Dear RV Shrink:
I am having problems with a couple of pack rats in and around my RV. One of them is a furry rodent and the other one is my husband.
When we first started spending winters in the Desert Southwest we noticed many other RVers using various lighting around their rigs. While on our nightly speed walk around the campground, it reminded us of the TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight.” We finally were told that the reason for all the lights was to fend off pack rats that would nest in engines or chew electrical wiring.
I don’t know if lights work or not, but my husband has no doubts. He has lit up the night sky with rope lights, solar flame lights, flashing LEDs, and motion-sensing floodlights. He never throws anything away so we have bins bulging in our motorhome. Before we were full-timers our garage looked the same way. He would go to the dump with one load and come home with two.
So, my question for you is two-fold. Do pack rats damage RVs, or is this a vicious rumor started by lighting companies? Also, should I stealthily start jettisoning some of my husband’s collection of “STUFF,” or just let it go and see how much he can cram into our rolling home on wheels?
When he gets into a hobby or interest, he goes “all in.” My biggest fear is he will become interested in lapidary and we will end up with a “Rock Star” bus, or worse yet we will be known as the “Rolling Stones.” I’m tired of living with a hoarder by the border. Help me please, but don’t use my real name. —Magpie
Dear Magpie:
The Rolling Stones might be your salvation. They say a rolling stone gathers no moss. I am not sure about rat lights and all the other things your husband clings to.
Let’s start with the easy answer. Yes, rat lights work. I know for a fact that before I had rope lights under my rig I had a pack rat nest and none since. That is enough proof for me. My friend, parked right next to me this year in Arizona, ended up with $1,400 worth of engine wiring repair work. He is now lit up like a Christmas tree. (Well, his RV is, anyway.)
As for your husband’s excessive hoarding, it may be genetic. Just as that innocent little rodent can’t help himself, your husband might just have a chromosome linked to compulsive hoarding. He is most likely thinking he will need one of the items he is hanging onto in the future. In my lifetime, I have noticed this with people that lived through the Depression of the ’30s. My dad would even keep bent nails once he extracted them from a board.
You might try reasoning with him. How about a little “spring cleaning.” Go through everything and make him explain his reason for hanging on to it. Tell him you will get better mileage if you get rid of some ballast. See what he’s carrying that would be considered dual-purpose or redundant. You may be surprised how much decluttering you can do by working together on this project. It sounds like you must have been successful when you sold your house and had a garage to clear out.
You might want to suggest some light-throttling also. It doesn’t take an airport runway lighting system to discourage a pack rat. Consider the neighbors who are near you looking for some dark sky experiences. There are fewer and fewer places to enjoy the night sky. Having some light polluter parked next door can quickly ruin an evening of sitting around a dark campfire watching the stars drift by. You should have no problem if your husband is only half-lit. —Keep Smilin’, Richard Mallery a.k.a. Dr. R.V. Shrink
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OMG it’s a man thing. We stayed all winter in an RV park at quartzite. So we got the 20 feet of pipe to use the TV antenna. When we left hubby goes to herbs and buys a saw to make 2 cuts in the pipe. My question- don’t you think the manager here has a saw you could use for less than 5 min? Don’t you have at least 8 at home base? Answer I might need it before we get to home base . Gah I give up
the lighting solution DID NOT WORK for us…we tried EVERYTHING (bounce sheets, cab-fresh, irish spring, peppermint oil, rubber snakes, plastic owls, coyote urine, lights, sonic repellents) to discourage the rats who took up residence in our RV and caused over $20,000 worth of damage…the last resort was poison bait (sorry, but we can’t afford another bill like that)
I always found that when I finally get rid of something…I need it the next day lol.
I live in the Arizona desert and use a rope light set to “blink” under all my vehicles. No damage in the four or five years I’ve been doing this, around $2K in repairs before we tried “blinking” lights. The flashing must be so unnatural to them they go somewhere else.
James Kane
I don’t think asking her husband the purpose of each item is going to work. Years ago we parked our boat in my father-in-laws barn. When we came back in the spring we spent half a day cleaning the junk from around the boat so we could get it out. As we are cleaning, I found a box full of empty Pringles cans. ” Why are you keeping these”, I asked my father-in-law? He said, ” they are good for storing welding rods”. “Ok”, I said, ” but don’t your welding rods come in a metal can?”. “They do” he replied, “but if they DIDN’T, you could use Pringles cans.”
It is easy to start storing thing you may need someday. I have ended up with three to four flashlights in my different vehicles. Usually because I can’t remember where I left it the last time I used it so I go get another one, or buy a new one then find the old one. Have the same problem with weather gauges with remotes. always find one in the store on clearance sale ,(might need it latter)
I tend to have a little bit of hoarding issues with tech. “I might need this router later” or, more likely, it’s a hassle to sell it. The wife will ride me every quarter or so until I break down and get rid of stuff. It’s actually a good process for me, because I start thinking “do I need to buy this?” more frequently so I don’t get stuck having to toss it later.
How about if it is dark sky area, no lights. If you are worried about your RV go to a park.