Stinking mink infestation

[BGW]

Hi there,

Has anyone else had a problem with mink or other vermin getting in their Ranger?

I leave my R-27 in the water all winter. I’ve been aware of mink pooping on the aft deck (I thought it was otter until today). I correctly surmised they were getting on board through the flap over the aft cleat. I have a thick tech cable supplying shore power so it’s easy for them to squeeze through.

So today I’m sitting on my deck when I spot movement on the dock. I see a mink slip aboard. Armed with some thick leather gloves and a stick I ran down but the culprit had disappeared. There’s fresh poop on the aft deck but I notice some on the inside of the cabin door as well. I open up the door and Jesus. What a smell. It was like an ammonia leak at a fish plant. The boat stank.

There’s a pool of urine on the step inside the cabin. The bigger surprise was a mountain of turds on the V Berth cushion.

I scratched my head for 45 minutes trying to work out how they were getting in. All hatches and windows were shut. The door was closed and locked. I’m thinking the cabin is in essence a ‘sealed fiberglass box’.

Wrong. Under the middle cushion at the tip of the VBerth are two plywood boards. There are spaces on either side with electrical cables coming up the starboard side. Easily big enough for a weasel like creature to squeeze through. At the bottom is a space which must run the length of the keel.

The little buggers must have been climbing under the gunnels above the transom. There is an open space where fuel line run down and this leads to the engine compartment. They must have run the length of the boat under the cabin and come up in the VBerth.

My first comment is what a stupid design. How can you leave easy access so vermin can enter the cabin????

Secondly I’d like to ask if anyone else has had this problem and how do you keep them out? I’ve temporarily put a piece of plywood over the access hole inside the cabin and weighed it down. That doesn’t stop them from living in the hull, chewing wiring, hoses etc.

The VBerth cushions are now trash. I’ll never get the stink out of them and the whole boat stinks. Not the best day!

 

[Cutwater28GG]

oh damn I sympathize; after having a pair of stoats crawl into a holiday house whilst we weren't there, defecating across the house, then one killing the other due to starvation and then dying in the bathtub. the site and smell was horrific. in that case it was a complete replacement of the furniture. Horrific.

I also had rats in the roof of a 100 year old wooden house and as part of the treatment we used Ozone to kill the smell of feces to stop encouraging the rats to come back. this might be useful on the boat.

Not sure if you can install some wire mesh at the gunnels to stop them entering in the first place?

 

[BGW]

I wish I could easily post a photo of the pile of turds. He’d been at it for a while. Your stoats story did make me smile.

Shortly after writing the original post I thought about galvanized mess. Will have to give that a try.

Thanks for the ozone suggestion. Will give that a try.

 

[YukonRon]

I had a similar incident when I was boat shopping. The broker opened up the boat and we got hit with the smell. What a mess! I couldn't begin to image the cleanup job deep in the bilges. End of deal!
So, when we put up our R25 on the trailer for the winter, on our property which is full of squirrels, I knew I had to deal with the RT's apparent weakness against critter intrusion. I bought a bunch of the galvanized 1/4" square screen and went to work blocking all the spaces around the cockpit between the outer hull and inner cockpit forms. I cut strips of screen to the length of the space and rolled it into a tube a little bigger than the space. I folded duct tape over the edge to prevent scratching, then bent about a 1/2 inch lip along the edge at a 90 degree angle. I would squeeze t he roll a bit, stuff it into the space, and leave the taped lip overhanging the inner edge of the cockpit wall, so the roll will not slip all the way inside and be lost forever. (in hindsight - use white duct tape so it won't show). Plugging all the corners and gaps around hoses etc took time, but in the end I think it is critter proofed. A half days labour and a few yards of screening and a whole lot of cuts and scratches, but well worth it for no squirrels, mice, birds, etc messing up the boat.
I had planned to leave this in for winter storage only, but now I'm thinking I might leave it in for good to keep marine critters out too. Hopefully the screening will not hamper airflow enough to make a difference, as this between-hull space is apparently used as the air feed for the engine compartment.

 

[BGW]

Thanks Ron. That’s pretty much how I envisioned it. Thanks for the tips. I didn’t think about the possibility of the wire mesh falling inside.

I’ve poured a cup of bleach down fore and aft. Hopefully that helps with the smell a bit and doesn’t damage anything.

 

[Spinner]

My sister had a similar problem with otters getting in between the transom door and the canvas top (on a Sea Ray) Her successful solution was to drive a lot of big nails through an appropriate size piece of thick plywood. The plywood is then wedged and tied into the opening, nails pointing out. She also put containers of mothballs around the cockpit. No more otters!

At least the otters are pretty big - I think mink are like ferrets and can squeeze into really small openings.

I had a rodent problem at my house one time. I located the openings and closed them off with perforated sheet metal with the sharp openings toward the access side.

 

[bill46]

Sorry to hear.
We had rats last year. Found droppings, baited 3 traps onboard and one on dock. Found 2 in dock trap, none in onboard. Sprayed ammonia on dock, read they can't stand the smell. So far so good.
After rats had palmetto bugs- for non Floridians these are roaches on steroids- Put a bug bomb on boat, swept up and put glue boxes all over. No new ones for over a year.
Hurricanes Matthew and Irma with 4-5 foot water over dock might have helped drown the critters, and we now have a neighborhood feral cat that may be killing rats.
Our R31CB seems to have lots of places around cockpit and helm door base where rats can squeeze in.
Good luck.
Bill

 

[mdnuss]

Hi, Try putting mothballs in various parts of the boat when in storage. We do it all the time to deter mice and other critters. Just make a note of where you store them to get them all out when it's time to use the boat. It's worked great for us in storage buildings, boat, car engine etc....

 

[S. Todd]

I have used moth crystals (I prefer the smell over moth balls but much more difficult to source) in baby food jars in our boats and RVs for that last 30 years. Never had a mouse or a squirrel intrude into the space. When I am ready to use the boat or RV I gather up baby food jars, put the lids on and they are ready for the next use. Every cup holder gets a jar and 8 or ten elsewhere where there are spaces without cup holders. I had a friend that did not do that with his sailboat one winter. The nest spring he discovered every cushion in the interior had been chewed into a squirrels nest.

 

[stwendl]

Did you try to put up a sign “no minks permitted”

Sorry could not help. I did get worried about the disconnection between the gunwhale and the rest of the cockpit and in particular the area left to the door bottom which has 1/2 in gap and would the place where would intrude in case of wave swamping the cockpit (and spiders and bugs entering the cabin as well). Never thought of larger critters to enter. Not sure they can get thru under the motor and tank but there is a good passage next to the water heater under the shower and forward behind the cabinets.

At least the critters showed some taste in choosing a ranger tug 😉

 

[Hydraulicjump]

Since we are into vermin stories and its Friday afternoon I have one wet and one dry. We are in Pier 39 marina, home to a very large population of sea lions. On our 27 we had a terrible evening where a modest size pile of marine blubber hauled out on our swim step while we were aboard. In my underwear at 2:30 am, I went out to chase this thing off, only to be confronted by two male sea lions fighting (and pooping) on the dock next to me. And the one on the swimstep challenged me to a duel, showing me his terrible yellow teeth. My wife cautioned me about the marine mammals protection act. Eventually I persuaded all of these creatures to leave when I swung a boat fender in the air. And as each one rolled off into the water, they gave me the one flipper salute. I swear. And as I looked up from this debacle, a group of tourists were applauding me (in my underwear) for my efforts. My 29CB, with its propane tank on the swim step, appears to be a deterrent as is the dog "rusty" that patrols the dock now. Now it is covered in great blue heron poop instead.

and here is your mink solution. I had the pleasure of discussing this with Mike Rowe of dirty jobs. We were invaded by skunks under our house. A full time skunk party and I could not get them out. They must have been teenagers because they absolutely trashed every bit of duct work they could, and pulled down all the insulation. $5k worth of damage and two very traumatized dogs, veterans of skunk encounters. Finally, inspired by an internet post, I found the solution. I took an old am radio, tuned it to a fire and brimstone preacher channel ("you will burn in the fires of hell" kind of channel) and lowered it through a vent into the underside of the house. I left for a day and came back and, voila, the skunks left. Maybe minks can be deterred the same way. Best of luck.

 

[Kaisardog]

5 years ago, our sailboat , stored on its stand over the winter, suffered an infestation of field mice . they apparently got in when the yard left a foredeck anchor well cover open for a while. we could trace the mouse turds from the anchor well through the electric chase way to the windlass assembly . they then went through out the boat through the bilges and wiring chases. fortunately they did not eat the insulation of the wires .. after discovering this one spring, we inspected EVERY wiring chase for damage . we installed wire netting to block access from all on deck sources such as the anchor well and cockpit lockers. we also tape 'Febreze' dryer sheets near every opening each fall. we do the same on our RV . we've not had mice since... NOTE that these varmints will eat the insulation off wires which can pose a severe fire hazard when the wires short out in some remote raceway.

fair winds, good weather...

 

[TugLife]

I just suffered the exact same fate. All bedding and anything cloth is toast. The smell is unbelievable. I cleaned up
Using vinegar and a shop vac but it still reeks. I am going to do a better job tomorrow, and have ordered an ozone generator. If anyone has any suggestions on getting rid of that horrible smell..

 

[Headlee]

In anticipation of this issue I had the boatyard seal off the space under the tunnel all around the cockpit with spray in foam. No issues despite all kinds of critters in the area. This did reduce airflow so I then replaced the two 8” round portal covers with screens to allow for some airflow. No issues on airflow either. We also used to keep the cockpit canvas covers on during winter, but found that the river otters would find their way into the cockpit where it was cozy. We leave the canvas off now and they seem to be much less interested in the cockpit.

 

[TwoFootitis]

I wonder if there is a way to employ "Sticky Traps"? Available on Amazon, Home Depot etc.. They would need to be secured to prevent the traps from getting tipped over. They are very STICKY and difficult to remove.They work great for rats and mice. Just a thought.

Doug

 

[Sweet_Pea]

Wish we had a solution for a repellent, but can make a suggestion for the odor: PureAyre, made in Kent, WA. It eliminated fuel odor when we had a spill and works on skunk, so should solve your issue as well.

"...powerful enzymes break apart the molecular bonds of odor-causing compounds to eliminate both odors and harmful contaminants. Smells are permanently removed when the molecular bonds are broken."

https://www.pureayre.com/

 

[hansvillejohn]

I had the same problem with otters two years ago. I figured that they crawled up under the gunnels like a slinky. They made a mess and left fish and eels in very hard to get places. I tried a number of deterrents but I have kept them away with scrunched up chicken wire pushed under the gunnels. You can't block the openings completely because the engine gets it's fresh air through the gunnels.

 

[BGW]

Dear all,

As an update to my original post, we've returned from a 5 week holiday to find we've been hit again. I'm assumimg it was mink but haven't set up any cameras to confirm this.

My previous assumption was that they had gained access to the cabin via the gunnels, crawled along the keel and popped up at the front of the V berth as there is a hole there for wiring. To have done that they would have to push up the cushions.

As a countermeasure I rolled up chicken wire, stuffed it under the gunnels and put a piece of plywood over the forward access to the bow thruster. The plywood was later removed as I had issues with the thruster repeatedly breaking shear pins. As I'd had no further infestion for a period of 4 years or so I just left the plywood off.

Fast forward to November 2023 and the mink have found their way in again. They sh*t everywhere. The V berth was covered and they crapped and peed all over the galley floor. A saving grace was I had left a feather bed matteress cover on the bed and there was a down comforter, pillow and clothes. These took the brunt of the attack. The cushion that covers the void between the berths was upside down and it was worst. Fortunately the bottom of that is black.

The forward cushion didn't appear to have been moved and the bedding that covered it seemed in place. I had previously thought they were squeezing through a relatively small hole however this time I also found whole crab shells on the berth. They were'nt big crab but the shells were a little less than 4" across. Those didn't come in through a mink head sized hole.

So where are they coming in from? Perhaps someone from Ranger can chime in with suggestions?

All the windows are shut, hatches are shut and the door was locked. There is no indication they were coming in through the cupboards where plumbing is run into the cabin. The cupboards were all closed and there aren't any footprints or excrement in the cupboards.

Since coming back I've left a radio on in the cabin and have been running an ozone generator. The ozone alone should be enough to keep them out for now. They haven't been back in and have evaded my attempts to trap them.

 

[Submariner]

Try a blink camera to catch them. Motion activated.

We catch birds (crows) on video in our cockpit via our blink camera a couple times a week.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[bob daily]

Minks are solitary animals so you probably only have one infesting your boat, they will spray like a skunk but there aim is not as good, they will also mark there teratory with there spray. They are most active during the night so you might try a Foxlight Night Predator Deterrent Control sold on line (AMAZON) for about $120. If you plan on trapping remember you will need a license to do so, or you can use the SSS rule of thumb ( Shoot, Shovel, and Shut-Up ) Bob