Trouble with mice getting into camper

[utxb450]

We have a 2017 Salem Hemisphere and we are having a lot of trouble with mice getting into the camper. We have tried going under the camper and filled all the holes we could find with the expanding foam, put dryer sheets in the camper and spread the crystals they sell that is supposed to deter them. We also have one of the electronic devices that you plug in to stop them, and so far nothing has worked. I am really worried about over winter because it sits on a permanent lot. Is anyone else having trouble and any suggestions appreciated. Thank you

[Ilovemywife]

I've discovered you cannot prevent them from coming in. The only thing you can do is kill them. I set traps outside and inside my camper.

A couple of water bucket traps is great for outside use and spring loaded traps is what I use inside. You can google youtube videos for making a water bucket mouse trap. I put a quart of bleach in my water and antifreeze for winter use so the water doesn't freeze. You do not have to kill the mice and leave the bucket dry if you wish so you can relocate the little hantavirus carrying buggers.

I quit falling sorry for killing mice a while ago after I had a bad infestation that resulted in a lot of repairs and work to remedy.

[utxb450]

I am going to check out the YouTube video. Thank you for your help

[Flybob]

Also try adding a few old coffee mugs or glasses with 2-3 cotton balls and 5-8 drops of essential oil of peppermint on them. Make sure you get pure essential oil and not food grade oil. replenish about every 6 weeks. Also works on spiders.

[Bose04]

Be careful of using antifreeze. It is deadly to dogs and they are attracted to it. The bleach might deter the dogs maybe.

[Oaklevel]

All great ideas but !. Be sure no food or crumbs are left behind to attract them.
!!

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by Bose04

Be careful of using antifreeze. It is deadly to dogs and they are attracted to it. The bleach might deter the dogs maybe.

I believe he meant RV antifreeze. It's safe to use around pets and wildlife. The purpose is to drown the little buggers. Using a 5 gal pail they cannot climb out and drown after getting exhausted.

[Pixelbum1]

One early winter we actually let our brother-sister cats stay overnight in our warmed Airstream. Yeah, they had food and even left the TV with their fav channel running.
Together they tag-teamed and nailed a bunch of those little critters for us...barely had any probs for the rest of the winter!!

[BobnPi]

I store my camper in a commercial enclosed space. A few packs of DCon placed around under the camper and have never had a mouse problem, so far.

[donkro]

I disagree with the idea that you cant prevent them from coming in. I store my Class C outside under a carport on gravel and I use mothballs that I ring around each tire, and replace every month or so as they do disintegrate, never a problem with mice! The carport is far enough away from the house that I cant smell the mothballs, and the RV has no smell inside. Mice will have to climb up a tire to get inside.

[kittlecat]

Get a cat. I've always camped with a cat and have never, ever had mice in any of my campers. In fact, my cat is now living about a mile down the road with friends full time and I sent a text to my friend today and advised I need to "borrow" my cat in October so I can have him in the TT with me while I winterize and do fall cleaning just to refresh his scent. I am not interested in having rodents or any other infestations in my TT.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by utxb450

We have a 2017 Salem Hemisphere and we are having a lot of trouble with mice getting into the camper. We have tried going under the camper and filled all the holes we could find with the expanding foam, put dryer sheets in the camper and spread the crystals they sell that is supposed to deter them. We also have one of the electronic devices that you plug in to stop them, and so far nothing has worked. I am really worried about over winter because it sits on a permanent lot. Is anyone else having trouble and any suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Our 2007 Cherokee 38P is also permanently sited. We were also plagued with mice. I spent most of a day on my back under the trailer (wearing coveralls on an uncomfortable crushed rock pad) and managed to exclude them from the house.

Prior to that success, we were setting four Victor traps with peanut butter each week and getting one or two mice. They tended to be under the sink and ate the labels off all the cleaning products.

The first place I found was that they had managed get through the vinyl undersheeting alongside the low-point drain. I believe the access path was up the tire, wheel and axle. They then crawled across the vinyl and insulation about a foot or so and went through the floor at a gap alongside the propane tubing leading to the range and water heater. I sealed the vinyl with Gorilla tape and then wrapped a pad of coarse (#3) steel wool around the drain tube and secured it with a cable tie. (Mice hate steel wool, won't go near it.) Then, working from the top, I wrapped another pad of steel wool around the propane tubing and used a screwdriver to tamp it tightly into the oversized hole through the floor.

Back to the underside and to look for any other potential intrusion spots. There were several places at the front of the trailer where cables from the batteries and converter went through the floor. Also the umbilical that connects to the tow vehicle. I used tape where appropriate but also wrapped every single one of those cables or cable bunches with steel wool and cable ties.

Haven't seen a single mouse since and it's been eight months.

Larry

[itat]

This subject has been discussed many, many times here. A search for the word “mice” will give you a lot of reading.

You need to prevent and deter them from getting in but if they are in you’ll need to trap them. While peanut butter in spring traps works, it also attracts them into the trailer, so do everything you can prevent them from getting in.

If you don’t have an enclosed underbelly its much easier to find holes they may be using to get in.

If you have an enclosed underbelly, you’ll need to open every panel, every drawer, every cabinet to look for holes where wires, pipes, cables, etc. come into the trailer and plug those holes. Use stainless steel wool or copper wool and pest block foam. And remove all food, crumbs and anything they can smell and anything they can use for nesting.

Once you’ve done the best you can to plug up all the possible entry points you can deploy a deterrent method(s) of your choice. I’m having luck with essential oil of peppermint as mentioned earlier and Fresh Cab pouches.

[SailorSam20500]

Last winter, I had good luck with "Stay Away Mice" by Cab Fresh mated with several bars of Irish Spring and a bunch of dryer sheets. Have to say the trailer really smelled nice...

Trailer is stored on a large piece of property back near the woods.

[CYAH OUT THERE!]

We were in Yellowstone National Park and had some rollicking rodents join us. Used spring traps and food. Within minutes of turning the lights off the messy marauders were off to mouse heaven. We’ve not had them ever before so hopefully this’s last time! GROSS LITTLE BUGGERS!!!

[gfarmcafe]

We too had mice in our trailer and tried everything listed above to keep them out, but few helped. We finally purchased and plugged in 2 high pitched noise makers that seem to be doing the trick. Of course, you have to be near 120 V service, but we haven't had any more mice. The ones we bought have a night light built into them.

[Flybob]

Please do not use poison. After eating it they rodents leave in search for water and are eaten by Hawks, Owls, Eagles, or family pets which then die as well. Over two dozen eagles have been killed in Maryland this year alone by secondary poisoning.

[rattleNsmoke]

We that live in snow country don't have the luxury of leaving much of anything outside the camper throughout the winter. Drowning pail indoors with anti-freeze has trapped a few.

[Tfort]

I have been using fresh can in mine and so far have not had an issue. I will say we had a rat problem in the shed right behind where we store the rv’s because of the livestock feed but they have yet to get into mine. Had one get into my dads but that was before he started using fresh cab as well.

[TitanMike]

Had some cleanup work and re-insulation work in the crawlspace of my house done this last winter. The contractor was telling me how rodents had teeth sharp enough to chisel through just about anything but steel wool. They used it to plug all the various openings a house has underneath it and the foundation.

Biggest thing I've learned over the years is to avoid leaving food in the trailer while stored. Make sure everything is as clean as possible with all crumbs and pet food vacuumed up. That's a start.

My new trailer is pretty well sealed up with either the full plastic belly covering, the rodent resistant fabric, and every penetration sealed with huge gobs of RV Sealant. If they want to chew on that stuff it would be like chewing stale chewing gum. A big help as I see it was the change to the marine type power connection rather than the old method of stuffing the power cord into a compartment. When the cord was out there was plenty of room for a mouse to squeeze in past the cord. The bones on these pests (including rats) are flexible enough they can "ooze" through spaces you'd never think they could.