Suggestions on how to keep mice out of my Jayco 5th wheel

[JaycoJoe66]

I use Tom Cat Rodent Repellant spray. I use it on my sheds, camper, and house. available Lowes, Home Depot Amazon and many hardware stores. No signs of any rodents since using it. This will be my third season. I also use it year round, not only for storage.

[easevado]

Go to your nearest dollar store and buy the cheapest dry sheets you can find. Toss them all over the interior of the unit. Cabinets storage and all. You will not see a mouse again.

[Tbell]

I tried the Irish Spring Soap and the Bounce dryer sheets for the first time last year. Seems to have worked. Campers all around us had issues with mice, we had no signs at all!

[Rock]

Bobcat pee

[L&G]

I get migraines from all those smelly products so using them is out of the question. Hubby filled every hole he could find when we first bought it. We never leave food in the trailer when we aren't using it. I always make sure to wipe everything clean - no crumbs! I also vacuum regularly. We do put some D-con bait under the sink and bed just in case. We've never seen any signs of mice.

[thenne1713]

Originally Posted by Snake4Hire

What are Jayco owners doing to keep the mice out in the winter months? We live in Ohio and plan on putting our new camper in storage after this upcoming weekend where it will be sitting inside an uninsulated building for 5 months.
My grandmother would tell me to use moth balls but I can’t hardly stand the smell! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

*** After discovering new mouse droppings, I recently found on mine the SHORELINE STORAGE BOX had 1/2"+ GAPS in many places, opening to under-sink, and properly reseating box would be a tremendous task, so cut some aluminum flashing in 2" strips, and bent to 1x1 angles. I was able to apply clear silicone adhesive and glue them into place to close all gaps; time will tell. Luck to you too :-)

[TC Campbell]

Originally Posted by jimp

Wife just read the myth (?) about Irish Spring Soap repelling rodents last night. Not tried it but have heard/read it several times.

I have tried this 6 months ago strangly enough it works get the green bars of irish spring put these in the camper and no sign of mice all winter it works

[muckinfuss]

Anyone who has lived in the country knows that just because you don't see mice isn't proof that they aren't there.

None of the above work 100% in my experience. Some work some of the time, some don't at all.... but nothing is 100% all the time. What I do know is that I don't use a mouse killer (DCon etc) because I don't need the critters heading into a pocket somewhere and taking several months to stop stinking after they die.

I remove all drawers from cabinets and put them up since drawers with mice crawling through requires thorough cleaning for what you see....and what you don't see. I use TomCat sticky traps...the green ones. The black never seemed to perform as well, if at all. (They catch a lot of spiders tho.) About 8 along the walls in a 35 foot White Hawk. Then when I enter in the spring, all I have to do is plop them into the garbage.

The dealer was explaining that there's a spray that can be applied to the outside underneath. Not to be used inside. I don't know if it's the same or similar to what another poster here described as the Tom Cat spray from the Home Depot, but 8 of those glue traps only cost a few dollars and I'm not crawling around underneath with my fingers crossed.

[BLTravels]

We have used Bounce (it has to be Bounce) for many years without any issues at all. Now after saying that I am afraid what might happen...lol

[muckinfuss]

If you get away from the RV forums you'll find quite a few debunks of the mouse repellent myths. Years ago the county agent explained the entire biology of the critters and what has been found through studies...sheets don't work for more than a few days....at best, and to be effective at all need to be replaced every few days. Quite a few nests have been found with dryer sheet fuzz mixed in with the mouse hair!

My concern is and always will be, how they behave during the winter. I know they're in there, no matter what I do. I get around 6 per winter in the green Tom Cat, but I still put everything into sealed containers that I don't want them peeing on. Pillows, sheets, towels, the entire kitchen contents and so on. They pee constantly as they crawl around. Far more often than when they #2. The little pellets, you see....the dried up pee puddle...not so much.
Here, from This Old House. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/d...ont-deter-mice

[BLTravels]

All I know what works for us. If you read the responses on This Old House you see their article was from Orkin, not very impartial, and that most respondents to the article responded that dryer sheets worked well for them in their old rural houses.

[dennis b]

Originally Posted by TC Campbell

I have tried this 6 months ago strangly enough it works get the green bars of irish spring put these in the camper and no sign of mice all winter it works

Could just mean no mice in area!

[easevado]

They work wonders for me and I don’t deal with them but when we go camping. Sometime months in between. I have a very good friend that keeps his parked in his field behind his bone. He has cows and all the animals. With all the food and with all the hay and what have you he still doesn’t get mice. So I’m not sure who’s right or who’s wrong but I know what works

[Rconhof]

We are trying Irish Spring Soap this year. We also are in Ohio with a similar storage situation Have not had a mouse problem the last two years but read this and decided an ounce of protection is worth it

[freetime58]

Originally Posted by Rconhof

We are trying Irish Spring Soap this year. We also are in Ohio with a similar storage situation Have not had a mouse problem the last two years but read this and decided an ounce of protection is worth it

Irish Spring works well?????? Pretty sure they only eat it on March 17th, you should be fine the other 364 days of the year!!!!!!!

[Rice1951]

OK, so I have tried various mice deterrents over the past 30 years and the only thing that is consistent is if there is a way in they will find it. This year I am trying something different. I read about a pilot storing his plane and to keep mice out he used some galvanized flashing around the wheels and tail.
Apparently a normal mouse can jump about 12” and a mouse on steroids can jump about 18”.
I purchased two 50’ rolls of 20” galvanized flashing from HD and stood them on edge and put it completely around my MH. It is unheated storage with a smooth concrete floor so there are no gaps on the bottom. I used spring clamps to connect the two overlapping edges on the top and the flashing is stiff enough to stand on its own when butted up against the side of the coach.
I used this same facility last year and had signs of mice even without a crumb of food inside. I don’t trust the dryer sheets, soap, Cab Fresh, mothballs or poison and I won’t use traps since I don’t have access to the coach.
Will this method work? I have no idea but I figure for a minimal investment I will give it a try and both my DW and I will be overjoyed if we don’t have to clean up mouse droppings in the Spring. I will provide an update on this subject when we pick it up in April.

[easevado]

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[Jagiven]

I have tried just about every urban legend out there, and none have worked, to keep them out.

I done the Irish Springs, The mice just ate it. I have tried moth balls, and found them moved around, and moved (seen squirrels have them in their mouths). One I have not tried is pure peppermint oil. My cousin swears by it, but I have given up on urban legends.

I crawled under my TT, and plugged every hole I could find. I went inside and plugged all those same holes from the top side too.

I store my TT off site in the winter. The past 2 years at our local fairgrounds and they have pest control program to keep them mice out of the buildings. Before that, I placed my TT, in a farmer's barn who had lots of cats. I have never had a mouse issue, I do place about 6 stick traps inside my TT when it goes to bed for the winter.

FYI, I also scrub the inside of my TT from top to bottom to remove as much attractant (food) as possible.

Knock on wood, I have never had a mouse.

[Life]

Tried it, the mice ate it!
Using steel wool in any holes, peppermint oil on cotton balls and Fresh Cab (Amazon) seems to be the best. Has worked great!

[Rice1951]

This thread is a year old but I wanted to update that I had no signs of mice this past April. The previous year I had mouse turds in every drawer when I parked it for the winter in the same location for the same length of time without the flashing. So needless to say I am a believer.
The ground surface must be solid and level without any gaps or openings. The surface of the flashing itself prohibits mice from being able to climb it. So this will be my mouse prevention solution for this upcoming winter also.