What do you do for winter storage

Dick_B wrote:
Check the latest RV Travel Newsletter which advertises a powder that is safe and `effective' called Rodent Repellent tested and endorsed by the Good Sam Club.

I just checked Camping World's website to look this Rodent Repellent up. There was one review which, unfortunately, was very negative. This person had used it for the first time this year (I'm assuming last winter) and he had the most mice in his trailer in over 30 years of camping he also said that it should be called Mice Attractant!
It's a botanical repellant which gives a pungent balsam fir aroma which should drive rodents away but, according to the reviewer, attracts them!
I guess I won't be ordering this any time soon! Plus it's not cheap, $14.99 for a box of 4 packs.

Check the latest RV Travel Newsletter which advertises a powder that is safe and `effective' called Rodent Repellent tested and endorsed by the Good Sam Club.

We stored in a dirt floor barn for many years. We fought the battle with almost every suggestion mentioned and mice were still a problem. What worked was kill traps and checking them frequently.

Go to most any hunting store online and order some coyote urine or other predator urine that eats the mice in your area. Spray this around the exterior of your coach every few weeks and none will even try to get in to your coach. In Florida it is a year round issue and I've never had any get inside the coach or seen any indication that they have done anything around the RV at all.
It does drive our dog crazy however and she always has to sniff the area for the coyote. As long as she is sniffing, I know that it is doing it's job.

We store ours in a garage with dirt floors and we have used these Decon blocks around the perimeter of the garage.

Decon blocks

We see dead mice in there every once in a while, but in 7 years we haven't had one in the RV.

Now when we stored outside years back, I got one mouse that came in with some firewood we bought in South Dakota, and it took 2 years to get rid of that guy - what a hassle.

They say that Pure Peppermint Oil does the trick. I put it in a small sprey bottle and spray the entrance places and and visible wiring and
down under in the basements.
It has worked for me,you can find it on E-bay, its from "NOW" in a 8oz? bottle.
Siggy

Warning; don't read this before a meal!
Better to trap them than to poison them BECAUSE if they die in a remote space you could smell them but might not find them or be able to reach them before they decay.

I never use baits around my RV! I'm trying to keep rodents away from my coach, I do not want to lure them to my coach. And poisoned rodents seek water so if there is water in any of your water lines they could chew a hole in your water lines seeking to get water. I've tried the dryer sheets and the rodents used them for bedding material. I used Irish Spring bar soap in the past and it didn't work for me. I store my RV next to my stick built house and have it plugged into 50 Amp service. I use my RV as my Winter Storm HQ's during storms which cause my power to go out in my stick built. My RV is equipped with basement heat as long as it is plugged in or the genset is running it doesn't freeze. I also keep my heat on 50* inside my RV during the winter when, I'm not in the coach for the day or night. I use electronic devices (3 of them inside my coach, one at each end and one in the middle of my RV to deter rodents) Using this method I haven't had rodents inside my RV in a long time. I also took the time out to remove every drawer inside my coach and filled in behind the drawers and any runway #00 course steel wool. Also, I used the #00 course steel wool in my under the coach storage cabinets and any runways that I could find. I did the same with the under carriage of my coach. I had rodents chew up my wiring harness in my genset to the tune of $1,200.00 one time and, I don't want that to happen again. Rodents love to chew wires.

First off...my motorhome is kept outside. (All of the RVs I've owned have been kept outdoors all year.) For me...the cheapo wood "snap traps" does the job. A dab of peanut butter. I have 12 all around the inside and outside. I get around 5 mice per winter. Outside, I have 2 in the generator area (that is where i get most of them) and one in the plumbing area. The rest are inside.
One year I had a real smart one. Got the peanut butter off two traps without springing them.....but the third one got him. Only once did they get past all the traps...found a nest under the couch.

When not snowbirding, I go and start the motor and the generator once every two weeks. Let them both run for about 1/2 hour. If I didn't do that I guess I would remove the (3) batteries and put them in my garage. However...I figure I might need the motorhome unexpectedly...y'never know. So...that works for us.

We remove all food and paper products and stuff steel wool into the "ports" where the shore power cable and city water hose come into the basement. Have never had any signs of mice. Neighbor has their TT 6 spots over from me in same facility and they get mice every year. Maybe we are just lucky. They say they take "most" of the food out.