Unwanted Guests

MICE.

Thank God it's not my RV, but I have a good friend that has mice in his RV. He has a Bighorn, He doesn't know how they got in but would sure like to get rid of them.
I told his wife that I would post the question on the forum and ask advice.

So, how do you get rid of mice that seem to have settled in? Also, if you set out a type of poison, will they go off and die and later stink-up the RV....how do you prevent that?

Thank you
Dick

Mouse traps...and LOTS of 'em!

Your friend has our sympathy.
Just parked our 5th wheel here in FLA for the winter (storage), mice can be the least of our concerns, but friends with 5er stored next to us have had mice. Left on trip last week, water lines eaten into, running light wires chewed, etc. (ALL discovered once at destination - Atlanta area)
We lived in the woods (summers - NY) in a Park model for 20 years....cold weather drives mice inside. It must be hot weather here that motivated them.
We have found that cotton balls saturated with Peppermint essence oil placed about will do an excellent job of keeping mice at bay.
My DW proved this in a community kitchen in our gated RV community in NY (no use over winter, closed up). Mice were a constant problem in this large building, coming in around pipes, drains,etc. After the first winter with the cotton balls = 0 mice or evidence of same.
We're hoping that will work here in FLA. We intend to use our rig at least once a month, so time will tell. Friends had not moved there's in almost a year. I'll be helping him track down access holes etc.
Time will tell.
Good luck to your friend.

If he is near his camper and can check on it a lot. I mean at least a couple times a day. The heavy duty glues boards they sell for mice and large bugs can be laid out all over certain areas of the floor and along edges of room where they will run. These need to be check often since the mice are still alive, they need to be disposed of and the glue board replaced.

Supplement with a lot of baited traps. He will knock the population down quickly.

Thing to think about with poison baits. If he has any animals or kids ever in the camper. The mice will not always eat all the bait and any small pieces that aren't found by the owner will be found by the pets.

Trust me this is not good....


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This topic has appeared on several threads over the years. To get the most ideas, I would suggest doing a search of the forum (Search bar is at the top right of the page).

Nothing will keep them out except plugging all the holes. Dryer sheets make great material for nests. Many other things seem to work only because there are no mice to keep out. The only real way to eliminate them is poison, traps, glue boards or a cat....Don

We packed the openings around all drains, water lines and electrical with steel wool and then used traps. Mice-B-Gone now!

GWRam said:

If he is near his camper and can check on it a lot. I mean at least a couple times a day. The heavy duty glues boards they sell for mice and large bugs can be laid out all over certain areas of the floor and along edges of room where they will run. These need to be check often since the mice are still alive, they need to be disposed of and the glue board replaced.

Supplement with a lot of baited traps. He will knock the population down quickly.

Thing to think about with poison baits. If he has any animals or kids ever in the camper. The mice will not always eat all the bait and any small pieces that aren't found by the owner will be found by the pets.

Trust me this is not good....


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Click to expand...

My son caught a large water moccasin snake on a glue board at his house.

Our front landing gear had a 1-inch opening all around each . . . a direct access for the meeces to get in!

I filled that void with some expanding foam insulation.

I've looked over just about everywhere else on the Prowler and can't find any other spot that needs to be blocked off.

Two years ago with stored our Titanium in a storage lot for the winter and in the spring we found that we had rats in the belly of the 5th wheel. I say rats because it was in Washington State and all water line had been chewed threw as well as the black and grey holding tanks. The holes in the tanks were the size of honey due melons. They were not in the coach area i think because I have steel wool around all pipe areas and bounce sheets over all vents. I also dont use antifreeze anymore ( I blow out the lines ) as i was told the rats really like the liquid. Well $5,000.00 later (touch wood) I had no more problems. I now have 300C and never use antifreez and swear by the bounce sheets. Sorry for the length but hope this helps. Oh by the way the rats left on there own accord in spring.

we thought that dryer sheets wear working for us over the years until last year we found mice poop on many of the dryer sheets, but trailer still smelled fresh so DW wants to keep using them.

Google 'mouse bucket trap'

We have had mice problems off and on - this year in August I put out the smelly Bounty softeners and my containers of Fox pee on the legs of the FW, but yesterday I checked the drawers in the dresser and mouse Cxxp all over my t-shirts that stayed in the trailer. So something isn't working this year. My theory is they are getting in at the rear of the trailer (Wheels - slide hydraulics) and working their way forward. I know they love the race where the washer dryer plumbing passes in the storage compartment is used because I found their droppings in their also. I really need to get under the FW and plug up the openings in the coroplast.

I have heard that shaved pieces of original scent Irish Spring soap is a great mouse deterrent.

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Tried all thE soap shavings, peppermint oil, etc tricks and they still come. Best solution is to plug every hole you can find then go back and look for more. I keep Dcon bait traps under the trailer, and set traps inside.

The only thing that works is traps....but blocking all of the entry places is also a big part of the solution. Chrizg is right about the 5 gallon bucket trap. I put snap traps inside in case one gets past my defenses, but a couple 5 gallon traps outside the rig cuts down the local population real fast.

NHCelt

Update - to 11/21/15 posting, in December I caught two more mice, got to Florida on 12/30 and we caught another in a trap in the compartment after he kept us up at night. 3 weeks later found a dead on on top of the kitchen cabinet. Started up the AC a month later and the smell was horrible, coming from the vents in the living room, so bad it woke us up in the middle of the night.
We are now dumping ac direct into the coach when we need it, still have the bedroom AC but can use that when you are trying to sleep. I'm hoping we can
clean out the ducts when we get home and Fabreeze them. I will also have to drop the Coroplast check the insulation for nest and then start plugging every hole I can find. I'm also going to spray the under carriage with a mouse deterrent.
I you have procrastinated on this project like I did - DON'T - Bounty - doesn't work, Fox Pee doesn't work. I'm also putting mothballs under the trailer.

Mice hate mint. If it is planted all around where it is parked, they wont cross the plants. Mint spray may chase them away and out for a short time. Plugging up all the holes and traps is the only way. You can try the old farmers method of oats and Plaster Of Paris. Two cup of Plaster Of Paris to one container of Quaker oats. The plaster set up in their digestive track. It continues to draw moisture from their bodies. Thus no smell.