How to keep mice out!

[White Hawk 77]

I'm a new trailer owner and having trouble with mice in my 2013 Whitehawk. Is there anything specific about about this model and year that make them more susceptible to rodents? I'm quickly falling out-of-love with my camper!

[bedrck46]

Don't blame the camper if you keep in in a area that has a rodent problem. I would suggest the you put de con on the inside of the camper Also look at the camper and seal up any areas that the mice can enter.

[Scoutr2]

Some folks say it's hogwash, but I put Bounce dryer sheets in every nook and cranny in the camper. I also put them under mattresses, seat cushions, drawers, and other places. Don't use any fancy aromas (like Febreeze, etc) - just the plain, original Bounce. The word is that mice and other critters do not like the smell. I've parked a camper in a grassy area for nine years and never had a single problem with mice or other bugs (except those darn Asian beetles!).

I would NOT, however, use D-Con or other poison. If they crawl into an inaccessible space and die, the stink would be horrible and would last a long time, until you remove it - if you can find it. Glue boards or traps would be my preference.

I got this tip from an RV dealer and it has worked for me. (It was posted on their website.) Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=B1y-o4DjM3I

[oldmanAZ]

I had a packrat problem for a while. I put a 'mothball' hangers outside, under the front and rear of my class-B. The packrats never bothered it after that.

The mothball smell inside was minimal, but noticeable. The smell dissipated quickly when we opened the MH and drove it to go camping.

I haven't heard of folks with mice problems using a similar technique so not sure if mice behave the same way.

Good luck.

[White Hawk 77]

Has anyone used a spray type product, that supposedly repels rodents, that is applied to the underside of the trailer? It sounds messy...?

[mike837go]

Never had rodents in my trailer, but my barn/shop had clear evidence of an infestation until I put out warfarin/Coumadin poison baits.


The trailer is parked just outside of my shop.


I still have a different brand of bait stations, but they don't see the action they used to.


Rarely to the vermin die in the walls. The poison causes internal bleeding and makes the little critters thirsty. Available water is outside of the building...

[DocBrown]

We park our trailer next to our attached garage. We've had mice in the garage, even mice in the outside wall of our house that is shared with the garage. Never in 23 years of parking various trailers there have we had mice in them.

We never leave unsealed food in the trailer. The pad we park it on is gravel with no weeds or other growth. We never cook in our trailer.

Don't know if any or all those things are discouraging the mice, but for sure I know lack of a food source will help. I had an open container of bird food in the garage and the mice loved that. Once I got a sealed container for the bird seed, the mice stopped coming in the garage.

[gloryb]

We used the Bounce (original) dryer sheets in our previous trailer and the mice were worse that year than ever. Even did their "job" on top of them. I have put the moth balls in childproof medicine bottles and that helped but what helped the most was the Fresh Cab packets I got at a farm supply store. And if you can stuff all openings with steel wool to keep them out to start with.

[emjayuu]

Bounce. X3

[Mach1tosh]

A few years ago with our C class we had mice coming in while we were boondocking. We tried plugging all the access points we could find with tin foil (try chewing some and you'll soon understand the unpleasant sensation) but apparently missed one or two.
The solution that worked for us was laying out a handful of pistachio nuts on a log outside the unit. With easy access to the "offering" the mice didn't bother us for the rest of the stay.

[Murff]

Don't leave your power cord on the ground, if you are hooked up to power. Rodents can climb it and squeeze into trailer that way.

(Don't ask how I know)

Murff

[sask934]

Do not feed them....no open food boxes, everything in a plastic container. As well as I do not cook in the trailer, just the microwave...I use the BBQ and and an electric fry pan out side.

[33 RLDS]

Rat zapper under the sink. I fried 2 in the last couple of week just sitting next to my house. Kitty has me beat though, she brought home 3 mice in one night yesterday..

[Iraqvet05]

Here is an interesting approach to keeping mice out of an RV...
The RV Doctor: Critters - Redux

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Bounce dryer sheets don not work. We have had mice in 2 different campers (including our current 26BH) where we used them and they used the sheets as bedding!

The only solution I know works 100% is Mouse-Free. We sprayed in on our camper in the fall of 2013 and have had no mice since. Our Daughter parked her camper next to ours that year and she had mice in the bumper chewing the sewer hose.

[redcedar]

I use bait block that comes with a little plastic box that only mice can access. Then I put that box in a cinder block next to TT tire. That way they die outside before getting inside first. My wife likes to feed the birds. We set up bird feeder far away now and keep a rodent free zone around the vehicles. Nothing worse than firing up the oven for a pizza only to cook a mice nest. A smell you'll never forget.

[GrayHawk51]

Originally Posted by Scoutr2

Some folks say it's hogwash, but I put Bounce dryer sheets in every nook and cranny in the camper. I also put them under mattresses, seat cushions, drawers, and other places. Don't use any fancy aromas (like Febreeze, etc) - just the plain, original Bounce. The word is that mice and other critters do not like the smell. I've parked a camper in a grassy area for nine years and never had a single problem with mice or other bugs (except those darn Asian beetles!).

I would NOT, however, use D-Con or other poison. If they crawl into an inaccessible space and die, the stink would be horrible and would last a long time, until you remove it - if you can find it. Glue boards or traps would be my preference.

I got this tip from an RV dealer and it has worked for me. (It was posted on their website.) Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=B1y-o4DjM3I

---------------------------------------------------

I do the same thing and did the same with my Airstream. Seemed to work just fine...Also good to keep spiders at bay.

[Taurus2415]

The solution for me was a combination of the expanding spray foam insulation in as many cracks and holes that I could find and peppermint oil. The hole for the water supply line for the toilet is one example where I put the foam. Then I got aluminum foil squares (to keep from staining the camper) and cotton pads and soaked them with peppermint oil (not extract) and placed about 5 of them strategically under the sink, in the bathroom, etc. Haven't seen a critter or evidence since

[gypsmjim]

Originally Posted by Murff

Don't leave your power cord on the ground, if you are hooked up to power. Rodents can climb it and squeeze into trailer that way.

(Don't ask how I know)

Murff

My power cord has a cap over the hole that completely covers it when retracted. With the cord out, the little door is open, basically covering the hole again. I don't believe they could get in that way.

My old camper had mice problem, and they were found to be coming in the roof mounted chimney. Put chicken wire over it and problem solved.

[Tail_gunner]

We found signs of mice when we got our Eagle TT out of storage. I had taken measures to keep the little buggers out, but apparently that didn't work. I believe that eliminating ways of getting in is more effective than trying to repel them after they're already in.

I found some holes in the floor where wiring and plumbing pass through the floor, namely behind the power center (CB/fuse panel) and under the bathtub at the drain P-trap.

I got some Great Stuff spray foam for pest control and shot it around as many spots as I could get access to. I think I got all of them except under the bath tub. That's a bigger area. I'm thinking about a sheetmetal plate to block the area off.