MICE!!!

Vulcan Rider wrote:

Extra consideration might be in order if kids are around but otherwise perfectly safe and totally effective. I think the mice go back "home" when they start feeling bad and most die in their den in the ground.

Add to your list birds and other pests around the bait station.

With respect: to clear up some mis-information caused by marketing:

Mice DO NOT leave the house, RV, or return to their "den" when they have consumed a lethal dose. (marketing claim)

They will seek water because the mode of action in most modern rodenticides, (anti-coagulants,) makes them thirsty. Some times they find water, sometimes they don't and die first, and sometimes they crawl inside a wall to die.

Secondly, mice do not "den" below ground. (some rats do) Mice nest above ground in family units. Their main area of activity is normally limited to ten feet of their nest.

But then again what do I know? I was only a successful commercial pest control operator for 35 years.

Happy hunting.

Vulcan Rider, you are right on target about making sure those bait boxes are secured. I prefer to make a little "den" by putting a heavy object like a good sized flat rock on top of them. Thanks for adding that important step.

PSW wrote:
I use Tomcat brand rat and mice poison solid blocks. You can buy it at Home Depot, Lowes, about any farm store. I simply put it in the accompanying bait box container and put one at each of the tires, figuring that is where they crawl up. Never had a mice problem with this technique in 30+years of RVing. Use six blocks, one either side of the dual tires.

THIS is not only the only really effective solution but is entirely safe......IF you stake the bait boxes to the ground or put a couple of bricks on top of them.

Bait stays INSIDE the box. Hole in box and pathway inside only allows the entry of something mouse size. If properly attached, pretty much nothing will carry it away. The box itself has thick walls and if something is able to chew through that, you probably don't want them around either.

Extra consideration might be in order if kids are around but otherwise perfectly safe and totally effective. I think the mice go back "home" when they start feeling bad and most die in their den in the ground.

After living on and around a farm for about 50 years, the only other thing that proved effective was a "herd" of about 20 cats......and I don't really recommend that.

I use Tomcat brand rat and mice poison solid blocks. You can buy it at Home Depot, Lowes, about any farm store. I simply put it in the accompanying bait box container and put one at each of the tires, figuring that is where they crawl up. Never had a mice problem with this technique in 30+years of RVing. Use six blocks, one either side of the dual tires.

1. Get a box of mouse food.
2. Late at night, sprinkle the mouse food around the RV of that obnoxious neighbor that leaves his TV on at max volume all night. :)

My neighbors moved to Acton CA so they could have horses. Which they did. Unfortunately they also had mice plus the rattlesnakes that predated upon the mice. Missus did not want to hurt the mice so she employed a 'humane' live trap in the kitchen. She then had Mr. take the trap to the outskirts of the property and release them.

IMHO, the mice were back in the kitchen before he was.

I still say nothing is better than a ball bearing mousetrap.

Vulcan Rider wrote:

A bait station that contains bait blocks firmly attached inside with entrance holes only big enough for rodents works the best. Put a couple OUTSIDE the RV, in the shade behind each set of wheels is best, and in a couple of weeks your problem should be gone. But you must keep it up. They WILL be back if you don't.

OH, and weight the bait station down with something like a brick so the wind and bigger varmints won't carry it away.

If you don't want to mess with a refillable station, they sell smaller ones with one block already installed and a "see through" cover. When the bait is gone, you replace it with a new station.
Those are smaller and only work for mice.

People like to suggest using poisoned food outside to get rid of mice, but there are animals such as raccoons, groundhogs, and on and on, that either have deft hands, strong jaws, or both. Bait sellers will try to deflect this possibility, but if they can get carried away or not, something will eventually get in there and die. I would suggest leaving poisons for control of mice and rats inside a secure area that doesn't have access to innocent animals. If you must place outside, you could build a heavy wood box with a small access hole in it for the mice to get to the bait stations.

If you use traps, put them where the mice/rats path, along the corner of the wall. That way, even if they don't stop for the bait, they will still set the trap off. I recommend "JAWZ" snap-traps.

I don't like seeing animals suffer either. However, it is self-defense, because they foul up foodstores and bring in diseases (hantavirus), so one has to do something. Spray foam and stainless steel wool (so it doesn't rust) do work, but once they decide to move in, you have to do something, otherwise they will destroy your rig with their filth and gnawing.

JMHO, the best way to get rid of mice is well stated in the first reply. Nothing like seeing a cat walk out from under your RV with a fat rat in its mouth.

tenbear wrote:
IMHO the real cure is to seal all the holes with spray foam.

As the rest of your story points out, that is a "real cure" only IF you can find and seal ALL of the entry points.

BUT....that doesn't keep them out of the engine compartment or the generator or storage compartments AND if any of the outside shell is wood or certain fiberglass or plastic materials, the little buggers have no problem chewing new holes.

THE ONLY REAL SOLUTION IS TO KILL THE ATTACKERS.

IMHO the real cure is to seal all the holes with spray foam. For larger holes you might want to use steel wool too. Get under your RV and look for any sign of a hole, and seal it. I did that and I still had the occasional mouse. I had forgotten about the place the power cord comes into the RV. I sealed that with a metal plate cut to fit and attached it with duct tape. No mice since then.

How do I know? I have no problem killing mice. I keep a trap and haven't caught a mouse since I sealed the power cord entrance.