Vermin

[EarthDemon]

I live in the country for the few months of the year that I'm not vanning, and I've enjoyed just walking locally for the last few months and getting supermarket deliveries, in other words van has been driven once a week at most. I have NOT enjoyed mice attacking my van the result of which has been a new diesel tank and major repairs on wiring. Three grand.

And after that little lot there was still mouse crap in various cubby holes and it ended up getting into the water tank so got to work out how to deal with that now.

I spose I'll have to leave traps out when I'm at home from now on. PIA.

Any thoughts?

 

[n brown]

those cheap pre-baited traps from 'proper job' and the range work well . i keep 3 or 4 in the van most of the time . if i could chat to them and come to an arangement ,i would , but as i can't , hard luck Mickey !

 

[alcam]

I live in the country for the few months of the year that I'm not vanning, and I've enjoyed just walking locally for the last few months and getting supermarket deliveries, in other words van has been driven once a week at most. I have NOT enjoyed mice attacking my van the result of which has been a new diesel tank and major repairs on wiring. Three grand.

And after that little lot there was still mouse crap in various cubby holes and it ended up getting into the water tank so got to work out how to deal with that now.

I spose I'll have to leave traps out when I'm at home from now on. PIA.

Any thoughts?

Is this covered by insurance ?

 

[Tezza33]

Is this covered by insurance ?

I very much doubt it

Also, to save you trawling through your insurance policy booklet it’s important to note that vermin is not covered under our policy and having been through policy booklets of our leading competitors, it seems to be general exclusion. So we thought it was a good idea to issue some advice here.

 

[jagmanx]

Is this covered by insurance ?

Mice do not take out insurance !
Sorry could not resist it.
I hope you get it all sorted

 

[EarthDemon]

Is this covered by insurance ?

Good question but I'm already claiming for £5K of damage for an almighty scrape early one morning. I should never drive before having had coffee...

 

[EarthDemon]

So no magic mouse-proofing tips then to keep the buggers out of the interior ???

My hippy sister says peppermint oil works wonders.

 

[motorwaycafe]

I live in the country for the few months of the year that I'm not vanning, and I've enjoyed just walking locally for the last few months and getting supermarket deliveries, in other words van has been driven once a week at most. I have NOT enjoyed mice attacking my van the result of which has been a new diesel tank and major repairs on wiring. Three grand.

And after that little lot there was still mouse crap in various cubby holes and it ended up getting into the water tank so got to work out how to deal with that now.

I spose I'll have to leave traps out when I'm at home from now on. PIA.

Any thoughts?

Yes, I live on the edge of a major forest and had the same problem in the winter -nibbled through rubber pipes etc. Cured by leaving some moth balls in strategic places. Not had bother for several years now -or moths!

 

[Millie Master]

If you are parking up for any time, it is best practicce not to park on anything other than hard ground and then spray all the tyres (both sides) with a strong solution of Jeyes Fluid as well as the suspension arms that are nearest to the ground.

Inside the van if you have electrics available I would use a high frequency sonic prevention device as well as setting up some traps.

We stored vans in our barns when living in France for 10 years and I used this method and we never had any rodent problems gaining any access to any of the caravans or motorhomes that we were storing.

 

[Deleted member 84699]

Trap them with proper mouse traps none of the humane nonsense.

 

[colinm]

We had a mouse in the inlet, cost over £1500 IIRC before it was worked out what was wrong, recovery to garage in France which got us temporarily going(covered by RAC), two trips to Fiat (un)Professional garage which achieved nothing but a bill, and finally trip to Leicester where Nick (sadly no longer trading) sorted it. Saga covered costs (less excess) for that not covered by RAC.
p.s. we now trap and bait on an industrial scale.

 

[harrow]

I live in the country for the few months of the year that I'm not vanning, and I've enjoyed just walking locally for the last few months and getting supermarket deliveries, in other words van has been driven once a week at most. I have NOT enjoyed mice attacking my van the result of which has been a new diesel tank and major repairs on wiring. Three grand.

And after that little lot there was still mouse crap in various cubby holes and it ended up getting into the water tank so got to work out how to deal with that now.

I spose I'll have to leave traps out when I'm at home from now on. PIA.
Any thoughts?

I have only caught a couple of mice in the garage at home this year but I keep the traps baited all the time and check every morning.
Rentokil traps are much easier and safer to handle than the cheap ones I have

 

[trevskoda]

Yes, Cured by leaving some moth balls

Did not know they had any.

 

[trevskoda]

Only one cure for mice, yard gaurd.

 

[cancunia]

I put an ultrasonic repeller under the bonnet of my van, I've found that once they're in they are hard to get out so the repeller won't actually get rid of them, it deters them. I also try to move my van every 2 days but can see how that's not a practical idea for long term storage.

 

[GeoffL]

So no magic mouse-proofing tips then to keep the buggers out of the interior ???

My hippy sister says peppermint oil works wonders.

Peppermint oil makes the interior smell minty fresh and possibly deters a fresh invasion provided you've removed every trace of the blighters first. They leave trails that others follow and so you might initially have one or two, but it then seems that every mouse in the locality eventually follows those trails to the inside of your van.

In my case, an initial couple turned into a weeks-long war of attrition that only ended after I physically blocked (with mesh or wire wool) every access point I could find and used a disinfectant solution to wash down everywhere between those points and where dropping were found, and also wash down the wheels and tyres. Peppermint oil did nothing to dissuade them until I'd taken those measures -- at which point it wasn't certain whether the peppermint oil was then acting as a deterrent or merely as an air freshener!

 

[trevskoda]

Leave a pair of my old socks in the van, scares the sh-t out of anything.

 

[Martin P]

Many traps . Peanut butter makes good bait

 

[Stu2]

Had some chewing of engine bay insulation last year and found something on u tube about spraying wd40 on it. No problem since but living in countryside they are probably in the house somewhere till warmer weather comes.

 

[izwozral]

Playing Cat Steven records might work?