# Stupid Rodents



## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Been having a rash of rodent-chewed poly-b waterpipes in older houses. I got woke up at the crack of dawn this morning by a frantic homeowner with a flooded crawlspace - three pipes chewed in three different places. They chewed his insulation too.

Last week I had another one - poly-b lines chewed through in joist spaces above the dining room. This one had a poly-b heating line go first - at the time I thought someone hit it with a sawzall and then it got boarded over - WRONG! When it happened again a month or two later it was obvious those pipes weren't sawzalled.

Both houses are near the edge of town - where the farm fields start. It's been a long cold winter. I guess the rats are getting a bit desperate.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

Any pictures?


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> Any pictures?


Nope, sorry. I wouldn't want my camera in those messes anyway. Wet, dirty jobs. If I get another one I'll drag my cheaper camera along.


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

futz said:


> Nope, sorry. I wouldn't want my camera in those messes anyway. Wet, dirty jobs. If I get another one I'll drag my cheaper camera along.


 
I'll paypal you funds for doing it. I'd like to get some good shots of situations like these.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> I'll paypal you funds for doing it. I'd like to get some good shots of situations like these.


I can call the guy from this morning and get him to hang on to the chewed pipes that I cut out. I'll take some pics and post them. Good nuff?


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## DUNBAR PLUMBING (Sep 11, 2008)

futz said:


> I can call the guy from this morning and get him to hang on to the chewed pipes that I cut out. I'll take some pics and post them. Good nuff?


 
Yep! General location where it happened in your parts, nothing specific like an actual street. Just area.


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## Bill (Jun 17, 2008)

I have always wondered about mice and pex.


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## easttexasplumb (Oct 13, 2010)

I have seen tree rats (squirells) eat through pex, must taste good. Pex gets run through attics alot around here these days.


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

I've been told by pest control guys not to leave rat poison around because it dehydrates them, causing them to chew through any source of water. Had to replace a dishwasher drain 3 times in 2 weeks for that reason...


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

How much? I have a few I could dig up.



DUNBAR PLUMBING said:


> I'll paypal you funds for doing it. I'd like to get some good shots of situations like these.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

504Plumber said:


> I've been told by pest control guys not to leave rat poison around because it dehydrates them, causing them to chew through any source of water. Had to replace a dishwasher drain 3 times in 2 weeks for that reason...


 



I have heard the same thing. Some rat poisons cause the rodents to become very thirsty. I had one call where rats were chewing through pvc p-traps under a 2nd floor tub.


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## ckoch407 (Sep 30, 2009)

Ive replaced chewed up PB on several occasions. One was in Celebration FL in an attic right after an exterminator set out poison. I've heard from others about seeing gnaw marks on brass tubular and copper. I did see it once on CPVC also.


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

What I wanna know is how do they know the pipes have water in them? :laughing:


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## ckoch407 (Sep 30, 2009)

I asked myself the same thing. I was thinking maybe they hear it running but I dunno. 



Pipe Rat said:


> What I wanna know is how do they know the pipes have water in them? :laughing:


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## Pipe Rat (Apr 5, 2009)

Hmmmmmm................ This just gave me a great idea for a new business. Have you guys heard of the Termite detection services that use dogs?

Well anyway I'm gonna open a Rat leak detection service. Yeah thats' it................................Pipe Rats' Leak Detection or The Pied Piper Leak Detection :laughing: only downside is you have to poison the help before you send them to work :whistling2: 

Contact me for franchising information :thumbup:


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## beachplumber (Feb 7, 2010)

I run across this four or five times a yr. I get some that I think are mice in the joist space
Other times squirrels go after o/d shower lines. Especially when we have a really dry summer


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

Bill said:


> I have always wondered about mice and pex.


 I've had it happen only once in a crawlspace.

Sprayed up against the subfloor long enough to warp the hardwood floors.

They tried to pin it on me: Kind of hard to look a paying customer in the eye and explain to them that they wouldn't have a rodent problem if they didn't stack bags of cat food and dog food just outside the entrance to the crawlspace.

I basically told them, if you're going to provide them with food, then you might as well put out a bowl of water for them as well.


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## ckoch407 (Sep 30, 2009)

You could definitely charge plumbers a referral fee and tell them where the job is gonna be before it happens.



Pipe Rat said:


> Hmmmmmm................ This just gave me a great idea for a new business. Have you guys heard of the Termite detection services that use dogs?
> 
> Well anyway I'm gonna open a Rat leak detection service. Yeah thats' it................................Pipe Rats' Leak Detection or The Pied Piper Leak Detection :laughing: only downside is you have to poison the help before you send them to work :whistling2:
> 
> Contact me for franchising information :thumbup:


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## Phat Cat (Apr 1, 2009)

Just when you thought you had heard everything about mice and their habits . . . :blink:

Our Dumb Magic Mushroom Mouse Boy

When Oconee County sheriff’s deputies responded to a November burglary to find a 24-year-old suspect passed out naked on the floor, that really wasn’t enough to land him in the Our Dumb State category. It was what this guy did next that brought him national attention. 

After being slapped, kicked and almost bitten by the suspect — who was believed to be tripping his face off on hallucinogenic fungi — officers Tased and pepper sprayed him with apparently little effect. Using their batons, they subdued the dude and hauled him off to the hospital where a physician noticed — drum roll, please — part of a mouse dangling out of his rectum. 

Deputies noted that witnesses had surmised the man “was most likely under the influence of mushrooms” at the time of his arrest and that later he didn’t even remember fighting with the cops. Nor did he remember how that mouse ended up lodged inside his corn hole. 

The story spread over the Internet and hit the newspapers in the following days, but a correction had to be issued after it was discovered that — get this — the mouse was not of the rodent variety, but was actually a computer mouse. As if that made it any better. Look, we at Free Times aren’t in the business of judging people for what they put where and why. 
But magic mushrooms, we suppose, are as good an excuse as any on this one. — Corey Hutchins

Every time I read it, I crack up. True story - google it if you don't believe me.


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

Pipe Rat said:


> Hmmmmmm................ This just gave me a great idea for a new business. Have you guys heard of the Termite detection services that use dogs?
> 
> Well anyway I'm gonna open a Rat leak detection service. Yeah thats' it................................Pipe Rats' Leak Detection or The Pied Piper Leak Detection :laughing: only downside is you have to poison the help before you send them to work :whistling2:
> 
> Contact me for franchising information :thumbup:


Yeah yeah, I want in on the ground floor...

Rat Busters, Canadian Division.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Here are low quality pics of the rodent-chewed pipes I repaired Sunday. If you want better pics just ask.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Last one.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

futz said:


> Last one.
> View attachment 9282


 Omm, nom, nom.

What brand of PEX is that?


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Widdershins said:


> What brand of PEX is that?


Appears to be Plasco. *And it's not PEX! It's Poly-B.* I think it was made locally (Langley, B.C.). Those pipes are something like 15 years old and, aside from the chewed parts, are in fine condition. I installed them new way back when.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

Widdershins said:


> Omm, nom, nom.
> 
> What brand of PEX is that?


 Nevermind, just extricated my head from my arse and noted that it is a Lasco product.

Never heard of Lasco PEX.

Googling, but coming up short.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Widdershins said:


> Nevermind, just extricated my head from my arse and noted that it is a Lasco product.
> 
> Never heard of Lasco PEX.
> 
> Googling, but coming up short.


Nope. Lasco is that second rate fiberglass/acrylic tub/shower manufacturer that just merged with another company (or got bought out - I don't know). Lasco SUCKS. I won't be ordering any more of their stuff.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

Widdershins said:


> Nevermind, just extricated my head from my arse and noted that it is a Lasco product.
> 
> Never heard of Lasco PEX.
> 
> Googling, but coming up short.


 Everything I can come up with says it's Polubutelyne, which is several times removed from Polyethylene.


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

Widdershins said:


> Everything I can come up with says it's Polubutelyne, which is several times removed from Polyethylene.


Yes. That's why I stated several times that it was Poly-B. Never said PEX once.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

DIZ said:


> Read the post and stop being so ****ankerous, err cantankerous.....yeah, thats it. :whistling2:


 Wish I could.

But the smugness is so strong within me, Obi Wan.

Trust me, it's not easy being me.:jester:


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

Geez, some of y'all missing these this month?


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

504Plumber said:


> Geez, some of y'all missing these this month?



That's where I left 'em.

Thanks.


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

That's what I find strange. A word that is according to many polls is by far the most offensive one in a womans perspective, is allowed, but other parts of the human anatomy are strangely censored out.

Things that make you go hmm...

Perhaps I should have posted this in the random thoughts thread.


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## Widdershins (Feb 5, 2011)

U.A.til.I.die said:


> That's what I find strange. A word that is according to many polls is by far the most offensive one in a womans perspective, is allowed, but other parts of the human anatomy are strangely censored out.
> 
> Things that make you go hmm...
> 
> Perhaps I should have posted this in the random thoughts thread.


 Nah... 

I should just accept my impending banishment and move on.

Seems like the right thing to do.


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## breid1903 (Feb 8, 2009)

i have several customers that i put out rat dope for. i also leave a bowl of auto antifreeze with it. been doing that for years. i didn't realize that rat dope made them thirsty, i just knew that they drank it. am i a nice guy or what? breid...............:rockon:


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