Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

[GaryO]

Has anyone ever had a "tree rat" chew up their trailer light electrical connector? I have my pontoon boat in a slip and the trailer stored in my side driveway. I went out to check everything on it before I pull the boat out for the year. I could not believe what those varmints did to the electrical connector. Never seen this happen before.

 

[10thHawk]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

maybe he had bad eyesight and mistook it for an acorn? Had a racoon take out its agression in the cabin of my previous boat. Made woodchips out of a rail in there.

 

[Bass Tracker TX17]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Happens all the time. Squirrels, mice, etc.
I deal with this on vehicles all the time and cost is high with new car wiring being eaten. It's nasty to repair plus the fecal matter and urine is involved too.
If that's all that happened consider yourself lucky.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

that sucks!! I hope there are no mouse nests in the frame of the trailer. Are you in an urban, suburban, or rural environment??

 

[Shrike]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Try mothballs in the boat and inside the trailer frame.

 

[sasto]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

sometimes the blast from a 12 gauge does less damage than the critters.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Two other varmints that can give you trouble are domestic geese, and goats.

 

[mtp9302]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Sorry about your connector, hopefully it is all that needs to be replaced. It is frustrating to have to fix something like that (when it shouldn't be broken) instead of working on what you want to.

Nothing like that on my boat yet, but I did have a shrew-looking rodent chew a hole right through the air inlet hose on my tire machine. It was underneath the machine, so I didn't know anything was wrong until my compressor blew out a seal trying to pressurize my whole garage. I had to take the whole thing apart and crawl underneath it to get to the hose, so a 15 minute tire change took 3 hours.

 

[mxfever]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

sometimes the blast from a 12 gauge does less damage than the critters.

Well said but I prefer a .22. Draws less attention

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Run some 110 thru it.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Well said but I prefer a .22. Draws less attention

Try .22 CB Shorts. They make very little noise. I just pulled a possum out of my boat yesterday. Put moth balls in the bilge. My wife keeps squirrels away from her plants with cat hair saved from brushing her cat. She gives hair away to friends and neighbors also. Works!

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Tree rats are nothin compared to English Labradors. They eat the lights too! I never have to worry about bulbs burning out, they don't live that long.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

http://www.livevideo.com/video/9857482A9F274C608F3370DBAAEDD7FC/squirrel-catapult.aspx

 

[mommicked]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

A squirrel chewed off the breather cap of my full 12 gal. plastic gas tank!Im sure he got a shot of gas in the mouth as it was hot and the tank was probly a little swollen!I leave it just cracked.the nice guy at the boat store sold me a new cap off a new tank and saved me some$$. I put galvanized mesh. across the opening at the stern to keep the tree rats out,but found a few more bites on the new cap and fuel lines a week later! the bugger had pushed through the edge of the mesh to get his gas fix I guess,I found squirrel hair on the cut edge of the wire!!!I secured the area w a 8' castnet w big rips in it and it seems to keep the critters away from my gas/battery compartment.easy to install and remove the weighted net over the uneven opening.

 

[GaryO]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

I love the catapult idea, I could launch them stinkers across the street and let them chew on my neighbours boat trailer for a while! I checked the frame and didn't see any nests in there, but if there is, they will be getting wet this weekend. The mothball idea sounds good also, another idea that came to me also is used kitty litter clumps. I used these at my campground trailer after a woodchuck tunnelled under the trailer skirting and destroyed my air ducts. A few clumps around the perimeter and he never returned.

 

[Gromulin]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

There are certain plastic compounds that must taste like bacon-wrapped-bacon to rats (and squirrels too, I guess). We had an actual rat spend his winter nights under the hood of our Landcruiser, inside the garage even, one cold winter. The bastige ate ONLY the electrical tape, spiral wrap and the foam insulation around the A/C compressor pipes. In the course of doing so, he also nicked about 15 various wires...thought I was going to have to replace the wiring harness ($$) but came across some of that plasti-dip stuff, that you use for tool handles and such, in a spray can.

Worked AWESOME for touching up nicked insulation in bundled wires...added mucho layers of super-33 and split-duct and it's worked flawless for 5 years now...

And I fixed the gap under the door too...

 

[Bayliner175xt]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

That squirrel catapult was the funniest thing i have seen in a long time.
LOL

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

That squirrel catapult...
LOL

Seen it before, but had to watch it again... I don't care where you are from,,, that there is funny

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Are you sure that's from a squirrel and not a rat?

-E

 

[mommicked]

Re: Tree Rat (squirrel) damage

Im sure my damage was from a squirrel I saw one crawling in the hatch area before I found the damage.one tried to build a nest in the doorless bow storage area and I had to block it off also!and the squirrel launcher in the previous post is a slingshot,not a catapult.but a catapult would work better!!!send it to a new zipcode!!!