Design Flaw - wiring/plastics/attract rodents!

[PenJoe]

Okay, you never told us if you had fried rabbit or rabbit stew. Sorry to hear of your problem, but it is age old.

Here is a tip from PETA.org on a natural brew that critters don't like:

"If the rats are in a place that cannot be “rodent-proofed,” such as a car engine, you can prepare a deterrent. Rats and other small animals cannot tolerate the scent or taste of pepper. Make a mixture of salad oil, horseradish, garlic, and plenty of cayenne pepper. Let this mixture sit for four days, strain it into a spray bottle, and spray it under the car’s hood. This is completely safe for engine interiors, and it won’t harm curious animals. Mothballs and peppermint oil–soaked cotton balls are also great rodent repellents and can be tucked into an engine to prevent rodents from chewing on electrical wires."

[Hoglou]

Call your auto insurance agent, you may be suprized to find rodent damage covered.....

[capav8r]

Interesting. We just took delivery of our new Prism/MB Sprinter on January 23rd. The following weekend, (January 30, last weekend) while exploring things in it, I decided to take a look under the passenger side tool/jack storage area. There was a huge mouse nest. I cleaned it up. Further looking around found another huge nest inside the drivers side door panel. I cleaned it up too. I looked around everywhere else I could and found no additional evidence. I did take many pictures of it and sent photos to the dealer to document that we had a mouse problem prior to taking delivery of our brand new motorhome, so if there are issues, I can hopefully make someone else pay for it. I did inspect all of the wiring that I could easily see in the areas where the nests were and did not see any evidence of chewing.

[jtesta1]

cockroaches love the glue in the pressed wood and paneling.

[PenJoe]

Originally Posted by jtesta1

cockroaches love the glue in the pressed wood and paneling.

They are death with boric acid or roach tablets.

[kenenn]

We had Red Squirrels that loved the covering on the 110 volt wires in the attic of the house, so , yes, rodents love an after dinner snack, the same as you and I.

[mnoland30]

My friend that lives in the country buts small cloth bags of mothballs near the wiring. Problem solved. I've heard it even deters bears.

[trbomax]

*Fried rabbit is exelent!I would set up a snare under the MH and wait for dinner!
Not to derail the op,but an interestig story here. 25 yrs or so we were in Kissammee (sp?) fla over christmas break with the kids. We had One of the old raceboats that I had put a civalized motor and 4 seats in.The motor in these is fully exposed.We were camped on the rim canal just outside town.An old guy that had a boat there told me"every morning before you run that boat check it out for snakes.the water mocasins will get in there under that warm motor for the night.They also will get in the tires that were padding the dock".I sorta dismissed it,but did casually look anyway(absolutly did not tell the wife or kids about it).Sure enough,about 5 days later there was a mocasin about 3' long,up in the oil coolers,under the motor.He wasnt going anywhere either!I walked around the camp and found a couple guys that were from the area,they had one of those sticks with a noose on the end and promptly ended the snakes snooze!Then they tell me that there is a big boy,about 4' long that has taken up residence under the mens washroom! We were scheduled to be out the next day,so we didnt use the washrooms,put the boat on the trailer and never went back there!

[silverback 35ts]

Very sorry for your issues, BUT this is not a new issue, being a service tech for over 25 yrs, i have seen mice/ birds and all other critters chew through all thing in a car/ boat and rv.
As for a fence unless it was a concrete fence that has footing a foot into the ground and the coach sits on concrete inside that fence it was a waste of time (sorry) as mice can get through a hole half the size of your pinky finger.
As for the dryer sheets most people have no luck with them, you need to get (EarthKind | Preserve The Good, Prevent The Rest) and peppermint oil and cotton swabs and even then no warranty
Good luck and Happy Camping

[fayliss]

$500 to replace the wiring harness on a Ford Expedition that the chip monks ate. One was caught and fried himself to it, my only justice! Uncut Peppermint oil will keep the mice away.

[Myrle]

Originally Posted by Ccasey

Its come to my attention that the soy based wire coatings this industry insists on using unnaturally attracts rodents. Ive read this, ive met with two RV service people and local Ford Service and was told this to my face. My newish 2014 Leprechaun would not accelerate. I limped into the Ford dealer -as it had only 7K miles i had no idea what it could be. Service showed me knawed wires to the speed controller
Thst cost me $270. RV is parked on hard gravel driveway along my house. Its open.
I followed advice, put dryer sheets everywhere. Bought a fence to put around RV. Blocked what i could off. This week i open the hood to put on battery trickle charger. Sitting on top of the battery is a rabbit. He has eaten the large red plastic cover over the positive battery terminal. He has chewed through yellow and gray wires inside a black plastic flexible protector tube that goes to a long metal tube. He has eaten about 2" more of the plastic protector tube off the wiring, and some of the wires. I see other area where they have bit.
So it is clear to me the materials used to manufacture the wire coatings, plastic, rubber lines and covers attract rodents. It is not natural for a rabbit to squeeze and climb up and through considerable machinery with close spaces to seek this unnnatural snack. Its not part of a natural rabbit diet. There is no salt or other material on this almost new Coachman RV. It is clearly the materials used in manufacture. What in the world can i do? This seems unfair to me as i paid so much for the new RV and only used it a few times There is no storage here available. These new repairs on top of the past repairs, new cost of fencing, reppelents etc. is really bothering me. Help.

Thank the EPA which requires wiring insulation to be biodegradable. Cost my niece almost a $1,000.00 to repair her car squirrels ate up wiring loom.

[kssportsman]

Got pack rats in the underbelly of my camper. Ate up the insulation on the electric wires, chewed through water lines and made a nest in the insulation. Took 2 months to get rid of the damn things. Repaired the wiring and they ate it up again. Repaired it all again and replaced the underbelly insulation with higher r factor. Peppermint essential oil, moth balls and electronic repeller in place now. Hopefully no issues this coming season

[mike.t]

Anyone ever tried to kill all these little varmints?

[Jack Larson]

I live in the sticks as well. I have a Master Game Gatherer big old orange cat. He gets mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, gophers, birds, lizards, and everything else he can get his teeth into. Loads of trophy's on the front porch. Usually eats everything but the head and one organ. Not sure what's up with the organ thing. My cat is very coyote wise as well. I've had some chickens recycled into nature by those guys. End up putting an electric fence around the chicken coop, and turn it on at night. Might work around an RV. Got to remember to turn it off, learned the hard way. Packs a pretty good zap for sure. DW laughed her tail off. I failed to see the humor in it. Only funny when its someone else. What the heck, if you can't laugh at yourself, nothings funny. Almost like golfing, now that's pretty funny even when I play.

[mchayes]

Use lots of Irish Spring soap chunks all around under belly and inside cavities, keeps rodents away