DWolfrom
Lena, IL
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Joined: 10/20/2010
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Well, I guess I'll start from the beginning! I've had my trailer stored at a buddy's for the last month or so while I've been working on replacing and widening our driveway. Even went so far as to pour a pad for the trailer, too. Friday afternoon, I brought the trailer home to fill the FW tank and load some stuff for a close weekend jaunt. Opened the rear storage to get FW hose and found a mouse nest. I know they weren't in the trailer approximately 10-12 days ago as I was in it to retrieve some Comet to make sure I didn't get ants. Didn't camp this weekend but sure spent alot of time in there! Nothing is damaged other than my pride...well, they did chew up all of my precious a$$wipe! We've cleaned everything and spread traps and dryer sheets, but I need some advice...it's obvious to me that the critters got in through a few small gaps in the underbody enclosure and then traverse the trailer through the electric and plumbing penetrations. I not only want to seal the small gaps in the enclosure, but was thinking of dropping it to easily access all of the small penetrations and fill them with Great Stuff before putting it back in place. Am I nuts or not?! Basically, that would give me two lines of defense for starters and then I can attempt to be smarter moving forward!
Doug
2011 Keystone Passport 2590BH
2008 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 Extended Cab
2012 Chevy Tahoe
Prodigy BC
Bulldog #4000 Tongue Jack
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skipnchar
Topeka or somewhere else
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Joined: 12/17/2003
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Remove the useless fabric softener and use rat/mice poison is you really want to get rid of them. filling holes is a good idea but probably won't do the trick completely as humans have been trying to keep mice out of LOTS of places for centuries and generally failed in doing so but it certainly can make it more difficult. You may not need to go to the trouble of dropping the belly pan though if you can just open an inspection plate (or create one) and get light inside so you can then darken the inside of the RV and find the holes from above. Would likely be a lot less work then dropping the pan unless yours is installed in several pieces (some are some are not).
Good luck / Skip
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR -
2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles)
2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
US Govt survey shows three out of four people make up 75% of the total population
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Go Dogs
South of Pittsburgh, PA
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Yeah, wait until dark, light up the trailer and fill in wherever you see light coming thru. Use traps to catch the mice, poison will cause them to run off and die,(and stink).
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HappyTrails2U2
Tennessee is home but being held hostage in GA.
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Joined: 11/11/2009
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Stuff brass or stainless steel wool in the cracks and then caulk. Regular steel wool will rust.
They won't try to eat through the wool.
2010 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite 8315BSS
2003 Chevy Silverado 1/2 Ton Extended Cab
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tmmar
Nassau County, Long Island, NY
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Don't yet know if it will work but there is a product called mint-x. It is large, black garbage bags that are supposed to repell mice and rodents. I just purchase some and placed the bags around the basement of my coach. We'll see what happens.
2008 40' Forest River Berkshire DP Bunkhouse
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Camper Mama Bear
New Jersey
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peanut butter on the mouse traps. steel wool in the holes. unfortunately if they want in, they will get in. had a friend who got them every winter at his storage lot. he went so far as steel wool and duct tape for any and all cracks, and they still got in. hopefully when you get it home, to your driveway the problem will go away on its own.
Good Sam Life Members. Camping with two young children in a 2007 Pilgrim fifth wheel (278BHSS) pulled with a 2002 F350.
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CavemanCharlie
Storden,MN
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Joined: 03/01/2012
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I also vote against poison ! It just kills them in the walls and makes the trailer stink. Plus, it will kill pets and anything else that eats the mouse.Lots of traps and do what the others have said. You can even buy live traps if you want. I don't care about the mouse but, using these you can catch more then one mouse at a time. Also, don't leave food about that they can eat.
But, the best mouse trap I ever had was a hungry cat!!!! I keep my trailer in a shed on my farm and I keep hungry cats in there too. I don't have mouse problems.
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mlts22
Austin, Texas
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Joined: 11/15/2010
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x2 on hungry cats. That has done a good job at keeping my TT vermin free.
I also would consider storing the TT with the stab jacks up. This creates fewer ramps for them to get into the rig.
If no cats around, I'd look at putting some traps around the wheels and other low points. Avoid baits, for reasons stated above.
Of course traps can't hurt on the inside as well, especially in cabinets.
As for keeping the critters out, stainless steel mesh screen (they will gnaw through aluminum), also helps. Sometimes they don't just get in through the bottom, but through the sides, such as unlatched vent hoods or even vents on the roof.
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Sinecure
South of New Orleans
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Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found that putting traps baited with peanut butter or other food actually attracted mice to your RV? Just wondering because I don't have a rodent problem but the class c next to me in my storage garage has had mice. I'd hate to give them a reason to come in mine.
2007 Wilderness 3102BDS Travel Trailer
2006 GMC Sierra 2500HD 4x4 LBZ Duramax Diesel
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HappyTrails2U2
Tennessee is home but being held hostage in GA.
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Joined: 11/11/2009
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CavemanCharlie wrote:I also vote against poison ! It just kills them in the walls and makes the trailer stink. Actually very few if any die near where they eat the poison as long as they can't get to any water. Just make sure there's no place in the trailer for them to find water and they'll leave in a hurry to find it. Toilets will have to be covered if there's any water left in them. Putting the lid down probably won't keep them out unless there's no gaps at all between it and the bowl. Even then something heavy should probably be left setting on those light weight plastic lids. Sinks with large gaps in the strainer won't keep them out of the p traps where they can also get to water. Those will have to be covered too or the stopper put in place. A dehumidifier also has water they can get to that will have to be emptied out and turned off for a while if you have one.
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