critters

How do you guys deal with the local various critters getting into your camper? Things like rattle snakes, scorpians, or tarantulas or any other critters. Are you able to keep them out and if so how?

Uh, dang! Where do you live?? Oh, Ohio. Uh, rattlesnakes, scorpions and tarantulas? Really? I get little spiders and flies and such, but I've sure never seen a tarantula or snake in my trailer. We have lots of Copperheads and Water Moccasins around the house, but they've never gotten in the trailer...or house for that matter. Wow!

I doubt that you will ever have to worry about any of the critters that you have mentioned. Probably the worst thing that might get into your camper will be a mouse. Mice can be a real problem.

If I think insects (ants, spiders, etc.) will be a problem I spray a product called Bug Stop around the landing gear, stabilizers, and the tires. Other than the occasional fly or wasp, the only insects we've had to deal with inside the trailer in numbers were no-see-ums, and lady bugs. We were swarmed with lady bugs last fall. We had to live with the lady bugs until we came back from the trip and I was able to set off a bug fogger inside the trailer.

If you do find a rattlesnake, scorpion, or tarantula inside your trailer, chances are someone ticked off at you put it there.

The only problem we have is bird nests in the pin box. I tried the old wives tale of putting moth balls in there...and so far no nests.

John

I once seen a Purple Unicorn in our old 5er but it may have been the wild shrooms we ate on our burgers that evening.

I did have a salesman tell us about a brand new Outback 5er they had just received. He was showing it to a couple the same day it arrived. Upon entering the first time he said a large copperhead was laying directly in the middle of the floor. The couple actually bought the camper!

Anybody who's watched the move "RV" knows that coons can find a way into your oven. Smoke bombs work!!

Seriously, you're more likely to have critters getting into things that are left laying around the camp site. I have a friend, who to this day, STILL thumps his boots to make sure nothing's crawled in them before he pulls them on. Having said that, for the most part, four legged critters will not come into camp unless they've been fed by previous campers, or they're looking for a free meal at your expense. 99% of the time, they want to stay as far away from humans as possible, unless something smells REALLY good!! Slithering critters, or those with more than four legs are usually looking for a place to call home. Go around your RV and use expansion foam anywhere you can see daylight. Otherwise, just keep things outside your RV closed tight and kept up off the ground whenever possible.

Now, when you camp in bear country, post again, and we'll go through ALL the things you need to do to keep THOSE critters out!!

TC

You were right, I am from Ohio and thanks guys for the info but it was definately a concern of ours having not spent much time in the southwest we didn't know exactly what we would be faced with critter wise. Thanks for all the responses.

OH, your headed to texas. Now thats a different story.


Just kidding. You shouldn't have a problem. Ants will probably be your worst creature you encounter. Sometimes you'll get to a campsite and see sugar ants by the millions. I keep a handy can of ant spray in the side box and spray the landing gear, tires , sewer hose and rear stabilizers. anything touching the ground that they can climb up on.

I haven't run across racoons that raid your cooler since I used to canoe /tent camp all the time. But I've come across some of those little bandits that will raid your cooler and look at you like " yea, what you gonna do sport , I got your stuff. "
I've seen'em undo a bungee cord before. They're right crafty.

TC, I still thump my boots from canoe/tent camping. Had a friend that got bit on the foot by a brown recluse "spell check" , that was pretty nasty. And those are pretty common. I check my lounge chairs when I set them out also.

Oh, and on the lake here at home, a anaconda was spotted a couple of times swimming across the lake , a sheriff deputy just happened to spot him one day and shot it from the bridge. I think they said it was about 8' foot long. Somebody had let it go. Man how would you like to look over swimming in the lake and see a anaconda coming for ya ?

I have a 12 Ga. magnum, 18" barrel, with 1 1/4 ounce slugs to keep the
grizzly bears and moose out. Although the guy next to me plinks
every squirrel he sees with an air rifle.

Honestly the most problem we've ever had was dropping one of the
landing gear down on top of an ants nest in Florida. Took until
the next winter to be rid of them. Poison mostly kept them in
check, but a -20F winter really did them under. I've seen
scorpions in Arizona, found a desicated lizard buried way down in the
folds of the hideabed. A cat helps also.

Having relatives in S. California, we make the trip out west occasionally. We've never had any problems with critters. Of course, we look around before we step out the door.

The only critters we had were some tiny ants back by the desk. By the time we found them, they were hitchhikers. A can of spray inside and out got rid of them fast.

We have fire ants here in TX, and we make sure that anything they can climb up on is sprayed (tires, jacks, cords, etc.). So far, no problems.

We visit friends in Florida and stay in a campground on a channel. That's another place we look carefully out the door. We've seen alligators in the swamp from the safety of their boat, and we've seen them in the marina, but never near our campsite - although we've heard stories of them coming up.

We had a cute skunk come by every morning one time when we were staying in our favorite local campground. We enjoyed watching from inside, and hoped nothing scared or startled him. I think his picture is in the campground reviews section.

Anaconda? While surfing through tv channels once, I saw about 3 minutes of that movie - that was enough.

Tater

Did you see the picture of the anaconda in the florida everglades that tried to swallow a gator, the gator clawed its way out of the belly before it died still in its throat.

Tom, if you read this , a friend of mine said they killed a gator down from the campground where ya'll stayed here in M'ville. it was walking down the road. I guess looking for another pond. They're taking over just about every pond around here.

That sounds familiar, Phillip. Very scary.

Tater