Missing rat trap

[Lake Huron]

I catch mice in my shed using snap traps. I learned a lesson a long time ago just like OP. I caught one but it took off with the trap. Luckily it managed to get out and I found the trap some time later cleaning the shed out. From then on, just like i do trapping, I anchor the traps. Mouse traps I use a wax string and slip knot it to the trigger staple and tie the other end off on something close. For bait I put a dab of clear silicon on the bait pan and stick a kernel of corn or a peanut on it. This way I dont have to keep baiting it. I'm able to reuse it over and over.
I have a bad chipmunk problem around the house and they are just as destructive. I use a rat trap, same silicon and corn or peanut bait, and use a small cable to anchor it off to a long tent stake. The rest that are out at my feeder and get a combination of copper and lead poisoning.

[michaelodunk]

Ask your wife what she did with it.

[djglover7]

This is too funny.


You have an obligation to the community to keep this story active.

[Micikas]

Ok I own A Alante 31lL, under the bed at the foot end take the screws from the wood grain panel and under neat is the pump and slide controller and maybe the electrical switch box. All these cables run thru the floor and mine was not sealed almost at all.

[gypsmjim]

He was a biggun. He just had babies and when he got caught in the trap it really PO'd him. So he took it with him so his youngins wouldn't get hurt.

Been there done that. The solution is to not have access holes in the first place. I realize its a real big problem to seal all the holes because it takes a lot of hard work. I found an old 2" thick mattress in the garbage one year and now I just throw it under the trailer and climb under. It doesn't hurt my back and i don't get dirty. haven't had a rodent since.

Lots of people claim peppermint spray, dryer sheets, etc. are all snake oil because it doesn't bother the mice. The only true mouse gadget is the ultrasonic probe. Best mouse ATTRACTANT I ever saw. After I installed them the mice came from miles and ate up my entire garden.

[Jimdeb80]

I had one chew his leg off in my garage

[txauditr-ret.]

Hope this doesn’t duplicate itself Have you checked the following areas: ... blank space where the furnace blower is close to flow... the toilet and/or the black holding tank....the blank spaces in back of drawers...blank spaces under the pull out bed or couch....under bed storage area....ac vents....under driver or passenger seat or in dash.
Question... if the trap was tripped the night b4 why didn’t you dispose of your friend then rather than waiting and causing your wife problems. Something I would do too lol

[KevTev]

Originally Posted by txauditr-ret.

Hope this doesn’t duplicate itself Have you checked the following areas: ... blank space where the furnace blower is close to flow... the toilet and/or the black holding tank....the blank spaces in back of drawers...blank spaces under the pull out bed or couch....under bed storage area....ac vents....under driver or passenger seat or in dash.
Question... if the trap was tripped the night b4 why didn’t you dispose of your friend then rather than waiting and causing your wife problems. Something I would do too lol

Oh, yes, I’ve checked all these areas. I did dispose of the first rat and then reset the trap - it then disappeared when I went back the next day.

[KevTev]

Originally Posted by Micikas

Ok I own A Alante 31lL, under the bed at the foot end take the screws from the wood grain panel and under neat is the pump and slide controller and maybe the electrical switch box. All these cables run thru the floor and mine was not sealed almost at all.

I’ve checked under there and all the possible entry points are well sealed.

[KevTev]

Originally Posted by djglover7

This is too funny.


You have an obligation to the community to keep this story active.

It may be funny to all of you, not so much to us😳

[KevTev]

Originally Posted by Lake Huron

I catch mice in my shed using snap traps. I learned a lesson a long time ago just like OP. I caught one but it took off with the trap. Luckily it managed to get out and I found the trap some time later cleaning the shed out. From then on, just like i do trapping, I anchor the traps. Mouse traps I use a wax string and slip knot it to the trigger staple and tie the other end off on something close. For bait I put a dab of clear silicon on the bait pan and stick a kernel of corn or a peanut on it. This way I dont have to keep baiting it. I'm able to reuse it over and over.
I have a bad chipmunk problem around the house and they are just as destructive. I use a rat trap, same silicon and corn or peanut bait, and use a small cable to anchor it off to a long tent stake. The rest that are out at my feeder and get a combination of copper and lead poisoning.

I’ll keep this in mind for next time!

[1SGPETE]

Back when I was serving in Vietnam, in base camp we had wooden pallets on the floors of our GP Mediums. The rats would run through the middle of the pallets. We baited those huge rat traps (cause they were huge rats) big as a puppy. Then wired them to the legs of our cots. We kept a machete near by. Once they were caught ( the traps would really bang when set off). They would flop all night long so we would roll over get a flash light and give them a couple of whacks with the Machete.

[viking42]

We have a Jayco Alante 31AV and we live in the woods so we have lots of mice. We use the 5 gal pail with the plastic bottle with peanut butter on it on a dowel and about 5 inches of water in the pail. Don’t forget the ramp up to the dowel.
I also use Mouse traps but use a small wire to anchor them. I’ve lost 2 traps before I anchored them. One was dragged from the front to the back and ended up next to the far side of the bed. The other was in an area behind my cabinets above the dashboard. I had cut a hole in the back panel and use a register to enclose the hole with a device on each side that allows easy access. I set traps there and one Mouse dragged the trap to the far side of that compartment. I had a heck of a time getting him back and now anchor all traps.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

DW asked, "Aren't you missing one?"

Yeah, come to think of it, after checking the trailer during the winter I told her I couldn't remember where I set the third trap...

Hmmm...

[viking42]

That’s funny cause I now count the traps but usually forget the number. LOL

[hawkster]

As viking42 did when camp hosting with a wooded site we had mice. The precept was new so I had not sealed the underside. Snap traps worked. I then saw the 5 gallon bucket on YouTube and set one up about 10 feet from camper. Got 10 mice in first week. It didn't work with Chipmunks I watched one go down to the water and he came flying out the top of the bucket. But mice were attracted to bucket not our camper.

[Chet & Marie]

Any update on the rat?

[KevTev]

Well, I sitting here at my local RV repair shop (not Jayco - they are too far away), I brought my Alante 32N in this morning for them to look for the missing rat trap. After going over all the checks I had made they started by looking where I couldn’t - it only took 1 hour.

The rat had tried to exit along a cable bundle that goes through the floor of the sofa/kitchen slide. He was out the hole but the attached trap had kept him from leaving. He was under the pot drawer (that’s under the stove/oven).

They are disassembling the cabinet to remove him and seal the hole.

THE END

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

Glad you finally were able to resolve the problem - that's quite a rat tale!

Thanks for keeping us up-to-date. I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be anchoring traps from now on.

Best wishes for a successful repair and a happy camping season ahead!

[Lake Huron]

That's good news! Good thing it was found before it really started to get nad smelling.
Btw, assuming you were using a snap trap, how did it get snapped in the trap and still be able to crawl away?