A squirrel chewed our propane hose on The Tin Can! Why? And how am I going to keep them from chewing it again? I mean, I never thought of this being an issue. I’ve seen where squirrels have chewed on wires before, but I didn’t think they would chew on hoses. Anyway…
As a note, there may be more legend to some of this story than fact, but this is the story we were told.
Legend Of The Trippy Squirrels
So, the other day at a camp hosts meeting Angelica was at, one of the other hosts told Angelica a story. We’ll call her name Jane, to protect the innocent. Jane told Angelica that we needed to watch out for the squirrels in our host spot. She and her husband were previously in our spot and moved to another host spot just before we arrived at the park. Like I was saying, Jane told Angelica that they had to replace their propane hose 3 times due to the squirrels. And that they had wrapped their hoses in HVAC foil tape and bought a fake hawk to deter them. She said that the squirrels were supposedly getting high on the propane. Then when they climbed back in the trees, they would fall out.
The Trippy Squirrel Cometh
Well, the very next day Angelica and I were out somewhere, and Jane called Angelica on the phone. Jane and her husband were on duty that day and were making their rounds. Well, while passing by out spot they smelled propane… They stopped and shut off our propane tanks for us, but it was too late. The trippy little buggers had chewed a big hole in our hose and we had lost all our propane!
Adventures In Propane Hoses
Little did we know how much of an adventure replacing a hose was going to be. We started this adventure by stopping by the local hardware store in the small, west, middle, Georgia town. I knew it was a long shot, and of course, they had nothing. It was on the next larger town from there. We found a propane place, we had to have the tanks filled anyway, but they didn’t have any hoses and no longer made them. They then referred us to an RV repair shop down the road in Alabama.
The Adventure Continues
Next stop Alabama. I didn’t mention that we had told the girls that we would be back “in just a little bit”. Famous last words! Well, we made it to the backwoods, Alabama, RV repair shop. There we had a small amount of luck. They found us the right hose! Yes, they found it, in their catalog. The lady behind the desk called the warehouse and they told her that they had 1 in stock. Then she told us that it could be rush shipped to them the next day. That was IF the warehouse didn’t sell it to someone else first. If that happened it would be several more days before they would have one. This was a gamble we were not too comfortable with. One of the other ladies at the shop asked us if we had checked with this other propane place in the next Alabama town. We told her we had not, so she very helpfully called them for us. Finally, we were in luck, this place made propane hoses. A few minutes later, even farther into Alabama, we were at the propane place. These guys were very friendly and helpful and made us up a hose along with several adapters to get us to the correct fittings. All for a little under $30, which with all the fittings, I was pretty happy with! The hunt was over and in all, we had traveled about an hr. and a half get the hose, not what we had expected to have to do. But we had a new hose!
Deterring The Squirrels
Now, how do we keep these buggers from chewing our hoses again? With a little Googling and some other advice, we found a few options.
- HVAC foil tape to wrap the hoses with. This is one of the things camp host Jane did. I’m not really sure this will stop or even slow a squirrel down much though.
- Rubber snake. We found one of these in the park’s store. I’m not sure if it was even for sale, but they sold it to us anyway. This guy is poised under our tanks, ready to take out anything that gets close.
- Essential oil concoction. There are a few oils that are supposed to deter squirrels and the like, that can put in a sprayable solution.
- Rope lighting. We bought 2, 15ft links of rope light and put it on the ground around The Tin Can.
Return Of The Trippy Squirrels
For a while, we didn’t see any squirrels close to The Tin Can. I was hoping the snake, rope lights and some essential oils we had rubbed on the hoses was doing the trick. Then a little over a week later, we came back home to the smell of propane. The little buggers struck again! This time they chewed the two hoses connecting the tanks to the regulator. Luckily these hoses were easier to find than the last one. Now I have wrapped all the hoses with HVAC foil tape and mixed up a bottle of the essential oil concoction, then sprayed down the hoses and a rag, which I then tied to the regulator. The park also brought us some cage traps which we are using to relocate some of the squirrels to a different location. Let’s hope these measures do the trick.
Essential Oil Recipe
Essential Oil Squirrel Spray
An essential oils blend that is said to deter squirrels.
- 1 part vinegar
- 2 part water
- 1 drop dish detergent
- 10-20 drops essential oils (garlic, red pepper, lemongrass, thyme, cinnamon or clove.)
Mix in a spray bottle.
Apply this to areas you want to keep the squirrels away from.
Has anyone else had problems with squirrels chewing on their RV? What are some of y’alls solutions for deterring squirrels and the like? Also, if anyone has any good stories about trippy squirrels and critters, please let us know in the comments.
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