Pack Rats in Green Valley (HOA, townhome, neighborhood)

[lesharona]

I am considering buying a townhome with a beautiful panoramic view of the Santa Rita Mountains
from the patio. I am hesitating because the home has a carport and not a garage. I know pack
rats can get into your car engine and chew up wires. How big of problem are they if you are parking
in a carport?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by lesharona

I am considering buying a townhome with a beautiful panoramic view of the Santa Rita Mountains
from the patio. I am hesitating because the home has a carport and not a garage. I know pack
rats can get into your car engine and chew up wires. How big of problem are they if you are parking
in a carport?

Yes, they are a problem. Everybody has a different solution from the use of coyote urine to the use of snakes which is the quickest and most natural solution to the problem.

I would recommend the following which will pretty much eliminate the problem.

1) Never leave any food in the car overnight. While that is not a major issue in pack rats (but does impact mice).

2) Place a light under the vehicle to make sure that the area is lighted.

3) Drive your cars several times a week. Pack rats prefer cars that are parked for weeks.


If you have wires chewed upon, head to the local Honda dealership as they sell a capsaicin laced tape that discourages gnawing by rodents.

Hope that helps.

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Yes, they are a problem. Everybody has a different solution from the use of coyote urine to the use of snakes which is the quickest and most natural solution to the problem.

I would recommend the following which will pretty much eliminate the problem.

1) Never leave any food in the car overnight. While that is not a major issue in pack rats (but does impact mice).

2) Place a light under the vehicle to make sure that the area is lighted.

3) Drive your cars several times a week. Pack rats prefer cars that are parked for weeks.


If you have wires chewed upon, head to the local Honda dealership as they sell a capsaicin laced tape that discourages gnawing by rodents.

Hope that helps.

These are all excellent solutions. I tired the strobe light under the hood and that did not seem to work. I also tried Irish Spring soap in a sock and that did not work. A bright light under the car did seem to work for me. Some people say to leave the hood at least partially up, but a lot of newer cars have lights under the hood when they are open, and you do not want to drain your battery. You might consider budgeting to enclose the carport or find a home with a garage. Also, I suggest working with a pest control company to inspect your property to see if you have any nests on your property, and get those cleaned up, but if you live in a densely populated neighborhood, the pack rats could come from a neighbors property. All the best to you in your property search!!!

[509]

Originally Posted by lesharona

I am considering buying a townhome with a beautiful panoramic view of the Santa Rita Mountains
from the patio. I am hesitating because the home has a carport and not a garage. I know pack
rats can get into your car engine and chew up wires. How big of problem are they if you are parking
in a carport?

You need to remove their habitat first.


Second you need to kill them.



Lights do NOT work.


Opening the hood does work.


Watch the video and go to his web site. Lots of info on pack rats and how to deal with them.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOdt4G2uVAQ


It seems that lots of people enjoy living with pack rats. My neighbors keep their lights on, but refuse to kill them. Their cars get chewed.


It is not a simple solution, but easily to eliminate them. The trick is their habitat. In my case, the neighbor provides the perfect food and shelter for pack rats.



After I kill the pack rats....a new family moves in a week or so!!



Nope, they don't want to remove the Cholla (food) or Prickly Pear (shelter).



Anyway, the Mr. Packrat site has good information.



Follow the science.


Oh, almost forgot. Get a wildlife camera and set it up.



I got lots of pictures of pack-rats under my neighbors RV and their lights. You will learn a lot. Get a wildlife trap and bait with peanut butter. Dunk the entire trap in a water filled container and drown them. Killing things is no fun. Drowning is quick and easy.

[wildflowers27]

There are a couple garage/carports I've seen that have a full garage door and then open or partial walls on two or three sides, and they've screened all the sides (one added a screen door for easier access to the house). I thought this might be to prevent either pack rats or bee swarms. Would depend on HOA rules whether you could do this but it would maybe solve the problem.

[steiconi]

I've been using a "Dunk the Rat" trap for a few months. It has caught 17 pack rats and several mice. We bait with bananas and peanut butter.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YfaDQJVplYI

[adventuregurl]

I have a carport and live on an area that's open to nature and a mountain, pretty much exactly the same as in Green Valley but further north. There are pack rats here too (they mark my deck like crazy in the spring/summer and fall). I went to Ace Hardware, and for $50 or so, bought a "Rid-A-Rat" and had it installed under the hood. It works off the car battery (but is not a drain on it) and it flashes constantly keeping them away.

[steiconi]

We kept the hood up, installed a flashy thing on the battery, and put lights under the car.
So the pack rats nested on top of the fuel tank, cosily away from the light, and ate the fuel pump wires. Twice.

You really have to get rid of the rats. Clear out any habitat, catch and kill the critters.

[wildflowers27]

This may be a dumb question, but does a fully enclosed garage take care of it? Or do they still somehow find a way in through nooks and crannies. (Bart, I thought you have a fully enclosed garage which is why I'm asking)

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by wildflowers27

This may be a dumb question, but does a fully enclosed garage take care of it? Or do they still somehow find a way in through nooks and crannies. (Bart, I thought you have a fully enclosed garage which is why I'm asking)

I do not see any sign of rats or mice in either of my enclosed garages. I would strongly suggest keeping the doors closed when not pulling your car in or our. If you have pack rats, you will probably have snakes as well, so one way or another, you have to get rid of the rats. We have a rodent service who charges to remove pack rats nests per nest within an agreed upon circumference, then we pay $50 dollars a month for a service where they come every two months and check for anything new or re-constituted within that circumference, and remove them at no charge. This seems to have worked well for us and we agreed on a 100' circumference. They trap the rats, then remove the initial nests based on small, medium and large. The price was an average of $110/nest a few years ago, and we initially had 17 rats trapped, and nests removed.