I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Riddex Plus or something like?

I recently rented a cabin just off of the Appalachian Trail, and there were a few of these in use there. I didn't notice any pests, but then again the cabin was in spectacular shape, had special containers for storing food, and was very clean.

It's one of those "As Seen on TV" products, and generally i don't trust them. Not to mention that I don't know much about the technology.

If it does work, it's something I'd like to purchase as an extra layer of protection for my stored foods.

Right now I have everything elevated, and most of what is not in cans is stored relatively rodent and insect proof containers. However, a few months ago I awoke to what sounded like rain in my storage closet. I thought perhaps a pipe had burst, but a rat had chewed through a big box of speghetti pasta that was on the highest shelf and it was raining down on everything below. Unfortunately my roommate placed a cooler close enough to the shelving, and a rat managed to get across the gap. I'm not even sure how the rat got on top of the cooler, unless it climbed up the broom and went from there. Anyway, it climbed from that shelf, up the canned goods, and so on until it reached the top shelf.

I put up some catch and release traps and plugged the hole that the maintenence people had knocked in the wall behind the stove while checking for mold (Thanks for telling us!) Anyway, these steps appear to have worked as there have been no more noticeable rodent intrusions, but still I'd like the added protection.

Luckily I only lost a box of Pasta... LOL

Any help on this matter, whether in regards to the Riddex Plus or some other method of keeping critters away, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

A friend of mine bought something of that nature, although I don't know the brand. She put it under her house to chase off the mice. She said it seems to work, but if you have good hearing, you can hear it, even under the house. I think hers has two levels of intensity.

Sue

At first I thought you were trying to clean out your septic system: RID-X. Oh, well. Sorry I can’t help with the pest solution. I just use a shoe swung swiftly for that.

Rodents can be a serious problem. They destroy food/equipment, leave a mess of mouse waste, are carriers of parasites and can spread disease like Hantavirus.

My hunting partners and I own a small hunting camp in rural Central Ontario.

I discribe it to people like this:
You know behind every run-down farmhouse there is an old shed?
Well our hunt camp is the dilapidated, crooked building behind the shed and we have had a war with mice since we bought the place.

There is no electricity (or plumbing) so the Riddex Plus will not work but we have used other methods.

We run a "trapline" when we are present at the camp, each member has the same number of traps and we bet on the outcome, winner takes all!

We use mouse poison in the off-season (block style, we pick it up when we are there, so dogs/kids do not touch it), but the problem is that the mice die in the camp and make it smell even worse than normal!

The most inventive way involves a pail, a wire (piece of coathanger), a soda pop can, some anti-freeze or windshield washing fluid and peanut butter.

- Put about 3 inches of anti-freeze or windshield wash in the bottom of the pail.

- Punch a small hole in the bottom and top (or through the middle sides) of the can and run the wire through it.

- Place the wire across the top of the pail with the can in the middle.

- Put peanut butter on the sides or ends of the can, depending on how you oriented it.

- Place the pail so the mice can access the wire across the top of the pail.

- The mice walk across the wire, crawl onto the can to get the bait, the can spins and the mouse fails in the pail where it drowns in the liquid and is preserved (little smell).

It is possible to catch many mice this way and is good for when you will not be returning to a building for a long time.

Mike

Sue, thanks for some info about someone's experience using something similar!

Maybe the technology works.

After several people reporting that the mosquito units didn't seem to work and my mother's experience with some "Mole Chasers" that didn't work I wasn't sure if this would work either.

We could hear the ones used up at the cabin, but it was just a click followed by a short burst of high pitched noise, almost like a camera flash charging if I remember correctly. It would go off every ten minutes or so. Even so, it didn't interrupt our sleep or anything, and the cabin was only about 40' x 20' at best guess.

Some of my buddies bring their bear canisters into the BC for mice and marmots. Try some kind of closing box or container that will resist their chewing; maybe a cooler with a lid to store your food.

My understanding is that these devices don't work.

Here is a link that you might find interesting

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/07/global.shtm

I have some things that mice could easily get into, bags of dried beans for example, stored in plastic buckets, but they could get through the buckets given the chance. I really need to go to metal I suppose.

The problem right now is the expense.

That's why I'm looking for a cheap intermediary step like the Riddex Plus. Then again, cheap, if it doesn't work, is just a waste of cash.

Oh, I forgot...
The spaghetti wasn't the only thing the rat got into. It gnawed through a bunch of bottles in one of the cases of water I had stored. The bummer there is that the rat never finished the bottle it started LOL. It would gnaw through one bottle, make a hole big enough for its head, drink until it couldn't easily reach the water level, and then start on a new bottle. I guess dried pasta needs a lot of water to go with it. LOL

Wow.

I just read the FTC complaint. I guess the company cited needs to do some substantial and research and come up with some substantiated proof of their claims.

It's good to know. Thanks for the link!

The company cited is the maker of Riddex.