Date:         Sun, 3 Aug 2008 18:30:05 -0600
Reply-To:     ken fischman <jerry233@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         ken fischman <jerry233@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      rodents in pantry
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Couldn't find postings on this important subject so here goes.
Was camping in our 87 Westfalia near the Escalante River in southern Utah
last May when we returned from an overnight backpack to find the food in our
pantry (under the sink) ravaged by unknown assailants; small turds indicated
mice. So the rest of the trip we had mousetraps set and they would go off
randomly as food shifted during the drive, but no mouse. Left the baited
traps in for weeks after we returned home to Boise but still nothing.
So now, 2 months later, we leave the van parked at the portage into Murtle
Lake in Wells Gray Park in BC. When we returned the 2 pounds of peanuts in
the shell we had in the pantry looked like they had been run over by a large
truck. Devastation. Heartbreak.
Two theories. It was the same mouse who had gone into a state of
semi-hibernation waiting for food supply to return. Or two, new mouse,
attracted to the smell of peanuts wafting through the air and he gained
access to our pantry . . . how?
This is the question I pose. Anybody with thoughts on how a small rodent
gets from outside to inside, and we are sure he/she didn't come through the
door. Are there openings under the van we should be trying to close off?
They couldn't climb up the side and come through the fridge vent and then to
the food? Rest of the trip south, no sign of mouse.
Any ideas greatly appreciated.
Jerry
Boise, Idaho