Rodents

The best trap is the one you make yourself and is super easy to make, manage and dump. You do have to have a drill. Take a standard 5 gallon bucket, a small empty can and a hangar, and a small amount of peanut butter. Now, make the best trap in the world for nearly zero cost. Leave the handle on the bucket for easy handling. Midway between the handle attachments to the bucket, drill two small holes near the top opposite of each other. Cut a hanger to two inches longer than the length between the two holes. Take any small to medium, round, empty can and mark the exact center of the flat top and bottom. Drill two holes at your center marking just large enough for your wire to pass through. You are almost finished making the best mouse trap known to man. Thread the straight hanger through one side of the bucket, through the can and out the opposite side of the bucket. Bend the ends over to secure the wire and slide the can to the center. Smear a small layer of peanut butter around the circular can to create a rolling cylinder. You can add peanut butter as necessary to balance the "wheel" for perfect operation. You are ready to capture every mouse in the area like kids lining up for free cotton candy at a carnival ride!

Put abou 4 or 5 inches of water in the bottom (if freezing, use some antifreeze) and set in place at any convenient spot. Now place a ramp to one or both edges at the end of the wire. Any scrap of wood, stick, or pole will work. It will not be long before you have multiple swimmers. Wait a day or so and they will all be deceased.

This will hold literally dozens with no action required by you. Just dump the bucket before they get stinky, refill and leave to guard the area indefinitely.

The principal operation is simple. They cannot resist the peanut butter, climb the ramp, balance on the edge and the wire and try to reach or jump for the can which rolls like a log roller and takes them swimming. It is always set, and fortunately the activity does not tip off the crowd but instead draws them in with the activity.

Obviously this does not fix the entry problem, but provides a "permanent" destination for all of the attendees. Labels are optional as to my knowledge mice do not understand English.

:B
five gallon plastic paint bucket
throw peanut butter on bottom
Place the bucket near the couch or dinette so they have something to get on to jump in.....to their death cause they can't get out!

Seriously though. Set a bunch of traps now to get the freeloaders that still might be hanging around.

Then go out at night, turn some lights on in the MH and crawl underneath your MH. Where there is a hole there will be light coming thru. You will clearly see how they are getting in. And where you need to close it off.

Usually these are from each and every opening the manufacture drilled out to run electric wires, water lines, etc. And I don't care how much the coach costs they all have these openings.

over time, we have found glue traps and snap traps to be our most effective weapon against the invaders. if you are checking your rig once a week, those should work pretty well. we put some peanut butter on them.

k9dad wrote:
Our storage is covered, not enclosed. Decon is poison. Don't want a dead rat in some unreachable hole stinking up the coach.

Decon dryers them up and they don't smell at all

BTW, Great Stuff now makes a spray foam that contains a pest repellent.. it is greenish in color, and, they say rodents & bugs don't like the taste & will not chew thru it... should be at your local hardware store... eliminates the need for steel wool!!!

sticky traps work great for me

Many good ideas expressed here on catching rodents after they get in.
Nothing has been mentioned about inspecting for possible damage being done. they will chew the insulation off of wiring, the canvas wrapping on the heater ducts is a favorite as well. They pack in trash like gum wrappers, popsicle sticks and any thing else like leaves, pine needles and fill every out of the way closed area they can find.
You mentioned shredded paper. That is a clue to really inspect hard to access interior areas for more of the same. As an example, the area under the shower pan is a favorite. Stripping the wiring can cause a fire when you least need it. Wear a dust mask at least when inspecting for other areas of intrusion. Hanta Virus could be present.

If a mouse dies from eating Decon, they won't stink up the m/h. There are two things that happen. First the mouse will leave the motorhome to find water. Second, if they do die in there, they dry up so fast they won't have time to stink. Of course they'll little corpse will still be in there. I would try and use the traps first and then use other means if that doesn't work.