These guys can play havoc with your RV. If you notice any signs of rodent damage act immediately! Many people do not know that even if you have no food left in your RV, rodents will chew wiring to wear down their teeth, mainly because the insulation is made of a rat tasty soy derivative. Many owners first notice strange inexplicable electrical issues. These critters are also a carrier for many illnesses. While these can be expensive repairs, many insurance policies cover the damage.
These repairs are undertaken in the following manner to make best use of time. A single technician working to identify the location and extent of damage can be super time consuming. Have you ever thought about how many wires are in an average class A motorhome? Well... there are a heck of a lot of them! And they are all hidden behind walls, cabinets, and furniture.
Here at Blue Moon RV we have a special teams player named Mo. Yeah, our four legged rat radar. We trained her to find the nests and signal. Don’t worry she is on her best behavior while in your RV. Within less than 2 minutes she usually finds the major nests. This may sound a little unconventional, but it saves time and money. At that point she hands it off to the technicians. The techs will remove and clean the nests and start diagnosing based on complaint and nest location. We build your insurance an estimate. This is actually the hardest part. Here is why, if we chased down every complaint and wire before the estimate, two things happen:
We miss the opportunity to fix as we find issues. Can you imagine diagnosing and entire RV of wiring then going backwards to fix. That is crazy making. Nope, we get the lay of the land then use our experience and put together an estimate to fix as we go and get things done faster.
As we fix it becomes easier to identify what does and does not need correcting. Sometimes the damage is less extensive sometimes a little more but usually we get it pretty close.
While we automatically sanitize any nesting areas, if you would like a complete contamination, we can do that too.
Keeping rats out is tough. For homes we block all access which is a bit harder with an RV. Many RV’rs swear by moth balls or peppermint then others use high frequency devices. Poison is least desirable because of possible unintentional poisoning of pets and small children- trust me my dog has been poisoned twice by those tasty treats. While tricks for this abound, Rodents are
very clever and can usually find a way around many measures. The goal is to make YOUR RV less desirable than another living location. Prevention is key, here are some best practices recommended by pest experts and industry experience.
Keeping the RV free of all food and clean before storing.
Storing in pastures or woods increase the access to pests. Imagine you just parked your nice RV among these guys and they will find a way in.
Use your RV regularly. Rodents are not crazy about sharing their space especially if you RV with your pets.
Ace hardware actually sells a deterrent that is nontoxic to larger pets.
Prevent access as much as possible. Close vents, doors, windows, use bug screens when possible. These also deter dirt daubers.
Yes, traps may work, but I would not want to have to risk a rat rotting in my RV.
Do regular inspections of your RV paying close attention to bays, water lines and under cabinets.
Avoid clutter- this is free building material for rodents.
Bottom line is clean and uncluttered RV’s that are regularly used is the best defense. If you even suspect you have rodents call us today. Mo is stepping up to do her part during the pandemic and wants to provide you a no cost sniff. If you know you might have problems, we will discuss issues, and perform a brief inspection to determine if you currently do have or have recently had rodents. We approach this challenging repair with much experience.