3 Easy Ways for Sportsmen to Mouse and Rat Proof Hunting Gear

BISMARCK, N.D., Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — You paid a fortune for it; Camping gear, hunting gear, fishing gear, boating gear. But between seasons, you need to store it— and that’s great news for mice and rats looking for a place to set up winter camp.

They’ll honor your generosity, and appreciate the undisturbed environment your hunting gear, sports attire, and remote cabin offers. They’ll even leave a gift behind to further aggravate you. You may’ve even found yourself in the same shoes as America’s original hunting videographers Dan and Guy Fitzgerald:

Mice and rats will find their way in through the tiniest opening of your boats, RV’s and ATV’s. Every time they leave, they’ll drizzle a fresh urine trail so they can sniff their way back home to your engine compartment or inside what used to be your seat.

Mice and rats will shred your soft gear— sleeping bags, life jackets, seat cushions— to make their love nests. Two mice can make 15,000 babies, grandbabies, and great-grandbabies in just one year— in your stuff!

Mice and rats can unknowingly spread diseases to you or your hunting dog. And the poisons traditionally used to control mice and rats can accidentally poison your pedigreed gun dog. Brittany Spaniel gun dog trainer for the stars, Bill Dillon of frenchbrittany.com shared the dangers of mice and rat poisons to dogs with Woody Mueller at ‘Game Fair’ 2011.

If you don’t mouse and rat proof your cabin, RV, ATV, hunting gear, and dog kennels area, chances are pretty good that you’ll have a stinky, chewed up, screwed-up mouse mess come next season.

Here are three safe, easy ways to persuade mice and rats to spend their winter somewhere other than your property:

1. Clean the gear and the entire storage area. Remove all food that might attract rodents, which usually feed within 20 feet of their nest. Get every one of those sunflower seeds that wound up in the seat cushion, and check all pack pockets for that forgotten sack of trail mix.
2. Remove any source of water nearby. A tiny water puddle is all mice and rats need to survive. Without a supply of food and water, your battle’s almost won.
3. Finally, place the #1 trusted repellent inside the storage area to drive off freeloading mice and rats who want to live in your cabin, RV or hunting gear. Fresh Cab^® botanical rodent repellent is the only proven, EPA-registered rodent repellent created specifically for enclosed spaces. Fresh Cab^® is Good Sam Club member-tested and approved for campers, #1 on the USDA animal repellent list, and farmers everywhere rely on Fresh Cab^® to store their expensive equipment.

Visit www.www.earthkind.com for helpful tips and videos on protecting your outdoor gear with Fresh Cab^®, and to find store locations in your area.