AAARrrrrrrRRRRRgggggGGGGG!!!!! (1 Viewer)

[Barclaybasher]

Many years ago my wife and I took a small yacht through the French canals. We were tied up in Paris when we were joined by an uninvited 'guest' - Mr Mouse.
So many places to hide on a boat, scratching noises at night, even chewed a packet of curry powder !
I kept a shopping bag hanging up to keep our baguettes in. A couple of days after he arrived I emptied the crumbs over the side - out fell Mr Mouse..
... I felt really sorry for him as instead of swimming for the bank he started to swim right across the Seine..... I hope he made it

Maybe Mr Rat got into your van on your travels and fell out on the way home..............

 

[yodeli]

Well in fact I think this one got on board when I arrived home . No drops like these ones before! And I think the engine was all warm so cosy for the night after 300 kms run! Also it was raining when I got home. But yesterday afternoon it was really hot in the van ... May be he went for a dip in the river next to my house and found a snake on its way lol .... Life can be sooooo hard!

 

[teddybard]

)Paid a visit this morning to Max to have a look under the bonnet and of course had to go next to the dashboard to unlock the bonnet and ...... this is where the Arrrrrggggg starts! This is what I found on the dash board and even on the steering wheel!

Any idea? The biggest one measures 1,5 cms

Nothing to do with the little tiny stuff hard and black I found on my table when at Parc Verger! Nooo these ones are browny and soft ... all fresh!

I would think of a rat now, but then nothing has been eaten from what I can see. I can't know about the wires going from the cabin to the bonnet as there are too many but I didn't see any coloured crumbles coming from the plastic bit around the wires!

I have cleaned up all and have spread flour all over the place to see WHO dared!
And this evening I will buy the whole stuff to kill whatever tries to share Max with me !

Edit : Sorry the pic is not very good but my camera (as the rest of my things lately) ...is having a tantrum and decided that all pics will be like this one

I noticed the post was in Blue and White is it a Man City Supporter?
Nutella/ Peanut Butter is usually a good bait for these things (or FB Pies) for the larger ones.
I'm sure having read your post he'll ride to the rescue(Nest Pa)??

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[Kool Kroozer]

I bought one of these from Amazon, even though its designed for Rats it does Mice too Had great success with it clearing out mice from our garden shed, you can also get smaller version that operates on batteries and that had a better success rate than this one

 

[ukbill]

bloody murderer

 

[JJ]

I wouldn't even notice any little poo deposits left by Mr Rat in my van.

JJ

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[JJ]

Blue and White

Blue ?


JJ

 

[MikeD]

bloody murderer

Nothing is wasted Bill

• 
  How to cook rats?
  
  Rats Recipe:
  
  Ingredients
  
  • 
    Fresh rats
    Fresh herbs
    Cooking oil
    Chilli peppers
    Butter
    Peanuts
  Preparation:
  
  
  
• Blow the rat skin with a blowtorch.
• Leave rats to cool down.
• When they are cool enough, clean the rest of the skin with a steel wool.
• Eviscerate the rats and split them.
• Put all the good rat parts in a jar, with the fresh peppers, herbs and oil.
• Leave this for half an hour in the fridge.
• Deep-fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil.
• Serve hot with some crunchy peanuts.
  More Rats Recipes
  
  Bordeaux Grilled Rats
  Skin and eviscerate rats that live in wine cellars. Brush with a thick sauce that combines olive oil and crushed shallots. Grill over a fire of broken wine barrels.
  
  Stewed Cane Rat
  Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato puree, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.
  
  Creamed Mice Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Dice a piece of salt pork or sowbelly and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sauteed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.
  
  From Canadian naturalist and conservationist Farley Mowatt:
  Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about five minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6-8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the mice to it and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.
  

 

[cruiser]

a new one for the barbi

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[yodeli]

Back to the beginning!

Flour worked! This morning I could know for sure it is a rat!
Ok everything out of the way (don't I adore to rush and do these sorts of things in the morning.... another arrrgggg!!!!)

Nothing was touched though, not even a little bit of peanut butter...I'm very puzzled

I found drops in cupboards, the lower ones and in the wardrobe, only on the floor . Found the way the rat used to get in those places, but I can't understand how it got there from the engine. It might have come from the roof where the aerial is, as there is a gap ..??? Anyway obviously trying to be warm , next to the boiler. I then though, what if I switch the boiler on and on maximum heat ??? Could the rat (or/and) his babies if any get burnt, or too hot to stay in?

I have now put the trap in the cupboard with poison at the bottom and wait for a specialist to call me back!
No way for me to wait till the bl***y thing has eaten all in Max!

I feel already depressed thinking of all the possible damages

 

[Ivory55]

In our last house we had a rat get in through a broken air brick that vented under the floor and the pest controler said you would not believe how small a hole rats can get in through. Could be where a cable passes through the body of the van ? Hope you catch it soon.

 

[jhorsf]

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[spitfire]

Fingers crossed for you to catch that intruder !! After all the problem to get your plates we can' have it devoured by a rodent !!!

Lovely to meet you at last ))

 

[yodeli]

Found even more drops this morning and heard the little B*****D right by the boiler!

I usually try to be "human" but now I get really upset and think about the glue stuff! I hate the though that Mister Rat might have a long agony .... but it's either his agony or my purse's agony and Max's one .
I have asked a specialist (they only do professional not private but he said he would do it) and it costs 265 euros for traps and result outside and inside the motorhome. The man said van must not change place, and he and his team come back to take the traps back 2 weeks later. I will ask another specialist today . But I'm supposed to take the van to the garage to fix the relay for the glow plug to be able to warm the diesel up. The specialist said , take it first to the garage and we'll see after ....! What if the rat goes on eating wires or starts destroying furniture? What would you do? I thought I should sort it out first, but undecided as it could be a way to get rid of the rat's mates just the same, if the motorhome is away they can't join in, can they!?
I thought I could try to find where the rat tries to nest, if it is a female , this could explain why she doesn't touch the food at all, she only wants to nest. I can take the top of the cupboard off (I've done it already when looking for a leak) and have a good look. I'm nearly sure it is between the wardrobe which is at the bottom of the van, and the boiler which is just before.

Any advice will be welcome!

Frankie

 

[Terry]

Hi Frankie no idea if this works good but we used to use a similar set up when I was young,but used glass bottles ,rats/mice drop into bottle then cannot get out -I also made traps with chicken wire but that would take a long time to explain

terry

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[yodeli]

I have made up one Terry , which has been in Max for 3 days now and the rat didn't even touch the very safe bits of peanut butter I have put on the way to the edge of the bucket! They are very well know for being clever , but this one is top clever! It had to be for me!

 

[DiddyDoddy]

get a cat

 

[yodeli]

get a cat

I can't ! I am a child minder and it is not allowed unless all sorts of rules ! Otherwise I would have done right away

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[Jaws]

Just BORROW a cat then .. and leave in locked in Max so it is nice and hungry !! LOL !!!

 

[dabhand]

Nothing is wasted Bill

• 
  How to cook rats?
  
  Rats Recipe:
  
  Ingredients
  • 
    Fresh rats
    Fresh herbs
    Cooking oil
    Chilli peppers
    Butter
    Peanuts
  Preparation:
  
  
  
• Blow the rat skin with a blowtorch.
• Leave rats to cool down.
• When they are cool enough, clean the rest of the skin with a steel wool.
• Eviscerate the rats and split them.
• Put all the good rat parts in a jar, with the fresh peppers, herbs and oil.
• Leave this for half an hour in the fridge.
• Deep-fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil.
• Serve hot with some crunchy peanuts.
  More Rats Recipes
  
  Bordeaux Grilled Rats
  Skin and eviscerate rats that live in wine cellars. Brush with a thick sauce that combines olive oil and crushed shallots. Grill over a fire of broken wine barrels.
  
  Stewed Cane Rat
  Skin and eviscerate the rat and split it lengthwise. Fry until brown in a mixture of butter and peanut oil. Cover with water, add tomatoes or tomato puree, hot red peppers, and salt. Simmer the rat until tender and serve with rice.
  
  Creamed Mice Skin, gut and wash some fat mice without removing their heads. Cover them in a pot with ethyl alcohol and marinate 2 hours. Dice a piece of salt pork or sowbelly and cook it slowly to extract the fat. Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6 to 8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the sauteed mice to it, and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.
  
  From Canadian naturalist and conservationist Farley Mowatt:
  Drain the mice, dredge them thoroughly in a mixture of flour, pepper and salt, and fry slowly in the rendered fat for about five minutes. Add a cup of alcohol and 6-8 cloves, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Prepare a cream sauce, transfer the mice to it and warm them in it for about 10 minutes before serving.

Don't forget to bin the liver I think it's poisonous!

 

[dabhand]

Concur with all the bucket trap suggestions, brilliant devices take about ten minutes to make, I also live in the country and keep the van in a barn, would regularly get mice in the traps (used to keep 12 of the old fashioned wooden ones in the van) since I put two bucket traps by the wheels with two little walkways up to the bucket with little smears of peanut butter on them and a great big dollop smeared all around the can, have never had another mouse in the van, (famous last words) mind you I've never caught a rat either, and I'm pretty sure the spraint is not squirrel it tends to be a bit bigger and not so round and you would normally have a big hole somewhere. The other thing is to check regularly, if they are anything like the mice it is very rare I catch just one they are nearly ALWAYS in pairs in my experience.

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[yodeli]

I regularly catch mice without any harm when any in my garage. But indeed this one seems to be a " rat surmulot" we call it . Saw its prints clearly in the flour + tail, and its drops fit the description made of them on the net. I have a river by the house and the problem seems to be more important than what I thought as drops were found around the house!!! Now I have involved the Mairie, the river being THEIR problem to clean and keep clear of any nuisance especially next to a stadium. Waiting for them to come and help! May be if the area is cleared, the one in my van might get caught when out for food and water.
Will carry on anyway checking and trying to get rid of it ! The only comforting thing is they are said to be very bad climbers and stay downstairs. My bed might escape the problem......

There are 3 or 4 wild cats roaming around the house ...if only they could get it. I don't know anyone with a domestic cat. Don't know a lot of people here anyway ....

 

[ponyboy]

Frankie, sorry to hear about your problem. Definitely a borrowed cat to solve the problem , a mon avis.
Ponyboy

 

[hilldweller]

Found even more drops this morning

Frankie

They don't like fire. Pour 5l of petrol in van and throw a match in from a distance. They will trouble you no more.

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[yodeli]

They don't like fire. Pour 5l of petrol in van and throw a match in from a distance. They will trouble you no more.

You cheeky monkey !!!

 

[Sixbows]

Hi,
If you are in France and think it could be Loir then they won't be looking for food but nesting material. We have started to notice their annual collecting of fibreglass insulation here in Burgundy. To be safe I would remove any bedding, towels, loo roll etc from your motorhome. Also try the blue toilet blocks, they seem to work for us but don't smell great, better than a rotting rodent though.
Good luck
Sally

 

[yodeli]

Frankie, sorry to hear about your problem. Definitely a borrowed cat to solve the problem , a mon avis.
Ponyboy

A specialist will call in tomorrow , result guarantied in 2 days ... Rat will dry out and no stinking smell in case of death inside the van! Price : between 100 and 120 according to the numbers of trapping points (poisoned traps) Now crossing my fingers .... but feeling a bit of relief!

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[DBK]

Rats are very clever things. They will often ignore anything strange, including food.

It is now a battle of wits but I think it saw you getting the herbs and spices out. The sight of a bain marie should chase it away!

 

[Sixbows]

Good luck, hopefully he can point out where it came in so that you can prevent it happening again.

 

[Carol]

Hope it gets sorted out with your men tomorrow, enough to think about for you without rats.

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