I have a varmet!

[tprkevin]

There is some kind of animal that keeps getting under my home and scratches at night. I think it may be a cat but don't know, any ideas on how to keep it out, any skirting tricks so he can't get under?
Or should I just shoot it!

[Greg]

Make sure your skirting is sealed tight with no holes, also mothballs under the home usually keeps critters out. Greg

[PennylessZ28]

Could be a rat or mouse, have known quite a few of them that get and make their way into air ducting under homes. Sounds like scratching. Thats them digging their way through something!

Shoot it.

[tprkevin]

yeah I think it is feild mice or mice! I hear scratching, The skirting on soft dirt so it seems it would be easy for him to get under there, any ideas, good bait, traps, will moth balls work?

[Yanita]

Hi,

Put a layer of pea stone or other decorative stone around your home next to the bottom of the skirting.

As said before make sure that your skirting is in good condition and no holes. If you have holes Mark has some stick it and forget tape in the BOOKS/PARTS link above. Works well on vinyl siding.

Do not poison anything that may be under the home. This could cause them to die in there, and locating them is not an easy task. Bait traps if necessary. Mothballs are another good deterrent.

~Yanita~

[Maureen]

Yep, pea gravel under the lower end of your skirting will help a lot. Of course, this means digging a trench and filling it in. Follow Mark's instructions that Yanita mentioned.

There is tons of valuable info under the articles link above!

Solid skirting and a solid belly material will keep most critters out of your home. This needs to be checked at least 4 times a year to make sure it's all still intact.

Solid, good skirting around the home and a belly in perfect condition will keep most critters out.

I also spread a few moth balls under the home every 3 months.

It's kept us critter free so far.

Maureen

[Yanita]

Hi,

For our singlewide we never dug a trench..we went to Lowe's and bought a few bundles of damaged shingles (cheap). Laid them on the ground tight to the skirting and then poured bags of stone on top of that. Looked great and nothing dug under the home.

~Yanita~