Mice!!!!

[VirginiaH]

Mice or voles have gotten into the "ceiling" of my motorhome, and I've tried just about everything to get rid of them, but nothing seems to work, They are eating away at the star foam insulation. Every time I turn on my air conditioner foam flies everywhere. Tiny pieces of mice poop lands in the lights. I've tried traps, glue plates, smellie bags and mice poison and mothballs. I live out in the country, so that is part of the problem. Wintertime is the worse of course. My fear is that I'd would have to take the ceiling out to repair all the damage. My unit is a 2015 Forester 2801QS

 

[reidfo]

I have pretty good experience with country mice unfortunately, but in a house. Which if any of the methods you've tried caught mice? I've always had mixed results with all of the methods. The repellents shouldn't be used in conjunction with any kind of trap. They cancel each other out most likely. EDIT: I mean don't use both since you already have an infestation.

Glue traps are very effective, but only if you can put them where the mice run, like in a corner or along a wall, or where there's a food source.

Are there any food sources there? I wouldn't think so, but worth asking the question.

If you use traps, what do you bait them with. Mice LOVE peanut butter. Cheese has never worked for me in traps.

Finally, meticulously inspect your motorhome and seal up any openings you can find. They can fit into unbelievably tiny spaces and get into your coach.

 

[Reverse_snowbird]

The first thing you need to do is figure out how the mice/voles are getting into your rig. Both can get in incredibly small spaces. Once you find the entry point, you'll need to rig up something that will let them out but not give them a reentry port. It sounds like they probably have a nest in there and you don't want to seal babies in there.
Those air conditioning ducts are nice roomy nesting sites. If you cleaned those out you might be able to get rid of their nests.
If you had snow you could probably follow their trails to the entry point, but some type of powder might do the trick if they are entering through the bottom
Sealing the holes after the mice have been evicted is usually done with stainless steel wool.

You may need the advice of an exterminator before they do further damage.

 

[markk110]

I have an FR3 Class A and found a mouse came through the chassis air ventilation. After storage last year I had some mouse droppings and leaves in the chassis duct work.
I checked on it after storing this fall chased one out switching to recirculating with the engine running. There is no screen in front of the intake.
Has anyone experienced this?

 

[Aussieguy]

I'd be getting up on the roof and lifting the top of the a/c units
Inspect in there to find any nests and if they somehow got into the the "inside"

are you putting the RV under any tree, structure or barn?

 

[Bob K4TAX]

I use the old fashion mouse traps, 4 for $1 at Walmart, and bait them with peanut butter. Don't use any type of poison. They will eat the poision, curl up and die and you'll have a stinking mess of unknown orgin.

Make sure there is NO food of anykind in the pantry, closet, storage area, etc. etc. etc. Check under everyting for the likes of food being accidently dropped. This includes NO water in the toilet.

If they get into the ductwork, you'll need a means to inspect the inside of the ductwork. And then a way to repair any holes they have chewed into the ductwork as well as clean out any of their droppings. Otherwisse you'll be air conditioning the attic space between the ceiling and roof.

We keep mouse traps, baited and set, year around in our travel trailer.

Bob

 

[Larry-NC]

The first thing you need to do is figure out how the mice/voles are getting into your rig. Both can get in incredibly small spaces. Once you find the entry point, you'll need to rig up something that will let them out but not give them a reentry port. It sounds like they probably have a nest in there and you don't want to seal babies in there.

reidfo

Finally, meticulously inspect your motorhome and seal up any openings you can find. They can fit into unbelievably tiny spaces and get into your coach.

It's very difficult (maybe impossible) to find the intrusion points. The better solution is to simply block all penetrations of the underside. Mice hate steel wool (or bronze wool). They will not cross it or chew through it. It took me most of a day to mouseproof the Cherokee 38P (39 foot trailer). Get a discarded refrigerator carton to slide on. It's much better than pavement when you are crawling or lying on your back. Also get a bunch of coarse (#4 or #5) steel wool batts and a package of 6" cable ties.

At each pipe or cable that penetrates from the bottom side:

• Unroll a steel wool batt
• Wrap it around the pipe or cable near the floor (doesn't have to be right against the floor)
• Use one or two cable ties to secure the batt
• Repeat until all penetrations have been protected

I you find evidence of penetration at any point, go topside and find the penetration from the top. Poke steel wool around the pipe/cable on all sides until the floor hole is stuffed and there is no clearance for a mouse to enter.

We went from 3-4 trapped mice every week or two to zero mice over the last ten years with this technique.

 

[Minthillbill]

I use std mouse traps with Tootsie Roll pieces. Or Peanut Butter.

 

[Aussieguy]

keep the area around the RV mowed and weed free

mice do not like being out in the open
shrubs and thicker grass stems make great ladders for mice

 

[Larry-NC]

I use std mouse traps with Tootsie Roll pieces. Or Peanut Butter.

And you will still be doing so five years from now. Mouse proofing is better than mouse trapping.

 

[Jean D]

We’ve been battling mice in a zero turn lawn mower stored in our shed. Baiting the traps with raisins has worked great.

 

[Larry-NC]

There a

We’ve been battling mice in a zero turn lawn mower stored in our shed. Baiting the traps with raisins has worked great.

There are way more mice than there are raisins. You will be trapping mice forever. It's harder to find and fix the entries, but otherwise you have a new, never-ending task.

 

[sherman12]

I had a similar situation as the OP with my Georgetown motorhome. For me, the problem seemed to be the RV cover that I used for the first time. The mice used it as a "Marines type cargo net" to climb to the roof of my RV and get into the AC units. The first time we used the AC units the following Summer we had the same occurrence, Styrofoam pieces and mouse droppings falling out of the ceiling vents.

In my situation, I think the mice moved on from my rig once the temps rose as we did not experience that situation again. Plus, I never used the cover again and I started parking the RV in my driveway for the winter instead of my friend's country house.

 

[Win76]

I have a 2020 Rockwood Minilite with a sealed bottom. Or so I thought! The slide out rod goes thru the frame to the slide out and has a 1" gap around the rod. Has anyone heard of a boot that can fit around it to keep mice from climbing thru the gap?

 

[Larry-NC]

You could probably find a CV Joint boot that's a close fit. Get dimensions and go to the automobile You-Pull-it salvage yard and crawl under a couple of vehicles until you find one that works. Too small? Look at SUVs. Too large? Look at compacts.

A worm clamp could snug the part around the rod. Cut a ring from sheet metal to clamp the bell end to the frame by drilling and tapping a couple of holes.

 

[sherman12]

Or just shove aluminum foil into the openings at the end of every season.

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Put a thin layer of grease on the rod and then fill the opening with expanding foam insulation. The foam won't stick to the grease, but the foam will form around the rod and allow it to move in and out.

Bob

 

[Mgtv53]

Put a thin layer of grease on the rod and then fill the opening with expanding foam insulation. The foam won't stick to the grease, but the foam will form around the rod and allow it to move in and out.

Bob

I put my cat in the duct took care of the mice

 

[rollscanardly]

I just got done de-winterizing our camper a few days ago. There were random mouse turds here and there. After cleaning as best as I could, I set up a few mouse traps (snap traps). Nothing yet. What does that mean?

Did the mice already leave? Last year, I crawled underneath and stuffed copper steel wool around any penetration or hole that I thought a mouse may have entered, then sprayed rodent expanding foam into the steel wool. Hard to tell if there's some tiny opening that I may have missed...

I may decide to empty out the 2 compartments under the overhang (5er) and see if there are any obvious openings there.

I was told that once mice enter and urinate, it's an invitation for future mice to join in the fun. When I bought this abandoned camper, back in the day, it was apparent that mice had set up shop in there.

I've also read that if there are currently NO mice in the camper, but one sets traps with bait, that the smell of the bait will attract mice from the outside to enter the camper to get to the bait.

Lots to fight against....

Speaking of mouse trap bait, I've has good luck with a cut piece of a Raisinet. They seem to love them...

Rich

EDIT....Just after typing this post, I went out to the camper. Here's what I found...

Bummer.......

 

[Larry-NC]

Did the mice already leave? Last year, I crawled underneath and stuffed copper steel wool around any penetration or hole that I thought a mouse may have entered, then sprayed rodent expanding foam into the steel wool. Hard to tell if there's some tiny opening that I may have missed...

You can't just protect the penetrations you see, Rich. You have to assume that ANY cable, wire, or pipe going through the bottom of the RV will permit rodent access.

Rodents will not cross steel wool or bronze wool. That makes it easier. You can simply unroll a pad and re-roll it around the cable/wire/pipe and fasten it with a cable tie near each end. You don't have to be right at the floor--you can make the roll 2-3 inches away or more, as long as there's nothing near they can use to get access beyond the roll. This has worked well for us. We used to get 2 or 3 full traps on every visit. Since I did that (took less than a day), we haven't seen a single intruder and it's been ten years.