We have them in Fairlight Sydney, they climb up the cavities (rats that is, politicians use the stairs) 4 floors to the roof. I have repaired chewed wires many times. We have quite a number of rat bait stations around the building these day, which I refill on a regular basis. Have removed a dozen dead rats from the roof space. Even one which had tried to squeeze out between the roof tiles.
Have had to replace all the ceiling insulation a few years ago due to the number of dead rats & associated lingering background smell. While at it vacuumed the entire roof space. The second time I have done it, a decade earlier, about a week to vacuum it thoroughly (properly).
If using rat bait, put it around the perimeter, not actually in the problem area.
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Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
I can no longer go into my garage in Canberra. Too toxic. Have to get a full set of PPE's to clean it out.
People don't throw your scraps out onto the garden. Put them in a bin!!!! It is not suitable food for the Australian wildlife.
However, my sister has a bus stranded in Mount Isa ATM and recently went to check on it. Can't get parts and it has been there a while. Expected to find bus overrun but it was as clean as a whistle. So it appears they are not a problem there.
I have not been in areas where there has been a rat plague.
However, I have read that others have used some camphor in the engine bay and at potential rat spots in the vehicle deters them. eg Spots like under dash amongst the wiring. Of course, I would be removing the camphor for driving.
We've had wiring in cars chewed by rats while the cars were in the garage at home. I tried placing mothballs directly under the engine bays of the cars and we were still getting poop on top of the engines. I have since been advised to fully open the bonnets on the cars while they're parked in the garage and we've had no more rat poop on the engines since doing this. I presume the rodents do not feel as safe with the bonnet open so they (hopefully) don't get in there. Of course we can't do this when we are travelling and the car is outside. Rodents are attracted to food sources such as chicken/horse feed, compost heaps etc. We don't leave any food sources around, but they're still on ongoing problem in semi-rural areas like ours - along with wild pigs, deer, rabbits, foxes etc. I've tried every trap/bait/granny's-sure-fire-fix-it etc that I have found and while we exterminate mice and some rats, the rats in particular are too wary to get caught very often.
A can of "Crawling" spray from Coles is a cheap deterrent to all unwanted wildlife - It can be sprayed on hard and grass surfaces around car as a barrier.
The spray doesn't affect plants - I use it on my citrus trees to stop the black citrus beetles.
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Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
Yes. there is a plaque out there.
I have had some of my wiring chewed a few weeks ago. No issues though.
Leaving the hood open once you get to camp is a common approach. I saw several cars with their hoods up all night - including mine once I heard about the rats.
But I relaxed and did not keep up the practice and then found a chewed battery earth cable about a week later.
The chemist in Longreach (while I was getting a prescription fulfilled) said they had run out of peppermint oil, Apparently they hate the small.
Talking to a local at Longreach, the local swimming pool staff have been pulling out up to 40 dead rats each morning from the skimmers.
Lots of dead rats around Longreach. Live ones were seen running around at Winton and all ports north to Longreach.
I would not change my route. Just be aware of their presence and try to take precautions.
Hey guys thanks for the input especially Bookleaf as you had experienced it yourself
As we have been aware of the rumours we have been asking around and a number of different travellers have
Offered advice
Diluted peppermint sprayed is one preventative measure, Also camphor or napthalene spread around or in a sock hung around the wires or leave a light on around the area think they will attack or let engine cool down hopefully when arrive in daylight and then put the bonnet up so there is no residual heat for them to go and stay wdrm and munch away
Thanks everyone again and will let you know of our experiences as we go if they are still around or have subsided
We were at Dunn's Swamp campground, west side of Blue Mountains, great area, but avoid school holidays.
I was standing behind the car in thongs at the boot getting some dinner ready, about 30 minutes after parking the car. Nice & warm, not too hot, not too cold...
I got a pretty big bite on the tow. Looked under the car & saw a bit of a tail hanging down from the exhaust pipe running forward from the muffler. There is a nice gap in that area to sit & observe.
The overfed possums were going to get food no matter where it comes from!
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Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
Off Topic, but Similar. and re ( the rats in particular are too wary to get caught very often.)
Talking to fellow caravanner about rats under the Bonnet, he mentioned that he recently had his hot water storage unit replaced at home and the plumber saw a rat in the cavity after the HWS removal. Bunnings ratbaits were put in the cavity and 4 to 5 weeks later no smell so he thinks maybe the rats are wary as above.
I put the Bunnings RATSAK Baits in the roof cavity near the manhole am thinking that I should also put in the roof near our HWS and in the roof above our Gas log fire, both of which are some distance away from the manhole.
RE the Bunnings Ratsak baits I prefer to use the green baits rather than the pink, to me the green have more nibbles from field mice from the reserve opposite.
hi, had our internal wiring completely destroyed on our 6 month old cx5 a few years ago in mission beach by white tailed bush rats. leave your bonnet open and if possible a light source cause they prefer the dark. And as ron said, lock your stuff up cause there are other worse rats out that way!!!!!!
I was in a mouse plague in Streaky bay a few years back. I glued rat blocks on my tyres of the van and on my car every night. never had a problem I soon realised I needed to keep the supply up, whether they smelt the blocks I am not sure, I believe it worked for me.
Getting back on topic, I have just stayed at parks in town in both Winton and Longreach and there was no sign of rats. I'm not sure whether that would have been true at the free camps just out of town. I met a chap at Longreach who had been there a month ago when the main park in town was full just after the Bash, and he reported that rats had been there and cars had been damaged. He had his bonnet up overnight with a light, but I think it was unnecessary at that stage.
