Unwelcome shipmate

[OldPeculier]

I appear to have a mouse running around in the space between the roof and the headlining. I cant help but wonder what it is doing to my already minimal insulation let alone to the lighting circuit. And at 3am that scampering is really loud!

 

Anyone else ever experienced this?

[RLWP]

Yes.

 

I'm pretty sure it came in through the mushroom vent. Eventually, it died

 

When I took down the beading between the roof and cabin side, an avalanche of polystyrene beads fell out

 

Richard

[mrsmelly]

We had one living behind the lower cabin linings on one boat. Put a mousetrap near water tank and it was one dead mouse.

 

Tim

[Bloomsberry]

And if it does die in the roofspace and starts stinking the boat out , I assume the roof will have to be taken apart to try and find the thing.

 

Best try and eliminate it before this happens

[RLWP]

And if it does die in the roofspace and starts stinking the boat out , I assume the roof will have to be taken apart to try and find the thing.

 

Best try and eliminate it before this happens

 

They dessicate pretty quickly

 

Richard

[jake_crew]

Ah yes, that wonderful smell of cabbage only lasts a week or so.

[Rob-M]

We once had reports from hirers of a scratching noise but never found what we expected was a mouse somewhere.

[Dave_P]

undiscovered dead rat will stink out your boat. A mouse? Not really, a bit for about a day.

 

My cat brings in mice all the time and usually kills them in the same spot for me to find. One time she didn't kill it and it escaped into the hidden spaces behind my L-shape sofa and kichen cupboards. I had no idea it was there until I needed to get some rarely used baking ingredients from the back of the cupboard and found all the evidence. I then went searching and found more evidence stretching the entire length of my cabin. Ugh! I then waged war on the mouse (remember the film Mousehunt with Lee Evans?). Trapping was my chosen method as I don't want poisons on my boat and definitely don't want my cat finding any poison. This little bugger of a mouse became extremely proficient at extracting titbits from the trap without triggering it. I managed to trigger it many times when handling it, as shown my my increasingly swollen and cut thumb. As my rage built over a number of weeks, I increasingly held the cat to blame and wondered if I could get some kind of cat-trap to extract vengance!

 

I got the little vermin eventually. The mouse, not the cat.

[OldPeculier]

Ok, sounds like does happen now and then. I reckon it got in via a mushroom vent and I think it is confined to the roof at the moment. Seems to be running from one end to the other, maybe looking for a way out. Hopefully it will run out of steam soon. The ceiling is t&g so thats not coming down just to find him.

[valrene9600]

Perhaps take out mushroom vent cover inside cabin and slide trap or poison in cavity. Or perhaps a light fitting.

[Sea Dog]

You need very slim cat.

[billS]

You need very slim cat.

or a small python

[ditchcrawler]

Friend of mine caught them on those stick pad things like this http://www.gluetraps.co.uk/mouse-glue-trap-boards-1-c.asp

[Bee]

Had a rat on a boat once, it took up residence in the insulation around the oven, we carefully disconnected the cooker, carried it out of the boat and plonked it on the towpath. Rats tail was hanging out of the back of the cooker so gave it a prod and the rat belted up the towpath, cleaned cooker on the towpath and drama over. They can actually do a lot of damage. Our cat bought in rabbits, a kestrel, a seagull (both long dead) and a coot, very alive and a hell of a job to catch along with the usual mice and stuff.

[Guest]

Had a rat on a boat once, it took up residence in the insulation around the oven, we carefully disconnected the cooker, carried it out of the boat and plonked it on the towpath. Rats tail was hanging out of the back of the cooker so gave it a prod and the rat belted up the towpath, cleaned cooker on the towpath and drama over. They can actually do a lot of damage. Our cat bought in rabbits, a kestrel, a seagull (both long dead) and a coot, very alive and a hell of a job to catch along with the usual mice and stuff.

Only last week I saw a plastic water pipe that had been removed from a house, where a rat had gnawed through it and flooded the place. I have often wondered if this would be a problem with plastic pipework. No more going in our house.

[ditchcrawler]

Only last week I saw a plastic water pipe that had been removed from a house, where a rat had gnawed through it and flooded the place. I have often wondered if this would be a problem with plastic pipework. No more going in our house.

I have seen wiring that has been chewed, a bigger worry than a water pipe.

[RLWP]

I have seen wiring that has been chewed, a bigger worry than a water pipe.

 

Why do rodents like insulated cables?

 

Richard

[BEngo]

Probably the plasticiser that goes in the PVC is rodent tasty.

 

N

[Guest]

I have seen wiring that has been chewed, a bigger worry than a water pipe.

I spent (some of) the first half of my working life replacing rodent damaged cable! It was supposed to contain a substance which prevented same, but it didn't appear to work too well.

I agree the cable issue is likely a bigger concern, but I can eliminate one of the concerns by using copper pipe in the house once again. In the unlikely event that I were to fit another boat out, I would use copper in that too. I once thought plastic pipe was wonderful, but am right off it these days.

[mrsmelly]

I spent (some of) the first half of my working life replacing rodent damaged cable! It was supposed to contain a substance which prevented same, but it didn't appear to work too well.

I agree the cable issue is likely a bigger concern, but I can eliminate one of the concerns by using copper pipe in the house once again. In the unlikely event that I were to fit another boat out, I would use copper in that too. I once thought plastic pipe was wonderful, but am right off it these days.

 

We owned a house in Looe harbour a few years ago. The house next door was a holiday home and was left unattended one winter when there was a big freeze. A week or so after the thaw we popped down to our house for a couple of days off which is what we bought the house for as we lived on our boat, anyway I saw water running out from under the front door. I got hold of the owner who I had met briefly and he attended some four hours later. The house was three storeys like ours and the pipe had burst in the centre of his roof space. The entire interior of the house was destroyed and had to be completely gutted and refurbished. Lecktrickery can kill but gnawed through pipes can destroy your home.

 

Tim

[RLWP]

I'm a bit bemused by these houses where plastic pipes are seen as a problem, but rats are not

 

Richard

[Bobbin]

Rats and mice do not like the smell of Oil of Pennyroyal, Just put a few drops onto some cotton wool and place it where you think the rodents are. It may be difficult to get hold of Pennyroyal as it is quite toxic. Try a fully qualified Aromatherapist as they can get it for you. Explain why you want it and how you will be using it it or they may not sell it to you.

 

And SPIDERS UCK!!! spiders too can be a mess they produce little black droppings on your curtains etc, they don't like the smell of cloves, I have made little bags, filled them with cloves and hung them around the boat. They can be quite decorative, and result in a spider free zone! I've even hung my spider bags under the covers on the stern. I will be putting little drops of clove oil and Pennyroyal on my mooring ropes when I moor up on the tow path.

 

NB. Essential oils will damage paint work if applied neat.

[cuthound]

We had a mouse take up residence in our tumble dryer. Knew nothing about it until Mrs Hound turned it on one day and it emitted a burning smell.

 

I opened it up, and found the space under the element chocabloc full of dried cat food!

 

There on the elements are the charred remains of an electrocuted mouse.

 

As you can see, the cat we had was useless. Not only did he bring a mouse in and let it escape but he provided it with food as well.

[OldPeculier]

So now the little bugger has invited his mates over too. They were having a ceiling void party last night.

[Athy]

 

 

And SPIDERS UCK!!! spiders too can be a mess, they don't like the smell of cloves.

Readers from Essex will assume that's why they don't find spiders in their wardrobes.