The lights are there for a reason and that is to keep mice and packrats away. The lights dissuade the critters form climbing up your tires and into your camping vehicle or truck engine compartment.
Most wiring these days comes from China and gone are the days when the outer sheathe of the wire was rubber. The Chines use plastic which has a large Soybean base content in the material which rats and mice love to eat.
On our very first camping trip we camped just outside Bryce Canyon. When we turned in and all was quiet, within 10 minutes the mice were in the trailer and ate through all the boxes and bags of food within minutes. In that short time there was mouse crap on our table. They had a field day because Travel Trailers are full of holes which mice and Pack Rats see as a welcome sign. So I got up and fortunately had some glue strips so I laid them out and went back to lay in the bed. In 5 minutes I had 3 mice. I threw the strip outside and intended to take care of it in the morning and laid out more strips. In another 5 minutes I had 2 more mice. In the morning the strips and the mice were gone. I suspect some other interloper had a nice meal of mice.
Fast forward. We went to Kartchner Caverns and saw many TT and Trucks with light strips around their trailers, around their Trucks, and inside of the engine compartment. Well by that time I was just as curious as you. So I asked the camp host what gives with all the lights. He said the area around Kartchner Caverns is inundated with Pack Rats and the lights prevent the rodents from crossing the perimeter that the lights provide and getting into your vehicles.
Now mind you if these pests eat the insulation off your car computer or the wiring in the camper what ever it is, this can have some devastating effects.
It can be so detrimental to your car or truck so as to mess up the engine timing and blow your engine. I know people personally that had to pay $10,000 to have engine replaced. The computers that run your vehicles ignition and timing of the engine and the computers themselves can be damaged costing you thousands.
So in closing try to be a little more tolerant to this type of lightning as it can save people from having to tow their cars or trucks to a shop which might be hundreds or thousands of miles from their home to have the repairs done and you know they will have you by the short hairs.
The first thing you can do is to make your trailer or RV rodent proof by meticulously examining the entire bottom side of your camping vehicle and making absolutely certain there are no holes leading to the underbody of your camper. Even a hole as small as a penny will allow mice in AND THE WILL GET IN. They say any hole a mouse can get his nose in will pass his or her body.
These animals are relentless in their foraging for food and you are the Roach Coach that brings them what they want.
Most Travel trailers have what I call "Plastic Cardboard" on the bottom and it is not worth the powder it would take to blow it to hell. This stuff is pure crap and along the edges it is FULL OF GAPS THAT THE RODENTS WILL PASS THROUGH.
Before I replaced my entire bottom with 1/16 aluminum sheet and sealed up all the cracks and crevices we had another experience with Pack Rats near Lone Pine. We went to bed and within minutes the pack rats were in our ceiling. The plastic Crap is a joke and the manufactures are laughing all the way to the bank. The Pack Rats were so bad that we had to leave two days early.
Travel trailers are meant to be parked in your driveway and look pretty.
My wife and I have a saying and it is this.
"If you ain't working on your trailer you ain't camping".
Every trip brings experience and when you get home you have to make improvements. It is the law of the jungle.
If you think your trailer or camper of any sort is safe just look under your sinks and see the huge gaping hole that the pipes pass through. You could shove your fist through those holes and that my friend is where the rats come through. They come in through the cracks on the bottom though the holes in the floor where the pipes and wires come up through. You need to THROUGHLY RAT PROOF YOUR CAMPERS WHAT EVER THEY ARE if you expect to go into their domain then be prepaired to do battle with the rats and mice. If these rats die in your roof you will have a smell that will cost you thousands to get rid of and usually means reducing the roof to the bare rafters and then restart the restoration.
Another word of warning. If you leave any bits of food out or a trash can YOU WILL GET SKUNKS OR RACOONS UNDER YOUR TRAILER AT NIGHT.
We once inadvertently spilled some un-popped kernels of popcorn on the ground and guess what? Skunks were under our trailer that evening. If you open your door at night do not go out until you are sure there are no critters under the trailer or YOU WILL GET SPRAYED. We know a person that this happened to. Do not under any circumstance leave your trailer door open even during the day as a skink will come in. This happened to some friends or ours. That applies to your tow vehicle as well.
Do not leave any trash cans out that do not have secure lids on them. We had skunks knock ours over and they licked the paper plates clean.
Other than that get some lights and let others complain about it. YOU WILL GET RATS OR MICE SOONER OR LATER UNLESS YOU ARE PROACTIVE IN STOPPING THEM FROM GETTING IN.
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