Pex Plumbing and Rats?

[Timber]

I did a job and they used some pex...The plumber warned that rats can eat it. Customer said they have no rats.
Since water is a big enemy... I thought I would post this up. Any one experience rats eating pex?

[loghousenut]

Never heard of such a thing, but I think I'll try to limit the rat population in my plumbing just in case.

[rawson]

Gophers have caused leaks chewing holes in buried HDPE irrigation pipe. Wouldn't be surprised if a Pack Rat chewed up PEX tubing.

[dakota.abe]

We did have a mouse chew a small hole in a 1/4" plastic fridge water supply inside a wall - that one was hard to find. It's not in a wall anymore.
All water lines are pex, no problem there but we seem to have completely solved mouse problem (cat + poison jn walls).

[loghousenut]

I always keep a can (plastic bottle) of oil under the hood of every car and have taught my spawn to do the same. Earlier this winter we had three different oil cans under three different hoods get chewed on in one week. Two of them had fairly large holes chewed above the line of oil, causing some degree of a mess while driving. The can in the Miata had a small hole in the bottom, causing a slight mess that turned into a bigger mess upon driving and the mess eventually reached the exhaust manifold all at once. Now we know that the Miata burns oil externally.

[GinaC]

dakota.abe, for those of us who have small dogs, hate cats, and don't want to use poison, is there anything else you can recommend? :(

[allen84]

I always keep a can (plastic bottle) of oil under the hood of every car and have taught my spawn to do the same. Earlier this winter we had three different oil cans under three different hoods get chewed on in one week. Two of them had fairly large holes chewed above the line of oil, causing some degree of a mess while driving. The can in the Miata had a small hole in the bottom, causing a slight mess that turned into a bigger mess upon driving and the mess eventually reached the exhaust manifold all at once. Now we know that the Miata burns oil externally.

That'd be the best oil leak a person could ask for.

[allen84]

dakota.abe, for those of us who have small dogs, hate cats, and don't want to use poison, is there anything else you can recommend? :(

Sticky traps. We had an incident late one night on a holiday where one of the dogs ate a bunch of poison and they both looked guilty... So I had to take both of them to the emergency vet. Was NOT cheap. No more poison in this house.

[StressMan79]

dakota.abe, for those of us who have small dogs, hate cats, and don't want to use poison, is there anything else you can recommend? :(

I needed an ultra sonic pest repellerthat ran on dc. I ended up with something like this

Look at this on eBay
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F39 1898016827

Of course my friend wired up the solar wrong, and the parasitic buck converter used reduced the 24 volt battery to 15 volts, thereby ruining it ($400). It would have worked flawlessly.

[Mosseyme]

I might need to try that car thing.
Once when my kids were visiting from Atlanta, at the end of the visit they were back almost to Atlanta on the freeway when Daughter in law who was driving suddenly had a mouse running up her leg and into her lap.
Son who was sleeping probably had the most injuries, ie heart attack from the screaming taking place. Managed to get off to the shoulder and out of the car without wrecking. But then to find the mouse and get it out of the car before anyone would get back in. To bad they didn't have a camera on the whole thing. Poor mouse. Can you imagine, from the middle of nowhere in the mountains of North Carolina to be thrown onto the streets in Atlanta. We have also had one ride to town and back 45 min each way two different times, on the hood and wind shield. One time riding the wipers because it was raining. Might need that car thing.

[rreidnauer]

Answering the original question, absolutely, a rat can and will chew through plastic.

As for dealing with mice, I've tried many things. Before the trailer got skirted, snap traps caught most inside, but some avoided them. (btw, I don't bait snap traps. Just place the paddle towards a wall, as mice run along walls, and go right over paddle) I knew where they were getting in and out, so I set up a little slide made from some aluminum flashing. It blocked mice from coming back in, but forced mice wanting to leave (for water/food) to use the slide, which led to a bucket of water.

In the work van, after having it repaired, when mice decimated the wiring harness under the floor at, and built a nest above the headliner, I installed an ultrasonic noise generator in the cab and put sticky traps above the headliner. No mice ever came back to get stuck.

The miata, tried mothballs with meh results, and they stink. I was told to try dryer sheets. This works awesome and they smell nice too!

But by far, the most effective device for around the property/pole barn, is a tipping plank that fits on the rim of a five gallon bucket. Bait the plank with a little bit of peanut butter and some water in the bucket, and these self-resetting traps do all the work. When I first set them up, I caught several dozen the first night! Too bad there isn't a market for dead mice.

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[dakota.abe]

dakota.abe, for those of us who have small dogs, hate cats, and don't want to use poison, is there anything else you can recommend? :(

We didn't try sticky, may be good...We do not like poison either but out in the country we have to wage war sometimes. Luckily it was not a mt. lion to deal with.

I put the poison INSIDE the wall - it has a desiccant in it so mice will dry up nice & crispy. Also thought they were coming in through the soffit which is close to a shelf 12’ high in the connected garage so put some up there & some in boxes made to allow only mice to get at the goods. Haven’t seen, heard or smelled one since.

[allen84]

some in boxes made to allow only mice to get at the goods.

Dogs can still get the poison out of those. We used to catch city rats alive with something similar to what rod described. We would use a big trashcan or 55 gallon drum with the top cut out and rest a piece of wood against it (ramp from the ground to the top), put some food in the bottom of the barrel. They jump in, eat their last meal and can't figure out how to get back out. They were an issue at the shop I used to work at. I've seen one the size of a cat, not a kitten, a cat. Jorge slept in the shop when it was too cold in his camper and would sometimes fall asleep eating Cheetos...and get woke up to rats nibbling the crumbs off his fingers. Sweet Dreams.

[loghousenut]

One night we was all sitting around the campfire and Ronnie Rcklmbr was bragging about how they handle problem rats back in his end of West Virginia...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFhx0Yp8sUE

[Timber]

https://youtu.be/RAqs2Vj1Ark
Too many rats

[Timber]

One night we was all sitting around the campfire and Ronnie Rcklmbr was bragging about how they handle problem rats back in his end of West Virginia...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFhx0Yp8sUE

Thats a true hillbilly if i ever saw one.

[Plumb Level]

One night we was all sitting around the campfire and Ronnie Rcklmbr was bragging about how they handle problem rats back in his end of West Virginia...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFhx0Yp8sUE

How on earth does that video only have 468 views?

[allen84]

How on earth does that video only have 468 views?

468 cousins viewed.

[DoubleJRanch]

Bucket trap (google it) but a bait block in a bait box (Tomcat brand is a good one) an area where the mice/rats go, but dog doesnt, ie in a crawl space etc. These lock, so not accesible except for smaller varmints, even a small kid cant get into them. I use a couple and they require a special key to open. The blocks are pinned in place, so they cant pack it to next, they are forced to eat it right on the spot. .

[DoubleJRanch]

https://youtu.be/RAqs2Vj1Ark
Too many rats

God love those dogs, just having a blast. Certainly earning their keep for sure. ;)

[DoubleJRanch]

dakota.abe, for those of us who have small dogs, hate cats, and don't want to use poison, is there anything else you can recommend? :(

https://thesurvivaljournal.com/bucket-mouse-trap/

[misplayed-hand]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BGNN3qa0Xw

[dakota.abe]

We have the mice under control with careful poison use, one cat and mouse traps in garage which always has a door open. No rats at all & no mice in attached house.
The rat traps is all I could suggest.

[rreidnauer]

I have a new problem under my camper, and I don't think it's mice this time. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200607/b00af501367791632ed6cda748fc28e7.jpg

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[panderson03]

oh my! what do you think did that?

[donjuedo]

I'll go with "very large spider".

[rreidnauer]

No idea. Have a trail cam set up, to see what I'm up against. Noticed some disturbed dirt around the deck too, so something's been poking around.

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[loghousenut]

It is rats.

Betcha a quarter.

[Shark]

Evil chipmunks!

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[loghousenut]

It's rats.

[misplayed-hand]

Pretty good little trail wore up to the hole. Never knew rats did that but makes sense I suppose. Field rats make for the best eating I hear.

[loghousenut]

I think it is done all over the world except at my house.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrARXdBZppw

[rreidnauer]

As long as I still have options, rodents won't be one of them.

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[rreidnauer]

So here's my problem.
(pretty much expected this)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200608/8b4fafc5056560ff7e919bcb6619bd5a.jpg

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[misplayed-hand]

Way better than rats.

[loghousenut]

It's still a rat. I called it right.

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[donjuedo]

Maybe you should build him a "hog house", something nicer than under your home. ;-)

[loghousenut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf0zyu9Z-uY

[kristina]

It's so cute!

Just got rid of my own. Poor ammonia where he's going in and out of. I freaked out and dumped the bottle but I heard a little on a rag works too. Haha

Mine hasn't been back.

[rreidnauer]

Been several days with a live trap set up, and no takers. I have a feeling he isn't in there. Probably doesn't like the 8 inches of clean 3/4" stone I put down first, before skirting the trailer. I blocked the hole with a piece of sheet metal, and a short piece of 2x4 against it to keep it in place. If he's in there, he can easily knock it down to get out, but should keep other critters from thinking about going in. If it stays that way a few more days, I'll finish applying the aluminum flashing that I never finished doing.

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[misplayed-hand]

New neighbors brought a house that groundhogs lived under the front porch. I offered them a turnkey solution but the male went out and bought a have-a-heart trap. He put it in the middle of the front yard - no where near the hole.
I can't say he put the blankly inside but someone did.
I killed 4 last year. Not sure why it's my job but oh well.

[rreidnauer]

Funny when people think catching a groundhog is like catching a domesticated kitten.

I finally found where he moved to and had the trap set up there for several days. Smart bugger, this one. Would steal the bait out of it, and never make himself seen during the day. Then one day, after returning from the diner for breakfast, he was in the trap that he had already robbed of bait. Go figure.
Anyhow, the buzzards or coyotes got fed.

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[loghousenut]

I remember the first time I caught a coon in a live trap. He/she had scraped up all the dirt from a 10" radius and pulled it into the trap with him/her into a little mound or bed. I picked the trap up by the handle and commenced to carrying it off, not thinking about the fact that the coons hands would fit through the mesh of the trap. I nearly jumped into the next County when those two cute little Raccoon hands were out and gripping my own hand. Near startled me into an apoplexy!

That was a great raccoon. One of the only reasons to grow corn is for the meat you get out of it.

[Mosseyme]

We have caught several racoons and possums in live traps. At first they were target practice as they ran through the open gate. Later we started feeling bad about that so started transporting them about 8 miles up the road to close to the rangers station and releasing them. Just seems like a good place for them. The coyote/red wolf? And the Bob cat we haven't managed to trap. The spotted skunk we managed to get loose without anyone getting sprayed.