Keeping mice out of RV:
 

Seems like this was covered previously here but not finding it with a simple search. Any and all ideas welcome to keep mice out of my RV and also under the hood of vehicles stored in the desert of SoCal.

I’ve tried traps and dryer sheets with no success. Not one single mouse in many traps of different types, these are some smart mice. A cat is not practical because it would have to live in the RV and I’m not out with it for periods of time. Help! TIA.

grandpa Gus's and Irish Spring.

What should I do with the Irish Spring? Slice it up like the garlic in Goodfellas and sprinkle it around everywhere? That’s not a smell I mind.

This is something I've been thinking about recently with the new shop.

My sense is the only way a mouse can get into a car is scrabbling up a tire and then figuring it out from there. I was thinking of going to a ducting shop and having steel boxes made that can wrap around each tire and fastened together at a corner. I think the sheet metal is too hard for their little claws to gain purchase and climb up. Also thinking of a curl over at the top to make it impossible for them to get over the steel wall.

Just a thought.

Now if mice can parachute down, all bets are off.

Go to the bulk store and buy some clove, spread it around the interior or put it in and old nylon stocking. I've done this for years in my cars and seems to work good. Got this tip years ago from a guy at a storage facilitiy where I stored my car.

Pretty sure they can jump fairly high onto something under the car.

One trick I have heard that doesn’t keep them out, but keeps their damage down is to leave lots of easy bedding material for them to get to so they don’t tear apart foam and fabric from places you like.

Cats, snakes, poison, traps….

Googling says you are right with one YT video where a guy built a bucket trap and kept cutting it down to see when they would escape, 16" was the highest they could jump and escape.

Escaping is one thing but I could see them jumping up to the bottom of a car purely out of curiosity, mostly because they do find a way inside.

Maybe a continuous ring of fire around a car would work.

Maybe a coincidence. I have been storing my car the last couple winters and I put cat poop and urine clumps in baggies on the floor around the car, near the tires, under the motor and slso stick socks in the muffler. Seems to work. Kitty liter boxes can be handy. I periodically check various areas as well.

Poison packs. The red ones….

And seal up any points of entry

For small points of entry, use steel wool. I’ve used it. It works.

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to try several of them. The mice are also getting under the hood of my PU truck, there is no way to seal that off so I need a solution that is something that repels them. I will put steel wool in the openings I can find but I fear that there are other hidden ones.

We recently got a cat for our shop downtown, (stray kitten just appeared), They are the ultimate solution if it's practical but it isn't in the RV situation.

Poison might not be the best idea. They may crawl in some hidden spot to die and begin to stink.

I avoid anything that attracts the mice. So bucket traps or snap traps that you load with peanut butter are out. And no poison. My black lab likes to visit the shop.

I place glue traps anyplace I can be confident the lab won’t visit, deep in the corners. And I also put them at the tires of reg car on the inside of each wheel. The mice avoid the middle of the shop.

The other one, I leave the trunk and engine lids open and leave some lights on. The rodents are far more active in the dark areas.

6 for $10

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Dryer sheets

Peppermint oil, if no dogs will be around it. Peppermint oil is toxic to dogs, maybe other pets.

Where do I get it and how do I use it?

Peppermint Oil Rodent Control for Your Home

Google all suggestions. Not everything works. or works well. but you'll at least be minty fresh if it doesn't in your application. Can't hurt to try

I am partial to these with the metal bail loaded with cheese or peanut butter. I have tried other brands and styles but always come back to these Victor originals.

I set several in my motorhome when in storage as my wife flips out if she ever sees mouse poop in it. She will basically empty the whole motorhome including drawers and cupboards and wash clean every thing if she thinks a mouse was in there. My motor home lives in my shop when not in use, but on occasion I have mice infiltrate the shop so I always try to keep some trap set and make an effort to check them every other week or so.

I hate the messy little bastids.

I used repellant bags in pool equipment for the winter. Think it was called something like mouse-away. Also used in my car trailers, along with poison bait traps.

My friends sell this.

Mouse-B-Gone.


They raise Ferrets. Collect the urine and pelletize it.

MICE HATE THE SMELL OF FERRETS, a natural predator.


Mouse-b-gone - Natural Rodent Deterrent, Mice Deterrent, Mouse Repellent

Tim, these are big city mice...they are on the internet or something sharing KIA stories. I've tried conventional traps like that one and every overpriced "better mousetrap" that the local Ace Hardware sells in the area where my RV is. They saw me coming when I walked in the door, as my old man used to say. :)

NONE of them have gotten me one mouse. I even bought the super-duper/can't fail/irresistable mouse bait. They look at my traps and laugh at me, then eat some upholstery and schit it out on my carpet.

I might have to give that a try.

I had a rat problem at a rental place. (Neighbor's dumpster attracted them.). Hired a pro. They sealed all crawlspace vents with steel mesh. Put bait boxes on the outside. Put snap traps inside as there was nothing else to eat. Killed them all quickly.

So, I would start with that. Build a perimeter of defense. Eradicate BEFORE you put the vehicle inside. If there is a loose fitting door? Fix it or this strategy won't work.

Ugh!! I am in a pitched, to the end, battle with these miserable vermin in my trailer in the north woods. Recently spent 3 days crawling underneath and stuffing any opening with steel wool and then foaming the entire seam where the plastic under floor meets the frame. Then spotted 2 eyes staring at me from the opening around the slide out mechanism. Another several hours spent cutting hardware cloth to fit snugly around these areas.

Then to the inside with my borescope to look for infiltration points under the sink where I have caught many. More hardware cloth (and my blood) has sealed as much as possible. However, I am still catching them there and I suspect that they are wriggling thru the wire bundle going to the fuse panel and converter. I will borescope this area Friday when I return for some fishing. My brother lives next door and has been setting, checking and dumping traps daily for me.The frequency of kills is diminishing and I hope that things are sealed well enough and we are catching the remnants of a colony trapped inside with no exit available.

The miserable vermin have attacked my Merc outboard as well, chewing wires and building nests. No way to seal that so Grandpa Gus packs under the cover when I am not there.

I will order some Mouse Be Gone.

I have tried unsuccessfully:

Dryer sheets. Walked over them to get to baited trap
Irish Spring
Peppermint oil on cotton balls - used balls for nesting material
Glue traps - a few have pulled themselves loose. Snappers are much better
Anti rodent sprays with coyote or fox urine
D Con - (now 3# spread under the trailer) Screw collateral damage
Hardware cloth screened every vent on the exterior

I remain undaunted and will continue the conflict. Fight, Fight, Fight

PS: Brother just texted that none were trapped inside last night for the second night in a row. Perhaps I have turned the tide in my battle with the miserable little invasive vermin.

Wrap some string on the 'retainer' of the snap trap. Then smear peanut butter onto the string.

Embedding the bait into the strings makes them gnaw on it, which prevents them from getting the food without setting the trap off.

Everyone I've ever talked to said that repellents are a waste of time. One fellow found mothballs in the nest!
For me, snap traps are the only thing. I try different bait (cheddar cheese, peanut butter..) till I find what they like. With the Victor traps, I will also tweak the bar that holds the wire when the trap is set to make it a lighter touch. Using cheese, I will replace it when it hardens.

Have you considered a game camera to watch what they do around the trap?

This is somewhat common for airplane hangars with a mouse infestation.

Easy with tall gear legs.
Not so easy to replicate for a car.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1725507674.jpg

Hey, that's my idea!

Apparently not.

I see what you mean, those are round sheet metal walls around tires vs. my rectangular ones. Good eye!

I'm not sure how those sheets are fastened together into cylinders but my idea was duct sheet metal bent to form a rectangle with a 1/2" tab at the open end. You open and wrap the box around the tire and magnets on inside of the tab hold the open wall closed.

Mice jumping up to the underside of the car per Rutager and the Internet would be the only way they could get in.

Plan B Shaun:

Build up the height with lumber or something sturdy to 20” or so and then put the metal ring around them. Bonus if you curve the stack to the wheel diameter and you get less flat spotting too!

Usually, each end has the last 1/2" or so bent over sharply in opposite directions so they simply hook together.
The sheet metal tries to spring back straight, so the "hook" has tension.
No fasteners required.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1725569637.jpg
IIRC, this car burned in a corn field due to the brakes catching the packed in husks on fire.

good idea Rutager. I'm not worried about flat spotting this year, I'm restoring some E50s this winter with turbo fans and A008s for spring. Last year for the amazing RE11s.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1725573026.jpg



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1725573026.jpg



That makes perfect sense.

I think putting an easy on easy off glue strip around them would work well.