odor ) if not I'll put some traps as you suggested
thanks again for all the input I received
Georges

[04 Marine]

Most of our boats even above deck are fairly water tight. In which case they should be reasonably rodent prohibitive. When we leave portlights and hatches open even those with soft screens we throw out the welcome mat to these unwanted visitors. I suspect ventilators are the most welcome entry point. In the ventilator through the water block maze a quick chew through the insect screen and home. With our last boat I looked at every point on entry and ventilators were the culprit. I did not want to close them as I wanted the air moving in the boat.

I made SS plates to fit inside the ventilator tube at the point of entry into the cabin. Drilled lots of .25 holes and then put 4 set screws 90 degrees apart to hold it snug against the innner surface of the tube, no more rodents.

[TikiCat]

My wife taught me this, having had to get rid of mice in her Mom's home in South Boston. Wearing gloves keeps your human scent off the trap or poison, and the mice are less suspicious. Seems to make a big difference.

[gbendaly]

Originally Posted by TikiCat

My wife taught me this, having had to get rid of mice in her Mom's home in South Boston. Wearing gloves keeps your human scent off the trap or poison, and the mice are less suspicious. Seems to make a big difference.

Now you tell me !!!!!!!!!
I went to the boat this week end only to find more damage
chewed up wires, towels,flaps ,biscuits ( that I left intentionally to keep the damm thing fed and away from valuables) even the soap on the sink !!
the poison seemed to have no effect on it , neither the glued paper with the cheese in the middle .. although a sign of struggle... but with the heat inside the boat the glue melted right through the paper and stuck on everything underneath.Yak !!. so I decided to follow the advice of some of the fellows in CF and buy me the traditional spring trap... unfortunately I did place the bait ( a small rotten fish) with my bare hands...so... I guess I wont be catching anything just yet ..
I will be on the boat again on wednesday and see if I am lucky
for the time being , I am keeping all the thru-hull valves shut and praying it doesn't chew some of the wiring in the engine compartment.

[osirissail]

Aha! you are not living on the boat - that makes a difference - you might try KeFaa's suggestion to use bug foggers. Two benefits, one, maybe do in the rat and the other, kill all the insects, ants, roaches, etc. that always manage to get into a boat. Use double or triple the recommended number of foggers to ensure that it penetrates into the recesses of the boat.

[Tom Hildebrandt]

We had a rat onboard our last boat, fortunately for me, I was away and my wife had to deal with the problem, her first attempts with a broom did not work, so she enlisted the help of one of the fellow liveaboards, a macho navy diver, he got chased off the boat as well, finallly the problem was solved by a young 11 year old boy who skewered the rat with his spear gun. But the rat had a good time with the electrical wire over the weekend!

[gbendaly]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Aha! you are not living on the boat - that makes a difference - you might try KeFaa's suggestion to use bug foggers. Two benefits, one, maybe do in the rat and the other, kill all the insects, ants, roaches, etc. that always manage to get into a boat. Use double or triple the recommended number of foggers to ensure that it penetrates into the recesses of the boat.

no such thing as bug foggers here in lebanon
there are though mosquito repellents , a green coil intended to be lit at one end then put out and left to smoke... will it help ??

[gbendaly]

Originally Posted by Tom Hildebrandt

We had a rat onboard our last boat, fortunately for me, I was away and my wife had to deal with the problem, her first attempts with a broom did not work, so she enlisted the help of one of the fellow liveaboards, a macho navy diver, he got chased off the boat as well, finallly the problem was solved by a young 11 year old boy who skewered the rat with his spear gun. But the rat had a good time with the electrical wire over the weekend!

beleive me Tom if I can see the damn thing I will gladly skewer it with my speargun... unfortunately all I managed to see from him so far are his droppings !

[Tom Hildebrandt]

As I understand the story from my wife, the kid managed to get the critter trapped in one large locker, from then on it was easy, but I have no idea how they coaxed the thing into the one locker! I feel for you mate, but look at it this way, you probably need to rewire anyway! And rats are a delicacy in some parts of the world, so you can have a nice Barby when you solve the problem!