Mice In Our Trailer

[Restcure]

A few comments after reading the posts in this thread.

Bounce (and cloves)
Urine on the Bounce sheet and droppings next to it. So much for Bounce sheets!



Cat
Bella the camping kitty comes with us on every trip.



On two separate mornings at Algonquin Park in 2014 we found her playing with mice she had caught (I think it was cribbage). More got in and one or two even traveled home with us (traps got rid of those). So much for having a cat in the trailer!

Steel wool and expanding foam
Before we stopped up all the holes in our last trailer (stopping the mice for good) I had read many times that brass wool is preferable to steel wool because it doesn't rust. Sounds good, until you try to find brass wool. I sure couldn't! But brass scouring pads are easy to find and just as easy to cut up and stuff in access points.



We also came across Pestblock expanding foam by Great Stuff. I replaced the spray wand with clear tubing for two reasons. First, like lots of aerosols this stuff doesn't spray when the can is upside down... so you can poke the tubing into gaps while keeping the can upright. Second, when the hose gets blocked by foam (like the wand always does), discard and replace it.



The combination worked well for us. Stuff in some pieces of scouring pad and follow it with some Pestblock.



Sealing up the trailer was a day's work but we had no more mice after that.

[MilCop4523]

i may have posted this in here before buy why are people still using bounce sheets , moth balls, and baiting them with traps.
traps catch the dumbest mouse and the others live happily ever after until the next dumb ass mouse takes the bait.

I have used "FRESH CAB" flawlessly and have since 2012 when i found the other "I swear by using this" insert your product here - failed.
Fresh Cab® Rodent Repellent | earthkind

so much so that i have hooked 13 other trailer owners and 2 people who have antique cars and camps up with the product and continue to do so at what it costs me to get the product.

[itat]

Originally Posted by MilCop4523

i may have posted this in here before buy why are people still using bounce sheets , moth balls, and baiting them with traps.
traps catch the dumbest mouse and the others live happily ever after until the next dumb ass mouse takes the bait.

I have used "FRESH CAB" flawlessly and have since 2012 when i found the other "I swear by using this" insert your product here - failed.
Fresh Cab® Rodent Repellent | earthkind

so much so that i have hooked 13 other trailer owners and 2 people who have antique cars and camps up with the product and continue to do so at what it costs me to get the product.

The Fresh Cab package says the pouches last about 30 days. What's your experience on how long they last? Our TT is store at my cousin's farm about 15 minutes from home in a grassy area. It's a PIA having to go out regularly to freshen up the mouse repellents.

[B and B]

In my case with our park model we are locked out Oct 15 to May 15th. We have found essential oil of peppermint, irish spring and bounce sheets all together have all but eliminated. Also need to treat the outside with peppermint oil and irish spring.

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by itat

The Fresh Cab package says the pouches last about 30 days. What's your experience on how long they last? Our TT is store at my cousin's farm about 15 minutes from home in a grassy area. It's a PIA having to go out regularly to freshen up the mouse repellents.

i place 3 bags in the 5th wheel in the late fall (november) and check on it somewhere around the start of Feb.

on their site "The scent lasts up to 90 days" a bit longer in colder temps.
once the smell gets weak that i cannot detect it when i open the trailer i change them.

seal the areas they can use to gain entry and use the product... don't place traps with dinner or snacks for them to be drawn in and you will be fine.
if you have them in there already double the initial set up and replace in 30 days but i have never had that problem.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by itat

The Fresh Cab package says the pouches last about 30 days. What's your experience on how long they last? Our TT is store at my cousin's farm about 15 minutes from home in a grassy area. It's a PIA having to go out regularly to freshen up the mouse repellents.

In our case the Fresh Cab didn't last a week until the mice chewed holes in the bags and spread the stuff all over the camper.

Finding and sealing every tiny hole is the only 'swear by' I know of.
And when you miss one little hole.... there's lots of swearing!

[raytwntrvlr]

We have had our TTs for only 4 years now but never had a mouse problem. When we bought our first one we thought mice could be a problem.

So we invested in a very affordable mouse-away gadget we found on eBay... it looks a lot like my kids Garfield toy from the 80s but it has worked flawlessly. We just sit it on the floor when we are gone and we have NEVER had an issue with mices.

So I was telling another camper about my mouse solution and he looked at me like I was nuts.

He asked if I had mice before I got the Garfield look alike and I said no. So he wondered out loud to me ..... "how do you know it's working??"

HMMMMM! Well, that's a good question.

After reading all the pages of this thread, I think one should heed the advice of those who have HAD mice and do not now. Whatcha call.... the proof in the pudding.


Happy Camping, and I hope ole Garfield keeps working for us!

[itat]

I've plugged up every entry point I could find on the inside of our TT using stainless steel wool scour pads and the pest block expanding foam that Restcure recommended. There is a grey tank vent on the roof that I can't locate inside the TT though even after removing every false panel I could find. I didn't use the steel wool in the hole behind the converter/electrical panel because I didn't want to risk any problems with the 3 wire bundles coming up through the floor there. I just filled it with lots of the foam.

I did see one mouse scurry from the dinette area into the bathroom yesterday. It seems to have been getting into the living area from under the shower pan because there was a lot of mouse droppings in the area where the P trap for the shower drain is slightly cut out in the subfloor. I've setup traps with peanut butter but I'm not sure how effective that's going to be. I also left 4 bags of Fresh Cab in the bathroom and kitchen cabinets and in a drawer under the U dinette where it/they are getting access to the outside storage that also had a lot of droppings.

Hopefully I can trap and get rid of the mouse/mice that are inside now. I'm fairly confident that I've plugged up and possible entry points. We're headed to Algonquin Provincial Park in 2 weeks and I want them gone long before then because I'm getting very tired of cleaning up their droppings.

[itat]

Just an update on our mice situation. I put out 4 bags of Fresh Cab and 3 mugs with cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil. I didn't see any mice for 3 days checking daily, so I left it for 3 days. Went back in today and found 1 mouse dead in a trap, another in a bedroom drawer that had socks in it along with the 6 or 7 babies she had just had!, and a 3rd one in the pass through with lots of droppings. Clearly I haven't found all their entrances. I think the peppermint may have worked for a few days but when the scent faded they came out again. Who knows. It's very frustrating.

[rsdata]

put out numerous traps
keep them baited with peanut butter...
I better sucess with the traps after putting velcro tape, the hook part on the the trap, which made it more difficult to get the peanut butter without setting off the trap

put them in many different places especially where you find droppings and check them every couple of days or sooner

I was able to trap 5 mice in 3 days with just two traps... then none for two weeks so I think I got them all

available food will draw and keep them, gum, candy, cough drops, pasta, cereal... get rid of all that stuff everywhere...
empty your drawers and leave them open, or pull them out altogether so fewer hidden nesting spots...

chances are you had a breeder that had babies in the camper and infested the camper... you have to get rid of those... there maybe no more coming in...

good luck and be persistant

[ov845]

I hate to say this, but we actually had to think like a mouse. We placed traps, oils, dryer sheets and fresh cab (not all at the same time) out in different areas in the living quarters of the trailer. We knew we had it bad since the traps caught 18 mice in 5 days! Yes we used steel wool and foam to seal gaps. They just chewed their way through. Keeping the mice out the living quarters is one thing, keeping them out of your trailer is another. We knew we had a serious problem couldn't use poison since we have dogs and didn't want to expose them to it. We found placing several bags of Fresh Cab in confined areas where plumbing/electrical where coming through the floor helped. The outside is a different story. Everything was sealed except where rods/tracks for the slide outs were. Couldn't use anything there for fear of damaging the mechanism of the slide out. While under the trailer, I asked myself how would I get in? And there it was, climb the tire, hop onto the I-beam rake a stroll to the opening for the the rods/tracks of the slide out. Since the underbelly is enclosed, now they access to the whole trailer. Our underbelly has little vents that can be unscrewed. Near the tires and slide outs the is a vent, we took an t-shirt and soaked it in a peppermint oil concentrate (FYI: this concentrate made my eyes water that's how potent this stuff is) and placed inside the vent opening. Resoaking that t-shirt every month. Haven't seen evidence of a mouse in 6 months. So far this method is working for us and we're sticking to that schedule. Final note, the smell of the peppermint oil is hardly noticeable inside the trailer, walking around you can definitely smell the peppermint oil from at least 10 feet away outside the trailer. As stated in an earlier post, be persistent!


Happy Camping!

2012 Ram 1500 Crew Cab 5'7" Bed
4 X 4 Engine 5.7L Hemi Gear 3.92
Airlift 1000
2015 2809W Windjammer (Diamond Package)
Husky Centerline WDH

[Dave Lyon]

I've had one mouse and I believe it entered through the low pressure propane hose housing on the side of the trailer. I left the hose door open and I think it came through it.

Otherwise, I never had an issue with mice. When I store the trailer after Thanksgiving (at a buddy's farm) I place cloves through out the trailer in small foil containers as well as placing a bunch on the ground around the trailer.

I'm not sure if the cloves work or the trailer is just well sealed.......who knows. I'll continue with the cloves.

[itat]

There is absolutely no food in the trailer. They just seem to be using it for nesting/shelter. We've moved all the paper products to cabinets that they can't access and we bought sealable plastic containers for everything in the drawers. They chew at anything they think they can use for a nest...tags on chair bags, plastic bags, even a silicone basting brush.

We've had campers parked in this spot for more than 10 years and rarely had any signs of mice until this year. I think the only thing that has changed is that the farmer who rents the adjacent field area planted grain closer to my trailer this summer which would provide their food source. He may have even dug up their nest.

We're heading out camping this morning for 5 days and I hope we aren't taking any unwanted passengers with us.

[MilCop4523]

"For use in currently infested areas, increase use to 1 pouch per 8 sq. feet of floor space, and replace every 30 days."
and somewhere on the Fresh Cab site it stated do not set traps to bait new ones in.

[itat]

Came back from Algonquin on Friday after 5 days camping there. Almost no evidence of mice but DW and I both thought we heard something overnight at different times. Parked the TT on Friday afternoon with the 4 bags of Fresh Cab and 3 fresh mugs of peppermint soaked cotton balls. Went back today and found a mouse in one of the 2 traps I had baited with peanut butter.

[Dave Lyon]

Originally Posted by itat

Came back from Algonquin on Friday after 5 days camping there. Almost no evidence of mice but DW and I both thought we heard something overnight at different times. Parked the TT on Friday afternoon with the 4 bags of Fresh Cab and 3 fresh mugs of peppermint soaked cotton balls. Went back today and found a mouse in one of the 2 traps I had baited with peanut butter.

What a PITA.
From what I've heard, most insurance policies will not cover mouse damage.

[Restcure]

Originally Posted by itat

Came back from Algonquin on Friday after 5 days camping there. Almost no evidence of mice but DW and I both thought we heard something overnight at different times. Parked the TT on Friday afternoon with the 4 bags of Fresh Cab and 3 fresh mugs of peppermint soaked cotton balls. Went back today and found a mouse in one of the 2 traps I had baited with peanut butter.

That's a real bummer. It's hard to be sure that everything is blocked... and I only used traps after seeing evidence of mice in the trailer. I hope you get your issues resolved!

[guggied]

We are using "Moese Be Gone and if we refresh it every 3 months, it works very well.
We put mouse traps out as well, and when I don't use the Mouse Be Gone we trap mice. It canbe found on the internet.
Question, is it ok to use spray foam to fill plumbing penetrations, or will it make the pipis too rigid possibly causing broken pipis due to flexing during travel?

[gfarmcafe]

The factory uses spray foam where plumbing goes thru the walls and floors, so adding more shouldn't be a problem. The tubing is mostly flexible anyway.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by gfarmcafe

The factory uses spray foam where plumbing goes thru the walls and floors, so adding more shouldn't be a problem. The tubing is mostly flexible anyway.

That is for sure !!!
We have that spray foam hanging every where under our Sunseeker,,,
But I am not complaining !!! We also have no mice problem !!!