Facts about mothballs

[Mustang65]

The University of Florida published this document regarding MOTHBALLS

Worth the read.... if you use them,

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/PI/PI25400.pdf

Don

[DocBrown]

Not to mention they are not effective at deterring mice.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

Not to mention they are not effective at deterring mice.

... but they did deter the pack rats that messed up the engine compartment of my class-B MH.

[Stingray75]

Used mothballs years ago to keep the boat free of mice then I looked up the effects of naphthalene. Realized this was mostly causing retinal damage and didn't want to risk a blind mouse not finding his way out.

[DocBrown]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

... but they did deter the pack rats that messed up the engine compartment of my class-B MH.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

Ya, that reply seems weird. Try this longer response...

Pack rats messed up the engine compartment on my class-B one winter. The following winter, I hung mothballs (the naphthalene kind ) outside, under the front and rear of the MH.

No pack rats the second winter or third winter...

BTW, you could smell the mothballs walking next to the MH, but leaving the mothballs outside resulted in virtually no smell inside the MH. The mothball smell that was inside, dissipated quickly in the spring when we began using it.

[RoyBraddy]

I had better luck using cotton balls dipped in PURE PEPPERMINT OIL. We would keep a zip lock bag of thee to use. PURE PEPPERMINT is kinda hard to find at local stores. We found WEGMANS in Fredericksburg VA carried it. Also available from AMAZON...

Thank goodness the MOUSE is almost blind as it is and likes to follow the long way around inside walls to get to where they want to go. We would use the soaked cotton balls at the entrance to these known paths and it worked very well for us...

Never could stand the smell associated with mothballs
Roy Ken

[kurv]

I am a licensed exterminator in New Jersey. I've been doing this full time for the past 15 years. My word of advice is DO NOT use moth balls for mice or anything else for that matter. They don't work and they smell bad. They may have worked years ago against rodents or even bigger pests, but they won't anymore. The ingredients changed.

While we're at it, another method I don't recommend is d-con. At Least the pellet form. The problem with pellet type baits is you don't really know what's going on. Mice will hoard food. When that bait is found by a mouse, they will fill their mouths full and make trips back and forth to their stash site until its gone. Usually leading people to believe they have a huge mouse problem because the bait they put out last night is gone this morning. And what happens to that bait stashed in your wall after the mouse is gone? You get carpet beetles and other insects that feed on ingredients in the bait. That's if its concealed in a wall. If they put it in a boot, or a toy box or anywhere else a small child or pet can get to, that's a big problem. This is why 12 different d-con products will be removed from store shelves within the next year.

If you choose to use bait, use a block type bait locked in a secure case. It doesn't matter what brand, they're all anticoagulants. Keep in mind it will take 1-3 days for a mouse to die from consuming the bait. And no, they don't go look for water. Mice don't even need a water source to survive if there's enough moisture in their food source.

Another waste of time is peppermint oil, kitty litter, and those plug in pest deterrents. Mice WILL use your cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil as a pillow. Urine soaked kitty litter is just weird. The fact is mice aren't bothered by it. The plug in devices are still being sold because they say right on the package "for best results use with a professional pest control program". Don't waste your time trying to keep them away from certain places, focus on exclusion. Keep them out of the structure, or in our case the rv.

I can go on for ever so I'll just stop here. I will give everyone the best advise for keeping rodent entry in a motorhome/trailer to a minimum. Good old fashioned snap traps. If its garaged, place 2 or 3 around each tire. If its outside, you can buy or build an enclosure to keep the traps undisturbed. just make sure the mice have access into the enclosure. Check them twice a week, use peanut butter, chocolate or nesting materials(string, cotton, etc). We often use exterior bait stations and this does work. Any pest control company can set you up on a monthly service for this. It shouldn't cost more than $50 a service. They also make multiple catch devices. Search for Ketch-all or Tin-cat. If you can't find them your local exterminator will probably sell you some. Also look for entry points. Keep in mind a mouse's joints have a lot of cartilage. If they can fit their head through, they can flatten and contort their body through. The size of the tip of your pinky finger is a good reference for an adult field mouse.

[DocBrown]

Don't give the mice a reason to want to be in your trailer. It's food they want. Anything else is just extra comforts.

We park our trailer next to our attached garage. We've been parking trailers there for well over 20 years. The back of our property is against a natural creek and the brush is loaded with mice. We get them making nests in our lawn and snow removal equipment which is kept in our shed. We get them in the garage because they try to get at the bird seed. And we've had them get in one wall of our house (the wall that shares with the garage). We have never had them in our trailers.

Our trailer, and my dad's in front of it, are on a gravel pad which we keep clear of weeds. We don't store any food in the trailers in the winter, and food in there during the season is in sealed containers. No food available, no mice.

Incidentally we have to keep the bird seed in sealed containers but we no longer have mice trying to get in the house.

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Ya, that reply seems weird. Try this longer response...

Ah! Much better!

[kurv]

That's another good tip about keeping the area free of tall grass and excessive landscaping. Usda inspected facilities actually require a landscape free buffer zone around the structure, for rodent prevention.

Keeping food out of the trailer is important but mice are opportunistic. If the trailer provides harborage near a food source they will use it. For instance, you park your trailer in the driveway and your neighbor feeds his birds 20' from the edge of your driveway.

Mice will try to live and forage for food within a 30' radius. Rats 50'. A little bit more info that I unfortunately have to know.

[Crabman]

Some good info here. Luckily my 28BHS has been tight enough to keep out the mice in the 5+ years we have owned it. But my house has not been so lucky, get a few every year.. And the Jayco is parked right next to the house.