Critters in My Boat

LaqueRatt · Saturday at 10:53 AM

So a couple weeks ago, was wanting to get my Crestliner ready for the season. Threw back the cover and find the inside is damaged again. Seat munched on. Foam from the bilge all over the place. New bilge pump is now UNinstalled. Crap. Second year in a row. Funny, nothing messes with my tinnies, but the glass boat seems to attract vermin. After last year, I scattered mothballs all over the place and pulled the cover tight around the motor. They still got in some how.

I live in the woods and have more toys than indoor storage, so the boats have to sit outside. Not even sure what's getting in there. Possible perps: coons, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, possums maybe? I see muddy prints on the lower unit though, so fairly sure it's coons climbing in that way. I got to do something about this. I'd like to buy new seats, but sure don't want them destroyed after one season. Anyone have this problem? I'd appreciate any ideas on what I can do to keep my boat safe.

cyclops222 · Saturday at 11:02 AM

Have a Heart Traps.
Then kill the animals.

alldodge · Saturday at 1:21 PM

Stick traps attached to a board so they can't run away and maybe get off

Bucket with a small amount of food (bird seed, oats, peanut butter) in the bottom. Place next to seat so they can get to the top easy and once they fall there not coming out

JimS123 · Saturday at 1:35 PM

People with RVs have the same problem. It all comes down to the fact that if they have access, they WILL come in. Gotta fix all holes!!!!

OK, OK, not that easy. Paid storage, shrinkwrap, lots of duct tape? Whatever it costs will probably be less cost than what it takes to fix the damage to the boat.

My friend had a nearly new covered boat chewed up to the tune of $2,000. Next year's indoor storage at $600 was a cost saving.

FLATHEAD · Saturday at 2:04 PM

Good luck, it’s tough to stop them completely. That said I’m in the woods and short on storage for all my toys as well. I keep my good boat at an inside storage facility in winter. I keep an aluminum Jon boat here covered with a heavy duty tarp all winter. I might get a mouse over winter. The fact I have two big Labradors that run the property helps keep the bigger critters away for the most part.
Mice infiltrate my truck fresh air intake and trash my cabin air filter about every year. Can’t seem to stop it.

Mc Tool · Saturday at 2:44 PM

I usually set traps in pairs so when they are flailing around with front feet in one trap the rears find the other trap.
Have you tried one of them ultrasonic repellers . I think they are bulls hit but my Dad reckons it keeps the rats out of his walnut shed .
Ha

I bought Mums old car ,she didnt like it any more coz it made "horrible noises" when going round corners (imagine an 83 year old lady , eyes like dinner plates as she tells of such horror

), any how turns out there was about ½ a bucket full of walnuts in the scuttle that were rolling from side to side, we also got 2-3 bucket full out of the inner guards.
My Dad once said his car smelt like roasting chestnuts.....yup walnuts piled up on the motor .....they also ate out the wiring harness and trim panels in the trunk (of his M series Mercedes).
I had a mouse in the glove box of my car , I couldnt figure out where all the gold foil came from ( not thinkin mouse ) and my drinking straws had holes in them ( we keep plastic straws in the car coz we dont like the paper ones that Micky D's have now ).
Gold foil was all that was left of a whole roll of antacid tablets. Trapped his furry little arse .

JimS123 · Saturday at 5:25 PM

Peppermint, moth balls, etc, etc. are all snake oil. My buddy's shed smells so bad of moth balls that you can't go inside without a mask, yet the colonies of mice are unbelievable.

I like the dryer sheet idea.....LOL. My buddy's trailer were laced with them. The mice love them....they chew them up and make nests out of them.

Poison and traps will eliminate the ones that are there at the time. But others will follow. But now you got dead mouse stink.

Elimination of the access point is the ONLY solution. People that proclaim the value of peppermint simply don't have an access point.

airshot · Saturday at 5:32 PM

In my experience, you have to go after them whole hog at the start ! Make sure there is no food in the area to attract them. Set numerous traps and these are the only places to have food. Traps for big and small critters are needed at the same time. Once you start getting hits on traps, then move on to adding things like peppermint oils, poison Puts for squirrels and chippers, and TomCat mouse bait. You gotta hit them hard for one Sumner season to get rid of the colony ! Takes time, energy and money until you get control, then just maintain until you have them gone. Took me two years before I had all my critters gone, but kept all traps locked and loaded, and use numerous chemical detergents to keep them away. Good Luck !!

racerone · Saturday at 6:01 PM

Play a radio in there ??

cyclops222 · Sunday at 5:44 AM

Careful
Some animals like classical with a fireplace.

dingbat · Sunday at 7:09 AM

Struggled with mice in the boat for the first couple of years after I starting storing the boat in the barn. Dryer sheets, moth balls, etc. nothing really worked.

Then I tried leaving everything open. Simply left the cabin doors and left the electronics box open. The problem was greatly demolished, but not completely resolved.

Went out to get the mower one day and stopped to wonder how the heck the mice get into the boat in the first place?

The boat, as it sits on the trailer, is 28” off the ground. Then there is another 30” of sheer, waxed Fiberglas to scale to get inside. No fricken way a mouse is doing that.

Took the cover and related bungee cords off the boat. Removed the tie down straps and the problem went away.

DeepCMark58A · Sunday at 7:45 AM

I made sure the Stainless cowel was off my 57 Mark 55 motor when the boat was in storage at the farm for 4 years not a mouse problem, leave it open if it is under a roof.

airshot · Sunday at 10:43 AM

racerone said:
Play a radio in there ??

Yes, and have lights on timers, how often have you saw mice in lighted areas ! Neighbor had two lights in his barn, on timers so one went off, the other went on at different ends of the barn. Another guy used an old scratchy recording of folks talking and walking around. Both methods greatly reduced their mouse population and damage.

airshot · Sunday at 10:48 AM

dingbat said:
Struggled with mice in the boat for the first couple of years after I starting storing the boat in the barn. Dryer sheets, moth balls, etc. nothing really worked.

Then I tried leaving everything open. Simply left the cabin doors and left the electronics box open. The problem was greatly demolished, but not completely resolved.

Went out to get the mower one day and stopped to wonder how the heck the mice get into the boat in the first place?

The boat, as it sits on the trailer, is 28” off the ground. Then there is another 30” of sheer, waxed Fiberglas to scale to get inside. No fricken way a mouse is doing that.

Took the cover and related bungee cords off the boat. Removed the tie down straps and the problem went away.

I have had them climb up the walls and the studs, crawl across and drop down from above !!! Back when my grandson had ducks and the mice were after the food. Started using 30 gallon trash can with a plastic bag liner. Once the food was closed up tight, the majority went elsewhere for easier pickins..

racerone · Sunday at 10:53 AM

Brother in law----Has lived in a remote town all his life.----Every time I went up there, he had a radio on day and night in his workshop.----Protecting the biplane he was working on I think.

rolmops · Sunday at 7:16 PM

put some antifreeze in a bowl. nice, sweet and deadly

jimmbo · Sunday at 7:56 PM

A few bowls of Ethylene Glycol should take care of them. Gonna take care of some Squirrels that chewed the Hood Blanket of my Car

3rdtimesthecharm · Monday at 6:04 AM

Dryer sheets work in my camper.

dingbat · Monday at 7:01 AM

airshot said:
I have had them climb up the walls and the studs, crawl across and drop down from above !!! Back when my grandson had ducks and the mice were after the food. Started using 30 gallon trash can with a plastic bag liner. Once the food was closed up tight, the majority went elsewhere for easier pickins..

We have #150-#200 of horse grain stored in metal trash cans at any given time.

Surprised we don’t have issues, but then again we have lots of rat and mice eating critters hanging around as well.

Black rats snakes, red tail hawks and fox are frequently seen in and around the barns.

Given the offerings left at the back door from time to time, looks like our cat puts a pretty good hurt on populations as well.

The barns are inside the invisible fence boundaries. The larger critters want nothing to do with the Husky that takes patrols the property. They don’t stand a chance given her speed and agility…lol

airshot · Monday at 12:18 PM

dingbat said:
We have #150-#200 of horse grain stored in metal trash cans at any given time.

Surprised we don’t have issues, but then again we have lots of rat and mice eating critters hanging around as well.

Black rats snakes, red tail hawks and fox are frequently seen in and around the barns.

Given the offerings left at the back door from time to time, looks like our cat puts a pretty good hurt on populations as well.

The barns are inside the invisible fence boundaries. The larger critters want nothing to do with the Husky that takes patrols the property. They don’t stand a chance given her speed and agility…lol

Gotta love the chemical free natural pest control !!

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