Did I tell you I hate squirrels?

[Gentleladybear]

Had a short trip planned. We got Deb home from the hospital and her daughter came up to stay with her. So I went out to wash my little motorhome and get it ready to roll. Noticed that pine staw was sticking out from under the hood, opened it up and a squirrel had filled my engine from top to bottom, side to side with leaves and pine straw and limbs. not twigs limbs!! Cleaned it all out, he had chewed some of the wiring and covers. My Son taped those up for me.

So off on my trip I went, leaving early Wednesday, got to my destination in Jacksonville, Fl, got parked, hooked up to water and electric in the grassy area they had for us at the convention center. Decided it was going to be a bit hot by afternoon, so put my awning out and went in to my first meeting. Was there about an hour, and two men came in to get me. Figured ok, I must have done something wrong. They both said we have a bit of news about your motorhome, the awning is on the roof. Couldn't believe that a wind had come up out of nowhere and ripped that awning right off the motorhome and put the whole thing on the roof. They changed clothes and got up on the roof to get it down, unscrewing everything and then dropped it down. It peeled the rubber roof back The awning is a pile of rubble. So have contacted my insurance company, took it to the local RV dealer and he is going to deal with the insurance company on this.

If that wasn't enough, went back to my evening meeting, by that time a girlfriend had gotten there to stay with me, we were rushing. Got to the meeting reached down to check for my keys and they are still on the bed. I went back out, got the guy who helped me with the awning and he shimmied through a window and got me back inside.

BUT my candidate won!!! So this was all worth the problems.

Deb still continues her healing, but I do ask that you keep her in your prayers.
Nan

[Liz]

Whew! I'm exhausted just reading about your troubles. Sooo sorry about all of it, especially the damaged awning. Your squirrels remind me of the mice on my refrigerator when I bought the PW. Those rodents are destructive little things! One thing I haven't done is practice putting my awning out and back in. Not sure I want to after reading this.

All in all, I'm glad you had a chance to get away for a short trip and that at least something went your way! Praying still for Deb.

[retiredhappy]

Because its always windy in Texas I never go off and leave awning out. I usually don't even leave it out when I go to bed - hve been outside at 3am putting awning because the wind came up.

My friends had squirrels completely chew up the plastic frig cover on top of their rig. Put moth balls on roof, Bounce inside all compartments INCLUDING engine compartment, I also put 2" pieces of flea collars inside outside compartments to discourage insects. One of my coach batteries is located under the step coming into the RV - had major problem with mice there.

Had a friend at Guadalupe who requested a site with trees. Moved after a month - got tired of the "thump then pitter patter of little feet running across the roof" when they jumped from the trees to the roof of her RV .

[Cedar518]

Squirrels,. had 'em in my attic and hated it. Can't imagine them in my camper. But I just opened my Chalet for the season and find that for the first time the "meeece" have visited. No major damage,... just some paper towels shredded and a little shredding on my mattress topper. Time for a new one anyhow!

So sorry about the awning,... that's tough. I hope your insurance comes through for you. Good luck!

[rvgrammy1953]

Nan....so sorry to hear all your critter problems.....have yet to deal with squirrels, but have dealt with mice!!! Holy Cow, they sure do make a mess So, I'm a big fan of moth balls (even if they are toxic), but they do the job on mice.....We had to replace our awning about 2 weeks after we bought the new 5er...we had it set up for a nephew and family to use over the weekend in our seasonal campground....all pretty to include the awning out....then we had a wing-dinger of a thunderstorm...no high winds, but it rain so much that it filled the awning, even at a big tilt at one end .....Ernie says then....that's why we have insurance, and also got a center bar for the 17' 6" awning.....repair guy said that legally, manufactors do not have to include a center bar if the awning is less than 18ft.....but we got one now.....

Hope everything is all better now....and glad your person won!!!

[snowball]

Squarrels chewed the hose that the fluid goes through for the slides ....they don't work if there is no fluid!!!
dh did a bandaide for it got the slide in moved to dd's and out then he took the hose somewhere got it repaired then back in
the only thing not looking forward to when we go work camp this summer
sheila

[Nasoosie]

Oh Nan! What a nightmare!

BUT, the good news about Deb came through, loud and clear....I will keep that part of your message in my mind as I go back to the pond!

[Gentleladybear]

Worked quickly yesterday after speaking with my insurance company, dumped my tanks, got the inside cleaned out and drove it to our local RV dealer, a person I have known for years. He said the rubber roof has to be replaced as it was torn when the awning came off. Also, the awning company that produces the awning like I have was in Mexico and it burned to the ground about 4 days ago. So he will have to work on getting the awning like I have to replace mine. So I get a new roof, probably new covers, those were broken and a new awning. So on the bright side, the unit is 6 years old, now it will be like new again.

I asked him if he was like the auto dealers, that he had a unit to loan me, I have another trip planned in May, he laughed and said he wouldn't disable mine until I got back off my trip.

But I still hate those little furry critters, got leaves apparently in the intake fan area for my AC so have to have that cleaned out too.

Think I should buy stock in the moth ball company.

Nan

[WickedLady]

Bay leaves do a pretty good job of keeping critters out of places they don't belong in. Had a chipmonk try nesting in the hood insulation of my car's engine. The little beasty left it alone once I put bay leaves in there.

[Liz]

I will try the Bay Leaves! I just yesterday looked at moth balls in the store and after reading all the poison warnings on them, decided not to buy them.

[Redetotry]

Glad to see wickedlady's bay leaves suggestion before you all kill yourselves with all the combo of chemicals fighting critters! Stop a minute and think over any health problems you may have (think asthma, headaches/sinus infection/depression/ lack of energy/ and also any problems/symptoms your pets might be experiencing. It could be caused from widely available products you would never consider to be health risks. There are safer choices out there and they are thankfully now more easily found.

If in doubt about a product do a google search like "is (name of product) safe"? You will all be amazed at what you find allowed for use, especially those little white sheets that you are stuffing everywhere for the mice and using in your laundry. If anyone is interested PM me and I'll send some links.