Repel RV Invaders!

If you’re old enough to remember the corny TV thriller, The Invaders, you recall that “David Vincent has seen them. He knows that they are here.” We’re old enough to remember David Vincent, but you don’t need to be ancient like us to have seen RV invaders: You know when they are here. Yep, ants, wasps, and rodents aplenty can make your RV lifestyle a bit on the miserable side from time to time. Here’s a few tips, both new and old, that you may find workable:

Ants: These little devils follow scent trails left by scouts. If you can cover the scent trail, sometimes you can stop the rest of the crashers from making it to the party. Or maybe they just don’t like powder. We, at one time, recommended shaking chlorine containing cleansing powders around anything from your RV that touched the ground: Landing jacks, hoses, electrical cables, etc. We’ve tried it, and it seems to work. However a few of our readers were a bit hacked by the idea, suggesting we don’t know how to go green. Here are some alternative suggestions.

Instead of using Ajax or whatever, try diatomaceous earth (from the garden and nursery store) or even baking flour. Our readers say ants just seem to hate to cross over powders. Others suggested borate powder–done that too–but that stuff might likewise be considered anything but earth or pet friendly. Use this information at your own risk!

Wasps: Yep, those pesky stinging flyers just seem to love the scent of LP gas, and they’ll buzz on into your furnace and other propane appliance vents, build a little mud nest, and ruin your whole day. One RVing buddy of ours couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t get much heat of his furnace, went outside to investigate the vent, and practically took his death scare when the furnace backfired. Seems a dauber nest was clogging up the works. We still haven’t heard of any herbal or chemical nostrums that will run off the wasps. Yep, there are little screens you can get to put on your vents, but here’s the caution: Take them OFF when running the appliance.

Rodents: Ralph, Mickey, and other mischievous rodent folks can really ruin your day–and in some cases your health. Keeping them out of the RV is a must. We’ve lectured on and on about stuffing every crack and orifice with steel wool to keep these characters out, but sometimes these rodents seem to seep in like vapor. Once you’ve stuffed cracks to your heart’s content, it’s time for a rope trick.

Nah, we’re not talking any common hemp-hustler’s trick here. If your rig is in a spot where you have access to plentiful shore power, get yourself a round of rope lights, the kind of stringers some folks use at Christmas time, or stick around their patio. String out a full circle of rope lights on the ground around your rig. The reasoning goes that most rodents ply their trade at night, and simply refuse to cross a lighted trail. Many RVers swear by this, but we haven’t had a rodent problem recently enough to try it ourselves.

Rattlesnakes and Coyotes: This may seem like a reach, but years ago when we boondocked every winter in LaPosa South, outside of Quartzsite, there was a character who tented out there. He liked neither coyotes or rattlers, and to keep them at bay, he filled empty milk jugs with water to hold them down, then spaced them out on the ground around his campsite every few feet. Again, he told folks that snakes and ‘yotes wouldn’t cross his seeming magic circle.  Haven’t seen the guy in a while, seems to me somebody said maybe he was off to the hospital for a dose of rattlesnake anti-venom . . .

photos: mouse & ants, U.S. Government; coyote, R&T DeMaris