A Mouse In the House

[rockwood06]

Two weeks ago we were at a our camper and noticed mouse turds on the counter, now this is the first time in ten years of camping we have ever had a problem like this....Not a Forest River relayed problem....Before we left the camper I had put down 3 mice glue traps, one on the counter and two on the floor when we arrived Friday I found one trap was untouched, one trap disturbed and up side down on the counter and one chewed up on the floor by the bedroom and no mouse found anywhere.
We had talked to a full time about this and the said the best way to handle this problem is to use fresh mint or mint oil in a sock and place it in the storage area and in the camper.....So I ask you has anyone heard of this and If so will it work?
When we left the camper Sunday I put down one glue trap and a box of poison. We will be returning next week end and then I need to found out how they are getting in.

[cfsoistman]

Haven't heard of the Mint Oil but I never recommend poison. Main reason they eat the stuff, go back to their nest and die. Then the stink begins, unless they're leaving the RV which is doubtful you'll have to track down the decaying little critter. I've used snap traps and the kinder plastic containment traps, which now I have a live mouse to dispose of. The mouse is the trespasser so I only promise a one bite of dinner than it's over and I know where it's at to dispose of.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by cfsoistman

Haven't heard of the Mint Oil but I never recommend poison. Main reason they eat the stuff, go back to their nest and die. Then the stink begins, unless they're leaving the RV which is doubtful you'll have to track down the decaying little critter. I've used snap traps and the kinder plastic containment traps, which now I have a live mouse to dispose of. The mouse is the trespasser so I only promise a one bite of dinner than it's over and I know where it's at to dispose of.

I am not crazy about poison, but from what I understand once a mouse eats the poison they head out side looking for water and die out there somewhere.
As far as a snap traps, I sometimes have trouble setting them, Have you ever had one snap your fingers while setting one?....I have right across the finger nail and WOW what a felling so I can only imagine what a mouse fells like not that it bothers me...

[grhodes50]

Excuse me, rockwood06, for getting off subject but the title of this thread reminds me of a story my Dad use to tell on my Mom.

They were married shortly after WW II and afterwards they settled in on a small farm in rual eastern Oklahoma. One night they had a couple of friends over and were playing cards. Dad said, "All of a sudden a mouse ran up one of Mom's pantlegs and then ran down the other. It went in dry and came out wet!" I can still hear him laughing, "Mom just about drowned that poor mouse."

I wouldn't recommend trying that to get rid of the mouse problem.

[rockwood06]

Originally Posted by grhodes50

Excuse me, rockwood06, for getting off subject but the title of this thread reminds me of a story my Dad use to tell on my Mom.

They were married shortly after WW II and afterwards they settled in on a small farm in rual eastern Oklahoma. One night they had a couple of friends over and were playing cards. Dad said, "All of a sudden a mouse ran up one of Mom's pantlegs and then ran down the other. It went in dry and came out wet!" I can still hear him laughing, "Mom just about drowned that poor mouse."

I wouldn't recommend trying that to get rid of the mouse problem.

That is funny

[steveqvs]

I deal with them too. My camper sits in a forest on a pad. Its frustrating, to say the least. We keep a real clean camper, we are forever cleaning everything up with bleach wipes no food out, we keep everything in those rubbermaid lock totes and still over the winter we sometimes get mice. I only use snaptraps and we use the peppermint oil on a cottonball in dish in hopes of keeping them away. I guess the best way is to make sure all the holes are sealed up in the camper, that your vents all have some sort of screens on them. I am tempted to peal back the "tarpy" undercovering and see if there is and area under the sink or bathroom that has access for the varmits. Since my camper is there year round I also am thinking I might put some sort of skirting up also. I am also going to plant some mint around the back side of the camper as that is supposed to repel them. I've built an owl house in the hopes it will attract an owl. Its probably a battle I can't win. But I hope to outwit them little varmits!

[skeeterbait8]

Originally Posted by grhodes50

Excuse me, rockwood06, for getting off subject but the title of this thread reminds me of a story my Dad use to tell on my Mom.

They were married shortly after WW II and afterwards they settled in on a small farm in rual eastern Oklahoma. One night they had a couple of friends over and were playing cards. Dad said, "All of a sudden a mouse ran up one of Mom's pantlegs and then ran down the other. It went in dry and came out wet!" I can still hear him laughing, "Mom just about drowned that poor mouse."

I wouldn't recommend trying that to get rid of the mouse problem.

OH that is sooooooooooo funny! Thanks for the laugh!!!

[Rice²]

This is a little extra work, but its what we do and seems to be efficient. My parents and I keep our campers side by side under a covered barn. They had mice in their camper last winter and so I devised a plan to avoid this problem. I took pvc pipe and made rectangles or squares to go around my wheels, tongue jack and scissor jack feet. You want to make sure that you have a surround made for all points of ground contact. I did not glue the pipe with the connectors, just dry fit them together so that I can take them apart. Then I drilled holes all the way down 2 sides of the pipe. One about every 2 inches. These "pipe squares" are then filled with moth balls. The smell is pretty strong, but no mice since we put them into place.

[jimh]

i would say bait an area around the trailer. they seem to always find a way in. they can get thru some very small openings.
here, they tend to move around at season change.
i've had good and bad experience with the poison; they are suposed to eat the poison then go to water. the water hardens the bait and they die. sometimes, they make it back into the house before dieing.

[SaskCampers]

We use Koenders granular bait stations all around the house and out buildings as well as the trailer has one under it. The Rural Municipality supplies all our pest control chemicals and bait free of charge and since I started putting one of these units under the trailer have never seen any mouse droppings in the trailer. I find the odd dead one in the quonset or garage but that is it.

Bait Stations, Rodent Control, Rodent Traps, Skunk Traps, Raccoon Traps, Live Traps

[Labzy]

Hmm, I hate using any kind of poison. I was happy to see the people replying about using peppermint oil, there are many other types of essential oils that are good for warding off rodents (ie: lavender is good for rats and mice). Make a mixture with distilled water and a small amount of the oil and spray around all doorways and any possible openings.
It's safe and smells great too, (well to us anyways ;p)!!
Btw, this is only used for a minor rodent problem or as a preventative, not for a major infestation

[SaskCampers]

I don't like poison either but when you live on a farm/acerage you do what you have to do, same as for gophers. You either get rid of the rodents or risk having nice visitors like Badgers etc in your yard so you choose and I will tell you you don't want to see what mans best friend looks like after a round with a Badger.

[kalik282]

We have found a different way of dealing with rodents...My DW puts a bowl of cat food for the feral cats under the camper. Always PLENTY of rodent catchers hanging around now!

YMMV

John

[BigRed]

Mint oil works..............soak a few cotton balls and put in areas where they might be !! Work's the nuts.......used it in the house last year and this.....no mice !!

[rick_h]

I was told by a friend to use Bounce (original) sheets. We spread 1 full large box around the trailer. Every drawer sheld compartment and under matresses and pillows. Haven't had a mouse yet. Don't know if its luck or the sheets, but until it doesn't work I plan to continue.

[Wildwood1]

we had mice problems in our trailer so i used snap traps for the first winter storage season-the problem with that was we only checked it every so often, sometimes finding a decaying mouse.( i think the peanut butter bait attracted them into the trailer)
so i did some research and tried the peppermint oil trick!!
this worked excellent for us. i placed a couple drops of the peppermint oil onto cotton balls and placed them in cupboards/drawers/storage areas. i left the snap traps set (as a backup plan) all winter but caught nothing, even the peanut butter is untouched!
we have no signs of mice and the trailer smells pleasant!
make sure to use 100% peppermint oil-available at a health food store.

[buzzards27]

Originally Posted by rockwood06

We will be returning next week end and then I need to found out how they are getting in.

I have been doing quite a bit of remodeling and have found evidence that I had a few mice taking up housekeeping in a few places. They must have had a funeral for one of them

Last fall I spent about 4 hours inspecting the underside of my MH and did find several gaps that I packed with plastic air filter fabric. I then shot foam into the fabric. I have not seen any new mice moving in since.

You might try using a light on the inside (or vise versa) after dark to locate any entry points. My guess is most utility entries will have gaps. On mine I found large gaps where the fiberglass corners fit (should I say, NOT FIT) up to the floor deck. One I actually reached up and shook hands with the DW inside.

You can always make a trap with a small bucket of water, if you give them a way to the top edge...

[F and E Damp]

for a lightener - A Scot was visiting Canada for the first time and staying at his Canadian relatives' mountian cabin. He looked out one morning to see a big bull moose standing abut 20 yards away. "What the helkl is that?" he asked his host. "It's a moose" was the reply. The visitor's response was "Och, if that great thing's a moose. I would nae like to meet one of your rats".

[MotocrossCamper]

Originally Posted by kalik282

We have found a different way of dealing with rodents...My DW puts a bowl of cat food for the feral cats under the camper. Always PLENTY of rodent catchers hanging around now!

YMMV

John

This is honestly the best way! We used to keep ours in a shed and we have tried Mint, Cloves, Dryer Sheets, Moth Balls, poison, sprays and traps. None of them will keep all mice away. One day at the Hardware store an Ole"Timer told me that mice will do everything they can to avoid rocky open areas, so now mine sits outside on a rock pad with a cover on it, plus the addition of 6 farm cats. We haven't had a mouse inside the camper in 3 years now.

I understand that it's not possible for everybody to do this, but if you want to keep mice away and you can, this is the best way.

If you have no choice on where you store your camper and you continue to have problems every year no matter what you do, another piece of good advice is to put the bait in the bottom of a tall trash can and place it at the end of a counter. The mice can't resist, they will jump in and then they can't get out. You still have to deal with the mice, but at least they are all dead in one place and you don't have to look all over the camper for them.

[clearsky]

The best way to plug small holes found leading from the flore of your rv is with steel wool. Mice hate the stuff and will not try to chew through it.