Mice mystery

[Dayle1]

Now, if I have your attention, maybe you have another perspective that will get me to the right answers. #1 The obvious question is how do mice get inside the trailer? #2 How can they get into the ceiling?

My fiver has been inside my steel RV garage for 2 months, now 2nd night on the road and I've got a mouse inside the ceiling. Not on the roof, but directly on the ceiling panel. Heard it last night in the bedroom and this morning further back toward the living room.

Doesn't seem logical for a mouse to go from the basement or living area up to the ceiling, especially with all the supplies we loaded into the trailer in the past week. And I can't see how a mouse could get on the roof to enter from above. And then once on the roof, how to get into the ceiling? I've come up with just one possibility. At the A/C, maybe chewing thru the gasket and then thru the A/C duct?

Anyway, help me solve this mystery.

[atreis]

westend wrote:
I've talked to a few mice and most of them said they climb onto the waste tank, shinny up the vent pipe and then relax in the ceiling cavity where it's nice and warm with plenty of bedding. Not one of them has said anything about how they are driven out but I guess those trapped or poisoned aren't around to tell the tale.

x2 - vent pipe seems quite likely.

Best way to keep them out: Go through the trailer very thoroughly and seal every opening/gap that you can find with expanding foam ("Great Stuff"). Mine had some rather difficult to reach ones underneath the bathtub. You have to remove all false panels and doors marked "not for storage", get behind the furnace, water heater, crawl around underneath looking for more, etc... It can take a while but is well worth it.

BTW - do this when the mice aren't home, otherwise they'll just chew their way back out again, making a new hole. For some reason, they don't seem to bother with chewing through the spray foam to get back in.

[seaeagle2]

The pestblock great stuff sounds like there's some advertising hype in there, here's a response to a question. GREAT STUFF(TM) Pestblock Insulating Foam Sealant does not contain any pesticides. This product has a bitter ingredient added to the foam to 'deter' rodents. However, if determined enough, they can chew through this product. The Dow Chemical Company recommends putting steel wool or wire mesh in the opening first, then sealing it with GREAT STUFF(TM) Insulating Foam Sealant Products. Please feel free to contact our customer information group at 1 (888) 868-1183 Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 5:00pm EST and speak directly to a call center agent if you have further questions. Read Less

[raindove]

Fresh cab works for us.

[coolbreeze01]

Wife was watching me move the trailer and saw a mouse chasing after it :S
Setting traps now......

[kayakcrazy]

Peanut Butter on an armed mouse trap is your best defence. My record time is under 15 minutes from the time I set the trap down till I was taking it out to the garbage. They can't resist the smell of peanut butter.

[jeeperdude10]

Mouse in the......HOOD!!!! I went out to check fluids in my class C and low and behold a little brown face with beady eyes looked at me from a hole in the hood 'braces'. I am putting down some 'sticky pads' and sure hope I catch the lil guy as I sure do not want gas lines, vacuum lines, electric wires etc. eaten, skinned or damaged. Thank goodness the "house" part has non.....so far.
They are sly little critters..........

[CavemanCharlie]

Water-Bug wrote:
Move a cat into your steel RV garage. Mice find their way in, cats find/scare mice. Cat food is cheaper than RV repairs. When I worked for a major phone company, I would encounter customers that had multiple issues with mice chewing wiring outside/under the home. If they owned a cat, I would advise them to dump their cat box near the site of the latest mouse on wireing attack. I rarely had a second call from customers that heeded my advice.

X2. You said it was stored at your house in a metal shed. Sounds like a good home for a cat to me. Go to the local shelter, find a scrawny cat, put the cat in the shed with a bowl or water, feed the cat only a handful of food once a day. The mice will be gone after awhile.

[Uppercrust]

We also sealed a hole with the rodent proof foam. So far this year no mice, last year was bad with mice in our rig. Sneaky little buggers

[realebill]

for those that use expanding foam,there is now a "rodent proof" that is supposed to deter mice from gnawing through it. I got mine at HD.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GREAT-STUFF-16-oz-Pestblock-Insulating-Foam-Sealant-11034540/203282346

[icanon]

Dayle1 wrote:

Not on the roof, but directly on the ceiling panel. Heard it last night in the bedroom and this morning further back toward the living room.

Anyway, help me solve this mystery.

A 12ga shotgun with a sawed off barrel pointed at the cieling then call your insurance the next morning and tell them the gun accidently went off. :B

JUST KIDDING.

[rockhillmanor]

Doesn't seem logical for a mouse to go from the basement or living area up to the ceiling, especially with all the supplies we loaded into the trailer in the past week. And I can't see how a mouse could get on the roof to enter from above. And then once on the roof, how to get into the ceiling?

Yes it does, and that's how they do it!!:B

They get in from the myriad of holes UNDER your RV. From when the manufacturer drills holes for all the water pipes, electrical, etc.

Mice crawl in thru those holes under your RV into the inside of your RV and THEN crawl into your vents and voila...they are in your ceiling ducts.

Go out and night and turn the lights on inside your RV.

Then crawl under your RV and be prepared to be amazed of the light show from ALL the openings around each hole the manufacturer had to drill to wire/plumb your coach. Need to fill them all in with expanding foam product like "Stuff".

[consumeratlarge]

When I sealed the power cord inlet and spray foamed all the pipe entrances (underneath floor and under sinks) on our very remote vacation TT, we finally kept them away. And, like you, we got a few in the motorhome while in a metal building. We did a hospital grade cleaning to remove the scent trails (hopefully), and caulked every opening, and made the power cord entrance a twist on style, so that no bay door, or little plastic cover could be pushed open. Does that kitty litter idea work? I've got to remember that one, too!

[Executive45]

Get yourself a nice big snake and let it loose in the coach. Snakes like mice...:B...Dennis

[caseyhoward]

We were at a campground and seen a mouse go up the electric cord on our nabors RV and right in side ... I couldn't believe it