Mouse Alert!

[re_tired]

When I went out to storage and opened the door to our trailer, I was met with the unmistakable odor of a dead mouse. As an extra precaution, I've always left a few glue traps in strategic places inside my RV's.

I've never had a mouse problem in 15 years of camping in several RV's until now. But this is my first one with a slideout.

After I bought this Starcraft Launch 24RLS new this past spring, I went through it sealing all the unnecessarily huge holes in the floor where pipes and cables went through.

It has the artic package with a "sort of" sealed bottom. I guess Starcraft doesn't see the need to seal the construction holes in the floor with the plastic underbelly. Not at all sure why they need a 6" hole for a couple 1/2" pipes!

I say the underbelly is sort of sealed, because it droops between the screws holding it in place leaving gaps of 1/2", which mice can easily get through. I did seal them, though, so I don't think that's where it got in.

I'm pretty sure it got in where the slideout meets the floor when it is retracted. I had seen light coming in the corners on the floor and had taken to stuffing dryer sheets in the corners until I could come up with a better fix.

Today I got back under the trailer and did a closer inspection. The corners were just the tip of the iceberg. The entire length of the slideout is "sort of" sealed with a soft rubber seal. It doesn't seal very well, plus I can easily poke a finger right through to the inside.

By the way, that area seems to seal OK when the slideout is extended.

I'm not sure how to redo the way it seals but plan to work on it this winter while staying in Florida. For now I just stuffed the entire length of foam rubber with lots of dryer sheets.

Has anyone found something similar on a slideout and found a better way to seal it. I can see it has to be flexible to accommodate differences in leveling and not bind.

I'm hoping this dead mouse was just a scout!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

I use mousetraps with crema de cacahuates (peanut butter) bait, outside my rig when on the road. This is a dead-sure way to tell if ratones are around. one of my neighbor's boys has a "pet" (?) Mexican whip snake in a cage. I buy him Cheetos, he gives me a bag of snake, ah, er, well you know.

No I don't expect anyone to have the time or opportunity to try and do this, but oh my word does it ever work. Sprinkled around tires and cords and hoses. If you have a local pet store you might want to check. The remedy is just too effective to dismiss out of hand. I have set mouse bait twenty feet away from the tires and it is never touched. Amazing natural fix. A "repellent" the size of a grain of rice is plenty.

[301TBS]

I had the same issue with my trailer. The slideout lower corner seals were not well designed. First mouse in 30 yrs of trailers. Well, I did have one in the 80's destroy my popup.
I put steel wool in the outside corners and a mousetrap inside at each corner. It appears he climbed the tires and went in thru the seal.
Not a fun experience. Had to sanitize the whole trailer, all cutlery, pots and pans, dishes,cups etc. Little bugger had pooped everywhere. I wish you good luck!

[rockhillmanor]

Get a cat. :B

[wa8yxm]

re_tired wrote:
The only good mouse is a dead mouse, especially when it's not in my camper...

No No, the only good mouse has rechargable batteries and makes the pointer on your computer screen to move.

NOTE: it is not a flat pad you slide fingers across, that's a very bad mouse. It is a weird shaped thing with an LED in it's base that sees how it moves and translates for you.. Tail optional.

[re_tired]

That gives me an idea. If I could find stainless steel wool in a roll a few inches wide, that would be flexible enough to fasten lengthwise over the foam rubber seal under the slideout.

[ryanw821]

Fisherman wrote:
I had seen light coming in the corners on the floor and had taken to stuffing dryer sheets in the corners until I could come up with a better fix.

Don't you know that mice make sleeping bags from dryer sheets. They also go bowling with mothballs.

I've heard steel wool works good for keeping mice out of cracks.

[dclark1946]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Way too funny!

Dick

[Fisherman]

I had seen light coming in the corners on the floor and had taken to stuffing dryer sheets in the corners until I could come up with a better fix.

Don't you know that mice make sleeping bags from dryer sheets. They also go bowling with mothballs.

[re_tired]

The only good mouse is a dead mouse, especially when it's not in my camper...

[MEXICOWANDERER]