Mouse trap for seasonal storage

Johnster

Advanced Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2013
Messages
50
Greetings,
On opening day this year I had to clean out 3 mouse nests and an unbelievable amount of droppings, so this winter I'm considering using a bucket-style moustrap left in the middle of the floor of the trailer. Amazon sells this one https://www.amazon.ca/Bucket-Release-Humane-Indoors-Outdoors/dp/B09LY8FDC9 for $16 that looks like it will do the job, but I'm interested in the experiences of people who've used one of these for an extended period. We're seasonal so the trailer will be sealed up for 6 months, and while I plan on using antifreeze in the bucket, am I in for an unholy mess/smell if I leave it unattended for that long? Anyone use the Amazon trap and can comment on how well it works?

Thanks for any and all feedback.

Cheers
 
Unlimited supply

Greetings,
On opening day this year I had to clean out 3 mouse nests and an unbelievable amount of droppings, so this winter I'm considering using a bucket-style moustrap left in the middle of the floor of the trailer. Amazon sells this one https://www.amazon.ca/Bucket-Release-Humane-Indoors-Outdoors/dp/B09LY8FDC9 for $16 that looks like it will do the job, but I'm interested in the experiences of people who've used one of these for an extended period. We're seasonal so the trailer will be sealed up for 6 months, and while I plan on using antifreeze in the bucket, am I in for an unholy mess/smell if I leave it unattended for that long? Anyone use the Amazon trap and can comment on how well it works?

Thanks for any and all feedback.

Cheers
We used to set four traps. Every time we returned most were full, maybe one or two had the bait stolen. We finally figured out that Mother Nature has an unlimited supply of mice and could always provide more mice than we had traps.

It took a good part of my day on my back on a crushed rock site, but I mouseproofed the trailer. Mice will not cross steel-wool or bronze wool. They hate it. Wrapping steel wool or bronze wool around a pipe or cable will prevent mice from traversing it. I could have used bronze wool, but only steel wool was available to me at the time. Since the trailer is on a permanent site, the steel wool still seems fine after a decade.

The trailer was insulated. At every point where a pipe or wire went through the insulation, I unfolded a steel wool pad, wrapped it around the object, and fastened it with a cable tie. I did find the spot where they had breached the insulation alongside a gas pipe (copper tubing), and followed it through the insulation to where it penetrated the floor. I wrapped the tubing below the insulation, and also tamped steel wool into the plywood from the top where the tubing came through. It's been a decade since we've seen any mouse evidence and I claim that was time well spent.
 
Are you not able to visit during the off season?
6 months of mice in a bucket is going to stink.
 
Thanks for the replies. I also spent a great deal of my time on my back trying to mouse-proof the trailer, and after using many feet of belly tape, steel wool and foam spray, I ended up concluding that they are getting in at the point where the fresh water fill line passes under the floor into the tank. Unfortunately, the trailer was designed such that this takes place in between the main supports that run across the width of the trailer, and as such it is completely inaccessible to me. Normally, we have a few droppings and such to clean up on opening day, but last year was a mess, probably due to the mild winter we experienced. Unfortunately, we cannot really get to the trailer during off-season as the park is a couple of hours away, and is locked up and patrolled by security. I was hoping that someone here might have tried one of these, ideally with anti-freeze in the bucket which should keep them from decomposing over the course of the winter but at this point I might just abandon the idea and hope that it isn't as bad next spring. I cant imagine opening day if there are dead mice in there that did decompose over the course of 6 months.
 
Can you...?

Thanks for the replies. I also spent a great deal of my time on my back trying to mouse-proof the trailer, and after using many feet of belly tape, steel wool and foam spray, I ended up concluding that they are getting in at the point where the fresh water fill line passes under the floor into the tank. Unfortunately, the trailer was designed such that this takes place in between the main supports that run across the width of the trailer, and as such it is completely inaccessible to me. Normally, we have a few droppings and such to clean up on opening day, but last year was a mess, probably due to the mild winter we experienced. Unfortunately, we cannot really get to the trailer during off-season as the park is a couple of hours away, and is locked up and patrolled by security. I was hoping that someone here might have tried one of these, ideally with anti-freeze in the bucket which should keep them from decomposing over the course of the winter but at this point I might just abandon the idea and hope that it isn't as bad next spring. I cant imagine opening day if there are dead mice in there that did decompose over the course of 6 months.
Can you flood the area with spray-in foam? Maybe find a brand that has a nozzle or tube extension?
 
Can you flood the area with spray-in foam? Maybe find a brand that has a nozzle or tube extension?

It's a very big space, probably 18" wide by about a foot high and the only access is provided by some small holes at the bottom near the end. I'd need a tank of foam and could never see if the entire area was filled as I'd be filling and looking through the same hole.
 
I winterize with AF every fall and leave my trailer on it's seasonal site for 6 months. One spring when I got back to open it up there was a dead mouse floating in the AF in the toilet.

It did not smell pleasant.
 
I have used the bucket style for buildings and it did well, I have also used sticky ones like Tomcat. I think smell is inevitable if left too long. Maybe some kind of deodorant to go along with it. Not sure if chlorine in the water would help or chase them away.
 
I winterize with AF every fall and leave my trailer on it's seasonal site for 6 months. One spring when I got back to open it up there was a dead mouse floating in the AF in the toilet.

It did not smell pleasant.

Thanks for chiming in. I really was hoping someone might know if AF really would preserve the dead mice, and now I guess I have my answer. I think I'm going to just give the trap a miss and maybe try a couple of cans of spray foam on the inside of the trailer where they get in from the underside.
 
I have used the bucket style for buildings and it did well, I have also used sticky ones like Tomcat. I think smell is inevitable if left too long. Maybe some kind of deodorant to go along with it. Not sure if chlorine in the water would help or chase them away.

For a couple of years now, I've used traps inside the clamshell packaging they use for strawberries. They work great if I'm only gone for a couple of weeks, but even then, the little critters are well into decomposition. At least the clamshell stops it from running all over the floor but it still stinks. I cant imagine if it was for months at a time, although chlorine is an interesting idea.
 
Place any traps or bait outside the trailer. Why attract them to the inside? Inside I would put down some of those scented oil bags that may (or may not) deter them.

Jim M.
 
My trailer sits right next to my garage that seems to always have mice, yet never had one in the trailer. I have used peppermint oil for 15 years and no mice. Use 2-4 old coffee mugs or glasses and add 3-4 cotton balls in each. Sprinkle 5-10 drops of essential oil of peppermint on the cotton balls and distribute the mugs around the RV. You will need to refresh the peppermint oil about every 45 days. Do not use cooking peppermint you need good essential oil of peppermint. I use it in my truck as it is not my daily driver and can sit for a while.
 
Top down?

It's a very big space, probably 18" wide by about a foot high and the only access is provided by some small holes at the bottom near the end. I'd need a tank of foam and could never see if the entire area was filled as I'd be filling and looking through the same hole.
How is access from the top? Could you stuff steel/bronze wool into the gap around the pipe that passes through the floor, tamping it in with a large, flat-blade screwdriver? You might have to disconnect the water pump to get it out of the way, first. I did that under the range.
 
For the size of area that you are dealing with, you might want to consider a cavity filling foam. This stuff from DAP is sprayed on kind of like spray paint. You spray on an 1/2" thick layer and it will expand to about 3" thick. It is intended for insulating home walls before putting up dry wall...
Not cheap and probably way more than you need.
DAP® Touch 'N Foam® Wall & Cavity Low-GWP Spray Foam Sealant Kit



https://www.menards.com/main/paint/...00351/p-1642874300380451-c-7937.htm?exp=false
 
Traps usually need an attractant so I usually don’t put those in unless i have a problem already. For the winter I take everything out, just so it’s easy to inspect and add in some cedar/oil repellants like fresh cab. Worked last winter, might not this year.
 
Traps usually need an attractant so I usually don’t put those in unless i have a problem already. For the winter I take everything out, just so it’s easy to inspect and add in some cedar/oil repellants like fresh cab. Worked last winter, might not this year.

And that's the catch. (no pun intended) Folks will use something one year and then believe it is a forever fix.

We've been camping 50+ years and nothing is a permanent deterrent. (except "maybe" a cat!)

Over the years, I've seen mice turds in bowls of moth balls, nests made from Fresh Cab pouches and dryer sheets, along with, cotton balls soaked in essential oils and fox pee. Half eaten bars of Irish Spring soap, poop/pee presence with audible deterrents, and so on.

Baited traps that kill are still the best, but one must check, empty and reset regularly.
 
Mouse in trailer

I did some steelwool but only in easily accessible cut outs in the floor. To do all of them I would have to rip out some of the cabinets and I wasn't willing
to do it. I basically do drier sheets all over trailer and in cabinets in addition to small plastic containers filled with cotton balls and soaked in peppermint esential oil. I use about 7-10 containers. Knock on wood, I did not have any mice in past 3 years and added bonus is that trailer smells nice after winter
 
If you have holes to cover I use 1/2” hardware cloth. Kept them out of my home generator for several years so far.
 
I'd opt for a repellent over a trap. Dont like the thought of decaying mouse bodies in a bucket, possibly attracting more pests. Bounce dryer sheets have done well for me. I literally place them all over the interior especially around possible entry points.
 

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