Tips for keeping mice out?

[MamaGoose]

I've heard of a couple: moth balls (not too healthy for humans, though!), or the strongest scented fabric softener sheets. Right now I've got 4 electronic devices plugged in that emit a sound that the critters don't like and I think that is working. Plus moth balls in the basement compartments and the sheets scattered throughout inside the coach. I've seen products at RV stores, like "botanical rodent repellant".

Do any of you have some favorite products or recommendations?

[redguard]

I use bait traps,moth balls and have NO mouse problems this year with my MH
that sits in a mouse infested field, MAKE sure there is no dog or cat dryed foods etc anywhere in the MH when sitting as there really attracted to stuff like this

[Adventuneer]

I use snap traps too, always have, but there is an ENDLESS supply of mice where my trailer is located. I only get to the trailer every 3-5 months so this makes it even more challenging. Snap traps are for after they get into the trailer, I'm hoping the "mouse free" product will keep them out. We'll see, I'm marginally hopeful at this point. And as I told the owner of the company I will post my results, good or bad...

[jerseyjim]

The old proven way is the best. Them snap'em mouse traps. Peanut butter. Buy a dozen for under 10 bucks. REUSEABLE. The mice never come back for seconds. IMO the only sure way. I get (average) 5-6 a year when in storage during the winter. I go to the motorhome around once every two weeks to start the motor and the generator...that's when I check and reload the traps (as needed).

[Adventuneer]

I've had a long standing battle with mice in my trailer and have tried just about everything. The trailer is used as a 'cabin' so it is permanently located in the semi-wilderness of northwest Arizona (high desert). I recently purchased and applied the "Mouse-Free" product, and am now waiting to see if it works. I have started a long term product evaluation here:

http://springvalleyranches.com/index.php/more-stuff/reviews/81-mouse-free

I have been exchanging emails with the owner (?) of the Mouse-Free company, and he seems very confident his product will solve my problem. Wish me luck!

[down_home]

I noted two years ago our most frequented camp ground had some camp ground cats.
So long as they don't get fed too much they keep the ground squirrels and mice cleaned out or a t least thinned down. A lot of busineess have pet cats that patrol the stok room and floors at night.
First place to start though is keeping them put. Light inside, spotter outside, at night front to back. See a hole use foam. there are two types of expanding foam. One fills small holes and the other one big holes. Mice don't like the stuff. Rverse the process and flaslight and daylight into the darkened interior.Seal up any more holes or caable runs and compartment gaps deal with.
Spray the whole bottom with paint with a lot of fungacide and bu killer mixed in. Home Depot sells the tubes of them. Just dump in the paint and mix.If you used something like Gatorhyde, or truck bed coatings and the fungacide and bug killer nothing would want to chew though if they could.

[MamaGoose]

I've got 4 of the electronic things running inside the motorhome already. I went through there with more peppermint oil and cotton balls. I'm thinking if I can't get to town to get the Freshcab today, I'll put tin foil around the tires. We've also got one of those fringe things at the back of the motorhome, I placed some scented cotton balls there as well. More mothballs underneath. The inside smells great anyway, LOL! I also think I'll get more spring traps for around the tires. The traps inside with peanut butter might actually be attracting them, and I would prefer they stay out entirely.

We stored our fifth wheel in that same machine shed for years. Never had a trace of mice inside. We didn't leave loaded traps in there over winter because we weren't able to check it daily, but I used lots of fabric softener sheets inside and moth balls in the outside storage area and in the wheel wells. This thing with the motorhome is baffling because our fifth wheel had more ways for the mice to get in than the motorhome does.

I would love to have cats, but we're away from here for winter so we can't keep them. We had a weasel sharing our shop (a different building) with the cat we used to have, and I think between the two of them, they kept the place clear. The weasel enjoyed the cat food as well. 😉

[the_silverback]

I use the electronic device you plug in to the wall socket. Has worked great. I keep the MH plugged in when in storage. Use it in my home too

[cwit]

I use pic pipe in 2 ft sections placed behind each tire an electric cable going into camper. I use Devon in the tubes. Mice can get into tubes but other animals can't. Last year We got overran,this year none. I Also have one of the big electronic things. I learned about the pipes on this forum.

[cmoecmoe]

Lots of field cats works wonderfully! (thanks to the neighbor who feeds them) I don't even think about having mice.

Craig

[MamaGoose]

Arrrgh! :M After 2 weeks mouse free and motorhome decontaminated, DH found a mouse in one of the traps this morning. Couldn't see any droppings anywhere, but the whole place is still going to have to be hosed down with Lysol again before I'll ever sleep in it.

I soaked some cottonballs in peppermint oil and strewed them all over the place. Next plan--traps outside the rig by each wheel, and buy some Freshcab today if I can get to town. Maybe we can catch the little pests before they get in. I'm wondering if the pb smeared on the traps is attracting them. There is no other food source whatsoever in the machine shed, other than poison left in pouches inside the building. We have a lot of garter snakes around this year, wish they would eat some mice. Maybe we ought to befriend a weasel!

[MamaGoose]

Thanks, everyone, for all the great information.

I've noticed in reading the links that some methods work for some people and not for others. I wonder if it depends on geographic location and species of mouse. We are in western Canada at the moment, and the species we are having a problem with is deer mice--prime carriers of hanta virus and therefore very dangerous. I've spent the day decontaminating our motorhome. Mask, gloves, coveralls, disinfectant, this was a huge job. We hadn't realized mice would be able to gain entry, we thought the coach was more secure than that, so we hadn't taken our usual steps to prevent it. (Gain fabric softener sheets and mothballs worked without fail in our fifth wheel. We never left traps in during winter storage because we didn't want anything fermenting in there.)

Now we're back to the Gain sheets. Electronic devices are emitting a sound to irritate rodents. I've placed a couple of mothballs just in front of the driver's seat near the pedals, I think this is where the critters gained entry. While the motorhome is parked here, I will also leave moth balls on top of the tires, although I suspect maybe sheets of tin foil left on top might work as well, as this is the only way the mice could have reached anything underneath to find a way in, climbing up the tires. I looked underneath today, and there are no openings into the basement compartments. The plumbing compartment was closed, and even if the electrical cord is out (which it wasn't when the mice got in), there's no way into the motorhome through there.

We'll be storing the RV at a place in a city in Nevada later this winter and I'm wondering what the mice there dislike, or if the hanta carrying mice are present in the cities. I don't want any, though, regardless of species.

I'm interested in the products by Earthkind (thanks, Sully2). I think DH might prefer the smell of these as well over the Gain sheets. 🙂 I find these fabric softener sheets take on a smell that gets a little less than pleasant after a while.

I am also going to pick up a bottle of peppermint oil and some cottonballs.

[Gonzo42]

Get a ball bearing mousetrap.



A sportsman is a man who, every now and then, simply has to go out and kill something. Stephen Leacock

[Sully2]

MamaGoose wrote:
I've heard of a couple: moth balls (not too healthy for humans, though!), or the strongest scented fabric softener sheets. Right now I've got 4 electronic devices plugged in that emit a sound that the critters don't like and I think that is working. Plus moth balls in the basement compartments and the sheets scattered throughout inside the coach. I've seen products at RV stores, like "botanical rodent repellant".

Do any of you have some favorite products or recommendations?

http://www.earthkind.com/news

Its worked for me for 5 years now

[wdhm04]

New product mouse free worked for me last year link
http://www.mouse-free.com