Well that was a shock

[tree monkey]

Not long got back to the boat, notice indications of mouse activity in the cratch, so set up a couple of traps and got on with lighting the fire making a brew etc.

 

Anyway post brew, fire starting to warm the boat, possible snooze incoming and I heard a kerfuffle outside, so opened the door to have a shufty to see a very wet very large and startled rat, said rat took one look and decided to run past me into the boat.

 

Much swearing followed, luckily it went to ground under a bin in the bathroom so I snuck passed it lifted the bin and it ran back through the living area and straight back outside.

 

I need bigger traps...

[Bod]

Get a large cat. 
 

Bod

[tree monkey]

Just now, Bod said:

Get a large cat. 
 

Bod

Funnily enough I am responsible for 2 but they are in North Wales 

[magnetman]

I had a rat on the boat once so I wrote a note 'Dear Mr Rat, If you don't leave my boat at your next convenient opportunity I will find you and kill you very badly'. 

 

I left the note by the sink. The rat departed and never reappeared. 

 

They are clever animals. 

[dixi188]

I've never had a problem with rats or mice on my boat but have wondered if those cone things on ropes that ships used to use would be a good idea.

Dixi.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Bod said:

Get a large cat. 
 

Bod

 

Or a Jack Russel.

[magnetman]

11 minutes ago, dixi188 said:

I've never had a problem with rats or mice on my boat but have wondered if those cone things on ropes that ships used to use would be a good idea.

Dixi.

 

Isn't that for boats which are spaced away from the dockside ? Otherwise the rats can just climb on the boat anyway. 

 

I suppose one could use the cone to hit the rodent with or potentially trap it. 

 

CO2 fire extinguisher can be useful. 

[dmr]

Two weeks ago we opened the front door to find an old cold wet and shaking collie dog on the front deck. Much nicer than a rat.

Took it in, dried it off, warmed it up and contacted owner. It had escaped from the dog walker. It must have scaled several high fences and gates to get to us, so why would a lost house dog choose to take refuge on the deck of a boat rather than trying to get into a house?

 

Owner of boat behind came home from work to find two mink on his back deck and as he approached they became quite aggressive. Glad we only had the collie. 😀

[tree monkey]

19 minutes ago, dixi188 said:

I've never had a problem with rats or mice on my boat but have wondered if those cone things on ropes that ships used to use would be a good idea.

Dixi.

Neither have I but this mooring has its fair share of rats and mice and they do seem to be very bold, I suspect, because of the noises prior, the rat came onto the boat from the water up a fender, so the cones wouldn't have done much

[magnetman]

 

Someone is going to get a Bully XL dog turning up by their boat now that the order has gone out to dump them. 

 

I wonder what the protocol is. 

 

 

[Tonka]

Had a mink that used to overwinter under the front seats in the well. It worked out how to get under the cratch cover and then could get into the seats. 

[tree monkey]

3 minutes ago, dmr said:

Two weeks ago we opened the front door to find an old cold wet and shaking collie dog on the front deck. Much nicer than a rat.

Took it in, dried it off, warmed it up and contacted owner. It had escaped from the dog walker. It must have scaled several high fences and gates to get to us, so why would a lost house dog choose to take refuge on the deck of a boat rather than trying to get into a house?

 

Owner of boat behind came home from work to find two mink on his back deck and as he approached they became quite aggressive. Glad we only had the collie. 😀

Few years ago on a different mooring a neighbour found an exhausted collie hanging onto the rudder, it was rescued and eventually adopted 

[mrsmelly]

11 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Few years ago on a different mooring a neighbour found an exhausted collie hanging onto the rudder, it was rescued and eventually adopted 

Not on the rudder but it didn't want to move to let us set off lol.

 

[tree monkey]

15 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Not on the rudder but it didn't want to move to let us set off lol.

 

You should have adopted that...

 

Did you have a freezer onboard?

[Mike Tee]

That's taking home delivery a step too far - we had the same thing at the top of Audlem, opened the back doors first thing in the morning and there was a cow stood by the rudder looking at me. Didn't know what to do as had no way of contacting any farmers in the area, but just then a bloke walks past, looks at the cow and says 'I'm a vet, can I be of any help?' Lent him a rope and he sorted it all out! What's the odds of that? I will always regret not getting a picture.

[MtB]

Back in the mists of time Coasty told me that coming into the boat, she thought she saw a rat jump in through the doors with her but she wasn't totally sure. Being a sensible sort of bod I dismissed this and hoped it was girl talk. Like ya get. 

 

About 3am though, I was enwokended up by a sharp needley pain in my fingers. I turned the light on and opened one eye to see a fekkin rat biting my fingertips on my other hand. I sat up bolt upright (under the tug deck for anyone reading the other thread) and it ran away. I chased it all the way into the stern when it and me eyeballed each other for a while right in the stern behind the weed hatch. My sledge hammer (for knocking in big maureen steaks) was right to had so I slowly grabbed it and with the head of it in my hand, I slowly lined up the handle like a snooker cue and aimed at said rat. I shot at and squashed the bustud thing and truly, the expression on it's face as it was squashed and killed was picture of shock. Coasty observed most of the action if anyone wants confirmation! 

 

 

[Rob-M]

18 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

That's taking home delivery a step too far - we had the same thing at the top of Audlem, opened the back doors first thing in the morning and there was a cow stood by the rudder looking at me. Didn't know what to do as had no way of contacting any farmers in the area, but just then a bloke walks past, looks at the cow and says 'I'm a vet, can I be of any help?' Lent him a rope and he sorted it all out! What's the odds of that? I will always regret not getting a picture.

We met these cows at the top of Audlem this year

[Alan de Enfield]

And on the Llangollen :

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[magnetman]

I had a couple of lambs out of the River when I was moored below Henley. One of them was a bit sad as its mother had slipped in so it followed her. Farmer later hoicked the ewe out with the land rover and I got the lamb out from my dinghy. Rigor had set in it was like picking up a piece of wood. Last time I had that was when my dog died..

 

I was too short sighted to see the potential lamb chops and handed it to the farmer who glowed with a certain 'oh thanks' look. It was a tiny lamb. I Bet that was tasty ! 

[MoominPapa]

Still shuddering at the story of one of our fellow moorers at Henhull, who left his boat for several years due to reasons, came back and found a rat city inside. The whole thing is totally trashed.

 

On the cow front, we had a cow fall in between the boat and the bank at the Devil's Graden on the Weaver in the small hours. Being awoken by a very big splash and the boat rocking violently is quite alarming. There's a whole story around getting the cow out again which involves firemen running around with torches also in the small hours which I'll tell you if you really want to know.

 

MP.

 

 

[wakey_wake]

5 hours ago, magnetman said:

CO2 fire extinguisher can be useful.

Isn't that a rather pricey way to give the little booger hypothermia? And does it work to immobilise / kill the rat?

 

8 hours ago, magnetman said:

'Dear Mr Rat, If you don't leave my boat at your next convenient opportunity I will find you and kill you very badly'.  [...] They are clever animals. 

Mice aren't so bright. I told the one in my car "this is your last chance to go home" and I left the doors open while I packed. Drove for 3 hours (not because of the mouse) with the heater on full blast but the scuttling noise at 2am in the car told me the heater did not trouble him. The trap I left with peanut butter got him.

 

When handling traps, I've seen advice to not get people-smell on it. I'm keeping mine in bags for next time, and will use the bag as a mitten while setting it.

 

Garage chap said there's no keeping mice out of cars. He says "don't keep any kind of food in the car" which I translate as "pack my snacks in a sealed box".

He says sometimes they'll come under the bonnet just for the warmth, and make a nest of chewed foam on top of the shocks. Mine made a mess of interior foam round the clutch pedal and steering column.

 

The car did tell me "Theft attempted" so I think the ultrasonic alarm had spotted the mouse, running around piddling on everything.

(I had blamed the recurring car alarm noise on a neighbour's van which I saw squealing several times. Seems like at least one of the times was mine instead.)

 

 

20 minutes ago, MoominPapa said:

Still shuddering at the story of one of our fellow moorers at Henhull, who left his boat for several years due to reasons, came back and found a rat city inside. The whole thing is totally trashed.

It would be useful to know what they can & can't reach, or chew through? Boat has food in it...  most of it is behind ½" wooden doors but that may only slow a rat down. Some is up high but there's probably enough climbing to reach it.

 

I found mouse evidence in a mushroom vent. These had temporary sponge foam in them to block draughts, and one was badly nibbled. I think the mouse had better sense than to commit to a 6 foot drop? I saw no other signs but I suspect it would have died of thirst after a while.

 

My mushroom vents now have some stainless steel mesh over them, under the dome but over the pipe. This was intended for mozzies but also good for larger vermin!

 

I'm guessing a rat would eventually chew through wooden doors to get in? I guess I could put some thin steel over the bottom half.

 

Anyone have experience with the ultrasonic repellers? I got one free with the boat,it's  still in the box. I could supply it from the 12v domestic (with a 9v regulator)...  maybe I should do the experiment in the engine room, because it says it will eventually deter spiders too.

 

Has anyone tried using cat hair, presumably combed from a friend's cat, to deter rodents? I think it ought to work. I've no idea how persistent the smell would be.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10117428

[john.k]

My boss left his new Merc with his son while boss and wife went to France .......young Dave drove the car a bit,and one day sees a bargain price on big bags of dog food .......so he gets half a dozen bags ,and leaves them in the boot ,and parks the car at work in the big shed  ......only took a week to find out the Merc wasnt mice proof...Stink in the car was so  powerful ,it made me heave .......so young Dave is in a panic ....he decides to burn the car ,.....so he  reports it stolen.,and burns it......he uses so much petrol that the fire just coats the interior with black soot and melts a bit of plastic.....insurance susses its an inside job very quickly ,and the cops are involved........the stupid thing was that the mouse damage would have written off the car ,legally,and the insurance would have paid out.

[magnetman]

7 hours ago, wakey_wake said:

Isn't that a rather pricey way to give the little booger hypothermia? And does it work to immobilise / kill the rat?

 

 

You can kill more or less anything in an enclosed space with a CO2 fire extinguisher. Probably best to leave the zone post haste for a number of different reasons. 

 

Having a decomposing rodent in the Boat can be unideal to be fair. 

 

 

[rusty69]

21 minutes ago, magnetman said:

You can kill more or less anything in an enclosed space with a CO2 fire extinguisher. Probably best to leave the zone post haste for a number of different reasons. 

 

Having a decomposing rodent in the Boat can be unideal to be fair. 

 

 

QED innit. Quad Arat demonstrandum

 

Whichly loosely translates to : I have four dead rats and can prove it.

Edited November 27, 2023 by rusty69

[Grassman]

8 hours ago, wakey_wake said:

 

 

Anyone have experience with the ultrasonic repellers? I got one free with the boat,it's  still in the box. I could supply it from the 12v domestic (with a 9v regulator)... 

 

None of those 'plug in' devices work. The mice or rats just get used to them. During my 10 years as a pest controller I attended many infestations where the householder had these devices plugged in all over the place.