Winter mouse protection

[MontanaRick]

This will be my first winter storing a trailer outdoors (previous trailer was a Chalet a-frame that fit in the garage - interestingly, I had some mice in the garage, wasn't all that good about keeping food out of the trailer, but didn't get mice in the trailer - probably just lucky), and I am in the process of developing my winter preparation plan. I have a 195RB.

I was thinking at the only routes mice have to get into the trailer are the jack and the tires (the only ground contacts if I keep the stabilizers up). It seems that if I wrap the jack and the axles just inside the wheels with steel wool (something like Xcluder) this would effectively cut off access by rodents. (If I had the stabilizers down, I could wrap those as well.)

Any thoughts from more experienced mousers out there?

Thanks.

[Pezman]

I'm a new owner, too. Last winter, I made sure I took all food, including any kinds of spices out of the travel trailer. I didn't have any problems. I live in the country and have mice and even field rats. So far, no problems. I leave the stabilizers down. I go inside the camper about once a week in the winter and look around for droppings. If I did see any, I'd probably put in a few mouse traps.

[MontanaRick]

Thanks for the reply. I will take out all food items, also all paper items like toilet paper and kleenex that mice love. It was suggested on another thread to leave the stabilizers up because, if a tire goes flat, it could stress/bend/break the stabilizers. Because the trailer will be at home and I can check it regularly, this might be less of a concern (vs a storage yard).

[Jagiven]

Mice are always an issue. Jayco recommends not to store the TT with the stabilizers down.

We have an open underbelly on our TT. I crawled underneath and found a lot of holes that mice can get in through. Every 12V item, is grounded to the chassis, hence lots of large holes are drilled through the floor. I went through the TT, and plugged ever hole with steel wool and then applied a good marine silicone. I did this to both the inside and outside. We have never had a mouse. I also have a brass kitchen scrubby, shoved in the electrical port.

A friend of mine has an enclosed underbelly. Stores his TT on a different farm than me. The last few years he has had mouse issues. We went though and either foil taped or caulked along his underbelly to see it, and still had mice last year. I suspect they are coming in through his slide-out mechanism. A neighbor of his two years ago had mice getting in though the furnace vent, and chewing up the furnace wiring and making a huge mess.

When I put our TT away, I add a series of sticky traps around the inside of the TT just in-case. Mice do not like to be out in the open, so if I was to store my TT at home or in a field, I would make sure the area where the TT is stored is mowed short, and clear of any places for them to hid.

We too remove all food items from the TT in the fall. We also do a deep clean of all shelves, floors, drawers, cushions, to try to remove all food.

In the old car club, a lot of people like a product called Cab Fresh, I have never used it, but I know a lot of people who swear by it. I have tried just about every other urban legion to keep mice away and none of them work.

Good Luck

[33 RLDS]

I have plenty of room to store mine at home and I have multiple traps near the sink cabinets I leave open and catch mice every single week. I gave up on trying to figure out how they get in and just try to eliminate them. My cat wont go out much in the winter so she's useless

[jloco]

Mice are tough. It's not always food they're after. They'll chew the wiring and anything else they can get their disgusting little teeth on. We use dryer sheets and mothballs but have had limited success. While we've never experienced any damage, and we never leave a spec of food in the camper (we perform a deep fall scrubbing every fall also), I can't count on finding a few droppings here and there every spring. This year we're adding peppermint oil to the mix! Our camper is 130 miles from home on a seasonal site, so checking it often is really not an option for us. This off season I'm going to make it a point to check on my rig mid way through winter and freshen up my rodent deterrents.

I was going to try Cab Fresh until I saw a post on FB (jayco owners group page)where the mice actually defecated all over the Cab Fresh pouches! LOL!

[Marcm157]

I had a mouse issue for the first time ever this season. I got a lot of recommendations for a product called Fresh Cab. I tried it and I have not had a single sign of a mouse since. I am a believer...

https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Cab-Bot...10833961&psc=1

[DocBrown]

There is heavy brush and trees at the back of our property line. We've get lots of mice in our shed and they come into our attached garage especially in winter. We've also had them get into the wall that the garage shares with our house.

We park our trailer next to our attached garage on a gravel pad. My dad's trailer is there too (its a side-by-side, he lives next door). We've parked a pop-up camper there for 11 years, and a previous hybrid for another 10 years. Not one mouse in any of the trailers in the 27 years we've parked trailers there.

There is no brush or grass around the trailers. There is no place for a mouse to go that's not exposed. They don't like to be exposed and vulnerable. It probably helps that there have always been at least one or two outdoor cats that roam the neighborhood.

[DavidJay]

I am going with a multi-layer defense strategy this year (trailer is inside a pole building):

Outside the trailer: Poison, swimming pool

Inside: cab fresh in front storage compartment, snap traps in the living space

[zuley]

We've winterized various campers probably a dozen times since we started the camping thing. Our first season one of my wifes co-workers told her about using cloves wrapped up in cheese cloth. Wifey buys a bag of cloves every fall at the bulk food store and we make up probably two dozen little bags which get placed through out the camper in every nook and cranny. Touch wood, we've never had a mouse problem. The camper gets left at a farm as well.

[Ford ECO]

For many years we have used Irish Spring, break a few bars in half , spread around the TT. We have never had any , but who knows maybe the little critters just don't like our TT.

[jlechmanik]

Check every opening and use the cans of expanding foam to seal them. I had to mess with the plumbing where it exited by the water pump on our class C. Never gave it a second thought till that winter a few mice set up house in our RV. Went under the RV and looked for any opening and sealed it. Granted the mice could probably chew through it but I'm guessing they would hate the taste. Didn't have any further problems.

[gypsmjim]

We have had a camper parked on our own private campground for 32 years now. Our current one is also a 195RB.

CabFresh, Mouseaway, peppermint spray, deer peepee and all the other advertising gimmicks are snake oil. We have a gazilliion mice in the property and they will make a nest wherever there is access. If you want to be mice free, eliminate the access.

In all the years, we only had mice once. They apparently jumped off the neighboring tree onto the roof, and then climbed down the chimney. A chickenwire cap on the chimney solved the problem. If they didn't jump on, I'm sure they could have climbed up the wall with no problem.

I climb under the Jayco each year and check every inch of the underbelly. Its solid ripstop "plastic" and all the holes for wires and cables are sealed tight with what looks like self-leveling dicor. There is NO access thru the bottom.

My jacks are attached to the frame, so I can't imagine why leaving them down would be a problem. Mine are always down because we use the trailer all year long and it never moves. If they climb up it there is no hole in the belly for them to access.

Just inspect each inch of the trailer and seal any holes.

[Marine71-76]

Originally Posted by Ford ECO

For many years we have used Irish Spring, break a few bars in half , spread around the TT. We have never had any , but who knows maybe the little critters just don't like our TT.

We have heard the same thing about Irish Spring being a very good deterrent. Luckily we haven't had any issues with our 5vrs & they are stored outside.

[Mustang65]

From an earlier thread...

We originally started this many years ago in our other TT's and (knock on wood) we have had no critter or bug issues. You need to use ONLY the 100% pure Peppermint oil (see bottle picture) and we soak a regular cotton ball with the Peppermint Oil, put a cotton ball inside a plastic shot glass, we put one shot glass in each of the storage areas and inside the living area of the TT (in shoe garage, behind toilet.. I have also sprayed foam (critter type) around every item that comes through the floor (plumbing...) I also filled the gaps where the plastic under the TT meets the frame to insure none will slip through there, and foamed every little opening I could find under the TT. I also use the insect dust around each of the items that are connected to the TT and touch the ground. Well worth the time.

After reading your question, I got an idea for the peppermint. Next time I will take the bottle cap and drill a small hole in the top of it and pull a cotton string through it to act as a wick which should (I hope) keep it moist with the peppermint oil and eliminate the need to add peppermint oil when it evaporates (every couple months). Then mount the bottle (so it does not fall over) with the broom stick mounting clips. Thanks!!!


Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[RogerR]

I stuffed every opening with aluminum screen wire cut in strips to make it easy to work. Then foamed them in place or used silicone to keep them in place. Then went inside and did the same with aluminum strips and foam or silicone.
Outside access can be through the furnace, water heater, refrigerator openings and any other side openings. This includes the power cord if it is used. I got covers from Amazon for the water heater and furnace. I made them for the refrigerator from aluminum screen wire.

On the power cord I do not leave mine plugged in, but if you do you have to block access with something like stainless steel wool temporarily stuffed into the power line opening.

Doors, access doors, slides will have to blocked somehow. Mine are tight enough but some aren't.

Then I add Cabfresh pine scent, sticky traps, no food and clean like crazy with antiseptic wipes to kill food odors everywhere.

[Kim Gass]

our unit is hitched to electric with an electronic mouse repeller inside. its at hone in the woods
we remove all bedding and foam. yes the mattress.
otherwise mice go for foam and anything that can insulate like paoer goods and sponges
We check weekly but when the snow piles up that does get harder.
we dont store with stabilizers down. DH forgot they were down last year and rutted the dirt driveway

This year will be interesting. We had a rodent boom due to an overubundant nut crop last year. This year there is no nut croo at all and they will try to even get in the house in the day to get any food
before it ices up we uae Walk The Plank to gather various rodentia in a bucket

[Midnightmoon]

Our elderly neighbor feeds stray cats in our rural neighborhood. Some of them have taken up residence in our barn. At first, I was pretty upset that we had all of those darn cats hanging around the place. But, now we notice fewer and fewer rodents, snakes, etc.

Sometimes I walk by the trailer on the way to work and one of those cats is sleeping on a tire or up on the propane tank. I'm hoping that they continue to do their job and keep the mice away.

Obviously not everyone can have a herd of barn cats running around, but I'm not going to be upset that we do.

[kblast523]

Have not seen anyone mention the electrical shore power connection. The only place I ever had unwelcome creatures enter was a Jayflight 185RB power cord access door. The little critters follow the power cord throught the access door and they are in! Second tt installed Marinco brand power connector and cut 'the cord' and put adapter on it. When not in use, no problem stowing in luggage compartment. My current Jayco came with Furrion power connector/cord, so problem solved (minus all the hols drilled in the bottom that are 10 to 20 times too big-weight savings I would guess.)

[OTTERCOMET]

Had a problem a few years back with mice in my boat (cudy cabin) . The next year I placed moth balls around the inside of the boat - no mice - only concern is airing the thing out in the spring - mothballs in an enclosed space can get quite overwhelming so make sure when you open up in the spring you get all the windows and vents open for a couple of day - smell will dissipate.