Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 23, 1999 09:20pm | #1

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   W,

   If you have the vent fastened shut, how are they getting in? Maybe you have a hole somewhere else in the house?

   Buy a vent and modify it yourself. Most rodents can't (or don't want to) chew through galvanized mesh......The alternative is a beautiful oak, with the taproot somewhere in your basement. This will do wonders for your foundation!

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 24, 1999 01:33am | #2

   *Mesh over a dryer vent is actually illegal under the code ... anything that encourages lint to accumulate is a fire hazard. Not even sheet metal screws are permitted. CABO section 1801 (I've been studying).EFI (www.efi.org) sells a pop-up vent that may deter the beasts, and seals the weather out better to boot.

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 24, 1999 06:11am | #3

   *Try a six shot pistol with a fishing line tied to the trigger. Make the damper the triggering mechanism. Use #12 rat shot and be sure to place the barrell close to the point of entry for the rodents.....dont let the carcasses rot in the pipe

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 24, 1999 06:16am | #4

   *Wiley Coyote!

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 24, 1999 06:39am | #5

   *Maybe you could vent the dryer into the attic. The lint will provide extra insulation and the moisture will protect the framing against dry rot. :)

2. 
   Ben_Carnes | Aug 25, 1999 05:05am | #6

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   Surely there is a deadly toxic fabric softener out there that will handle the situation....

   A customer of mine had a dryer delivered by Sears the other day and they were using rigid 4" duct and elbows to hook it up...said they weren't allowed to use the flexible plastic and metallicized plastic stuff anymore because of fire hazard. That certainly would keep rodents out of the line. There is a louvered type of terminal that would be too small for them to fit into....they could throw nuts through them, but they wouldn't ever get them back....so you'd have slow-roasted ones, wouldn't you?

3. 
   Guest_ | Aug 26, 1999 06:29am | #7

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   4" galvanized pipe to a standard flapper style vent together with a week or so of cleaning out the stash daily does the trick. Then the tree rats decide that isn't a safe place to put their food and they move somewhere else.

   Or, you can put a snare under the opening and leave the resultant catch there for a few days. The other tree rats get the idea and move on.

   In both cases keep alert to where they go. Saw the rodents move into my neighbor's attic once. Boy he had a mess come spring!

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 26, 1999 07:35am | #8

   *I note you didn't TELL the neighbor about his new lessees.

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 27, 1999 10:17am | #9

   *Au Contraire Monsieur! I just didn't think that was germane to the current subject. The homeowner thought the rodents were cute; until spring that is.

1. 
   Guest_ | Aug 27, 1999 04:54pm | #10

   *Ah, how could I have doubted you. My apologies.

4. 
   Tedfrd | Sep 04, 1999 10:20am | #11

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   Saw a "rodent Proof" vent at the hardware store the other day, then at the big orange box. It's got a plastic ball in a cage that is pushed up by the pressure from the dryer.

5. 
   W._Pickering | Sep 05, 1999 03:47am | #12

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   Does a rodent proof clothes dryer vent exist? Or does anyone know how to make a dryer vent rodent proof? I have the vent fastened shut except when the dryer is in use and the chipmunks are still filling the pipe with acorns.

   Thanks for your help.

6. 
   Guest_ | Sep 05, 1999 03:47am | #13

   *
   Had a co-worker from Louisiana. His father decided to get rid of the 8 squirrels in the yard with a .22. After he shot 57 of them, there were 6 left.

   Same guy had friends in San Francisco who've never tasted squirrel. Next time he goes home, he shot a mess of them and skins them. Checked them as baggage in a (styrofoam!!) cooler. As he's waiting at the baggage carousel, the ice chest comes down the chute, smacks against the backstop, and splits open spilling skinned squirrels with their buckteeth all over the carousel.

   He grabbed his suitcase and left.