Rats...

[Zen]

I read this someplace else and copied it. Sicne there are no names, I guesss it is ok, to pass along...
--------------------------------------------
I got a couple of emails from a friend of mine about a rat problem he had. VERY FUNNY tail.... He shares a lot of good info, along with a funny story.

His name is withheld to protect the innocent!

He starts... It is now June 26 and we are STILL in Sevilla and have some problems.

We have a rat on board. A big SOB. He has been with us close to 3 weeks now and he (I Hope not a she) is one clever sucker.

He moves at night and I finally saw him yesterday. He is One Rata muy intellegente con mucho experience.

He avoids all traps, and will not touch any poison. We put that glue stuff all over the place and he can actually see and avoid that as well. I, on the other hand cannot avoid it.

Last night we set up a trap with some greasy salmon skin on it and went to bed---well there was the trap, a big piece of cardboard with glue on it and several pellets of poison all over the boat.

At 04:00 we heard the trap go off--wow, Sun Zu was right (The Art of War) greed finally overcame caution. WOW!! IT DONE!!!

Well, I get up turn on this BIG Flood light into the cabin and sure enough the trap is overturned. I go down and flip it over---NADA. I was so mad I took one step backward and stepped barefoot onto the cardboard. S_____! I pulled it off but now it's on my hands and legs. Well, I get that off. Now I can't go back to bed because I have this glue all over me. So there I am in the cockpit trying to clean this stuff off my hands and feet. Acetone won't touch it and the toluene is under our bunk. The package says soap and water--yeah---right!!! Well I had it all over the towel and the cockpit but I finally had it under control. Now I can go to bed. But then why not take a leak while I'm up----You Guessed it----. A whole other scene!

It was like a cartoon but now after 2 weeks it aint funny no mo!! The rat ate through the GPS antenna wire so now we have to get a new one. He has also eaten through the cable for the cockpit remote mic(a 100.00 cable) and also the electric bilge pump wiring. He is systematically eating the entire electrical system and we can't stop him.

We sit awake all night listening to him eat the boat. It's the only thing he will eat. I even baited a trap with electrical wire but he saw the trap.

We can't leave here until we get rid of our friend because we will not be allowed clearance into any other country with a rat "infestation" on board. They will keep you in quarantine forever.

Also, once we get rid of it I have to go and repair the entire electrical system. We can't tell for sure how much damage he has done and I can't check until he is dead because to check or repair I have to crawl and reach into some pretty tight places and I don't want to take the chance of getting bitten.

The yacht club has taken this thing very seriously to the point of honor. They hired an exterminator a week ago at their expense. No Problema-2 –3 days . Muerto! Guarantia! Well, he aint dead!

The whole club is involved and everyone has a solution: The discussions are endless and always adamant and funny.

"A Spanish rat must have Spanish Bait": The bar gave us Jamon Cerrano, Pulpo, Pincho, Gambas and all kinds of cheese. He won't touch any of it.. He has been into every food locker on board and even though it's LOADED for the coming trip, he won't touch any food at all! Just electrical wire.

One suggestion was to start up the engine and turn a hose loose inside the engine room. The rat will think the boat is sinking and run away!

The contribution from a French boat was a design for a high voltage booby trap. We set it up (took all day) but NOTHING. He would not step onto the plate.

I am waiting for a friend in the fire department to return from Germany. We have a plan to fill the boat with GAS and suffocate him (The German contribution—no lie). Everyone it seems returns to type. But strangely enough that sounds the most promising.

I am going to rent a smoke machine from a theatrical company today. If we can fill the boat with enough co2 and maintain it long enough to displace the oxygen we might be able to kill him or at least chase him out!

Meanwhile, I now know how a Matador feels when he has to fight a "Tainted" bull--one with experience.

So, as Captain of this here rat infested vessel I wish you well. Best advice—don't get a rat on board. This is the first time we have ever had a problem like this. It's been fun as we have made a lot of new friends because of it BUT I am tired of this game and seek a different set of challenges.

This is really changing things. As the season is getting later we may find ourselves stuck over here for another winter--we can always leave and travel but it would be another race with just the goal in mind not the journey--been dere don dat! It's not at all a bad place to be "stuck" it's fun enough.

We will just cruise the area here and return to Sevilla for antother winter of Flamenco. We will see. But we have to get rid of this rat and make the repairs first.

His next ----- Original Message -----

Greetings from Gibraltar. We finally departed (sadly) Sevilla August 12th. Much too late to because it gets VERY HOT there. They call it the "Frying Pan of Europe" and for good reason. Also much too late to go to Madera, be casual, avoid the really nasty weather and have any fun. So we are headed toward Morocco for a fast hit. By going there we get the boat out of the EEU and thereby get another 18 months without being liable for VAT. Gibraltar won't do. It is out of the EEU as far as everyone else in Europe is concerned EXCEPT Spain. If you try to tell them you left the EEU by going to Gib they say that you never left Spain. This fight has been going on for 500 years. Even today when planes take off from gib it's "Gear up and 90 deg to Starboard" They cannot fly over Spanish Morrocan airspace. At least we can get weather here this time around. 20 years ago the Spanish weather here was "Classified top secret". You always knew when the bad weather was coming because all the maps would dis-appear. It's during the bad weather that the invasion will come. So by denying all the yachts the weather maps the British military won't have the weather info to proceed with the invasion---. Aint politics neat. It's that kind of thinking that drove me out of the workplace.

Anyway, I digress--

Ahh poor Rochefort has gone to his eternal reward--we think! We do not know for certain that he has passed on as we never found the body--and we searched diligently believe me--

In our last episode -every sort of trap and poison and glue failed miserably. The French electrocution device sadly was a failure but we did have a lot of fun testing the conductivity of several fruits. Did you know that of all the fruits, the lowly Peach conducts more electrons than watermellon? The trap consisted of a huge stainless plate(hatch-cove) and two electrodes. One at the edge and the other in the center. The idea is that little rochefort walks onto the plate(in a small space like a Nor sea he can't avoid that you say?) the center electrode goes into the peach. The French accent makes it all the better--"the rat he step on zee plate. As soon as zee tongue just touche le peche--TAK! Il est mort. Zee muscles of zee rat constrict and he can not remove his tonge. It is zee fact NON? Zee current pass from zee pied to zee tongue right tru zee eart NON? C'est manifique! Allors!!

We worked all day on that trap and all night we could hear little Rochefort running and leaping about but never onto the plate. Michele was sooooo dispondant. It was like he lost the French revolution.

The Germans boat wanted GAS--no lie--Close up the boat and connect the exhaust of a car to a hose--they had a lot of practice at that. The fire department wanted CO2(MY choice). And just at that point the exterminator returned with 2 large tomatoes and a bag of poison "sufficient pro uno Toro 750kg. Well we cut dem tomatoes and mixed in dat pizon andi smeared that stuff EVERYWHERE!!!!! Top of the fuel tank, electrical wires lockers---there was no way he--or we for that matter could step anywhere in that boat without walking through this stuff. Then when he cleans himself as all good rats do--he will ingest it weather he wants to or not. The same can be said for us as well. This boat was becoming a dangerous place. But on the bright side, if we were any larger we would have needed 4 tomatoes--and the expense?!

Also, at this time it got VERY hot in sevilla--over 100F and we were broadside to the sun so we cooked Prt side all morning and Stbd side all afternoon. Thank GOD for the 3 swimming pools.

Well, he departed as mysteriously as he came. We know not where! He may have gotten sick and left us to die decently in obscurity or maybe it was just too hot or uncomfortable smelling all those different poisons all mixed together. I know it was sure making us sick!

But he left! Then the clean up and repairs began. We had to systematically unload every locker to clean up poison and search for the body before the smell drove us out. It took us two solid weeks and we found NOTHING that is except damage.

The repairs took another two weeks and that was almost lethal. Lying on my back in the engine room something fell into my mouth and I almost swallowed a piece of one of those tomatoes but I spit it out just in time!!

So--three weeks to get rid of him, two weeks to clean up and two more weeks to re-wire--whew! We were now ready to go but now I needed to top up on Kerosene for the stove. It was so simple--I found a drogeria right off-Parafina para Fuego--no problema! 25L Minimum 65 Euros(80.00US) OK Gotta cook and 25 L will get us through to December. I ran, got it and threw it into the tank. Ellen lights the stove and WHAM!!!!!Bloosh!!!!The whole stove goes up!! I check the container--It says on the top Parafina! On the side Aciete Minerale Blanco! I called back. Si! Esta parafina parafuego "Syntetico" El Mellor por la Torcha. Tu Gusta? Yeah, Mi Gusta! It works beautifully in anything that is unpressurized. but under pressure WOW! Full Afterburner!! It was like James Bond!

So, now we still cant leave because we cant cook. Eat out. Tapas every night--aw gee thats too bad!

Well it all had to go. We had no cooking fuel and no one in Sevilla had anything except this stuff until fall. So once again the entire Yacht Club took it as a point of honor. We turned that place into a chemical factory. The only thing left was Jet fuel but i was afraid of it because "AV GAS" will work but i did not want to go down the road of languages a second time so we settled on regular diesel fuel. It worked well enough but was dirty-but we could cook so we could leave. We finally found some kerosene in Gibraltar and i bought 10 Gal of the stuff. That will get us to December when the Spanish heating season is in full swing and we can get real kerosene there again as they use it in the heaters.

I gotta say it has been quite a fight and quite an adventure but we shure had a heck of a lot of fun!

Is that cruzin baby? or what!?!

So, we are in gib sitting out a levanter and testing our new wind generator and solar panel.

We will see.

Now, some observations for you:

1. Rat guards.-Were never really an issue but now they are!

2. Screens--not for bugs but rats----even the companionway and hatches when we are off the boat.

G.

[captedteach]

Didnt see where they tried Peanut Butter anywhere - Werks everytime even when my cats dont

[Zen]

After finding this writing, I came across some other stuff on rats aboard. Two of them said Peanutbutter was the best, but... use it with gauze wrapped around it with a piece going around the trigger. Reason the rats can be so soft mouthed, that  they can eat the PB without setting off the trap. the other was placing the PB inside some soft cloth for the same reason. I have used PB for years on mouse traps. Thinking back now, sometimes the PB would be gone and the trap still set. I would go :o  ???  >:(  ;D

On the topic. I do not have any uninvited guest on s/v Zen, but, I may need some barriers at some point. I saw someone had put funnels on their dock lines. It took me  ??? awhile to figure out what they were for. Then the light went on  8)...ah  :D rodent guards.

What do you guys do do?  ???

[s/v Faith]

Great story Zen,

  Thanks.

I have not had any trouble with rats yet.  In my experience they just want their commission, and pretty much could care less about the boat (or the buyer, or seller).  You might avoid dealing with them if you can just sell it yourself.....  ;D

[Zen]

 ;D ;D

[krissteyn]

Had a big hairy (in patches) male on board when in Ft Lauderdale - before I could get histerical - he left.  I breathed a sigh of releaf and cast off the lines rapido - when I bought my boat, the rats had munched everything (got it cheap) and I re-plumbed/wired EVERYTHING - so it was all new.

Rats are very dangerous - boat on the hook is good.

A lot of larger boats put up rat guards on the lines and then a safety mat/net  under the companion-way - Go Figure ???