This is a huge rat. We had a staring match, which I lost, when she jumped up on the table while I was having my first cup of coffee. I jumped up, she jumped off and ran away. I set out traps, baited with corn, and found this the next morning. These rat traps are wickedly good, if the animal enters. Quick death.
The pack rats, however, are scrabbling throughout the truck bed at night. Peppermint doesn’t work, traps don’t catch them, dryer sheets don’t work, a lantern lit all night didn’t work. I have put up everything that they might be attracted to. They just eat something else. Anything to shorten their teeth. They have chewed the phone case, my glasses and even ate two sets of ear buds. They even chewed parts of 2 rat traps and didn’t set them off. Just chewed them enough so they can no longer be used.
The morning walks are so satisfying. I love the light in the desert. I am loving this wandering around so much. I have scoped out some more gold prospecting areas nearby. So far I have a fine collection of beer cans, barbed wire and pieces of metal. It does not discourage me since there are miles and miles of places to keep looking.
Truck Camper Hints 
I found a nest in my truck camper cabin air filter while in northern Arizona. So I started spraying ammonia/water solution on the tires after reading your previous blog post.
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I think that the ammonia works with mice., but the drought is making the rodents hungrier. Ammonia Didn’t work with pack rats or kangaroo rats. I accidentally spilled some bleach last night and had no scratching/scrabbling of tiny feet during the night. Hmm. I will keep the blog updated on the rodent trials. Thanks for reading and commenting!
On Sun, Dec 6, 2020 at 6:35 PM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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Definitely going to follow your blog!
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Thanks! Got another huge rat this morning. Hate hate killing them, but no repellent was working and I was losing precious things. Sad.
On Thu, Dec 3, 2020 at 12:16 AM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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Wishing you good luck finding that massive chunk of gold amidst the barbed wire.
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Awww What a sweet wish. Thank you. I’ll let you know when it happens.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 3:58 PM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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Can’t help but giggle- hard! It’s frustrating and entertaining I imagine.
The desert morning light is exquisite. Glad you’re having fun!❤️
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I love love love living outdoors. Even with pack rats and rat rats.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 3:53 PM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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HAhahaha, big feral cat would do the job! We used to have great luck with putting peanut butter and foil on the cheap old school big wire and wood traps made for big rats. They love the shiny and PB. My ex just used that same method and caught 5 in one week. 🤞 😉 good luck!
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Pack rats have passed up several helpings of very yummy peanut butter. Aargh.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 1:55 PM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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I think the tin foil helps spark their curiosity? I could be wrong, but shiny is always good 😌
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I will try tin foil. Thanks Cindy
On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 6:41 PM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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I hear your pain when discussing pack rats! We found a nest they had made in our woodshed (in Colorado) out of 10 penny nails! They are really hard ass! Good luck finding something to deter them!
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A cat. A big, feral cat.
On Tue, Dec 1, 2020 at 11:30 AM Truck Camper Hints wrote:
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