Continued mice problems

[Notrag]

I am totally at my wit's end trying to get rid of mice. Never had mice until last winter. We have plugged every hole we can think of under the camper. I believe they're coming in where the slide is. I can't caulk or foam that area though, obviously, because of the need for the slide to go in and out. When it is out I believe it is good when it is pulled in I believe the rubber flap leaves an area for the mice to come in. I tried stainless steel wool and somehow they are still getting in. I don't know if taking it to a jayco service center would help. Maybe somebody has some other ideas?

[freetime58]

Originally Posted by Notrag

I am totally at my wit's end trying to get rid of mice. Never had mice until last winter. We have plugged every hole we can think of under the camper. I believe they're coming in where the slide is. I can't caulk or foam that area though, obviously, because of the need for the slide to go in and out. When it is out I believe it is good when it is pulled in I believe the rubber flap leaves an area for the mice to come in. I tried stainless steel wool and somehow they are still getting in. I don't know if taking it to a jayco service center would help. Maybe somebody has some other ideas?

Peppermint oil on cotton swabs will deter them. I had heard all the usual methods including dryer sheets...............

In my unit I had DiamondKote RV Mouse Shield Protection applied, the dealer plugs all the holes with spray foam that contains pits of steel wool, they then spray on the undercoating to the entire underside as well as into all the crevasses.....everywhere, wiring hoses are still accessible, it dries to a non-greasy, not soft but not hard either type of barrier........when it's wet it smells heavily of peppermint, dry it doesn't smell to us (I can still smell peppermint if I put my nose right on it) and apparently mice can still smell it and it's said they hate the smell of peppermint.............they must because haven't had a issue. DiamondKote backs up their product with a 5 year warranty.........google is you friend.

[bearcat77]

Use cable ties to attach a glue trap on top of each leaf spring.

[Notrag]

Are you thinking maybe they're coming up the leaf springs? Hadn't thought about using traps there

[Notrag]

That sounds like a great idea but I live in a smaller town and have never heard of that product before. I have literally tried everything under the sun from the peppermint, dryer sheets, naturally scented rodent repellent bags, cat hair placed inside the camper, coyote urines sprinkled around the wheels and hitch, stainless steel wool placed everywhere I can find, spray foamed every hole I could find under the camper. Still getting the damn mice. So very very frustrating.

[bearcat77]

I assume you have a travel trailer? If so, they are entering through the power cord, the tongue jack, or by climbing up the tires. The power cord hole you can easily block off with steel wool. I never worried about the tongue jack, because from what I could tell, it led to nothing but dead ends under the frame. So everything else is coming up the tires, and then up the leaf springs to the underbelly. We had one year where we had an all out infestation. I covered the leaf springs in glue traps and haven’t had an entry since. Just have to change out the traps every so often when they accumulate too many mice, spiders, leaves etc.

[Notrag]

It is a travel trailer. We have plugged the holes for the cord. I too looked at the trailer hitch and jack but I agree that it goes nowhere. we have been underneath the camper four or five times and have completely filled every hole possible. My last thing that I have not tried is the glue traps on the leaf springs. I guess I will try that. Thank you for the advice.

[Riverman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47P1TgZ7ZE

[bearcat77]

And I did add the bucket trap this year as well, and that caught a few. So I second the bucket trap idea.

[Lake Huron]

X2. You have to thin the herd. I get mice in my shed. They used to be really bad until I started setting traps for them. My dad uses the bucket method for his barn. I use snap traps. I'll tie a string to it and the other end of the string is attached to something close by so they can't run off. I'll use a dab of silicon on the bait pan and stick a peanut in the silicon. This way they can try to bite at it or try to take it and then.... lights out. I'll check the traps every day, empty if needed and reset and the peanut is still on there.
I would set traps on the ground next to the inside of the tires and let the thinning begin

[RogerR]

I park on the edge of a heavily wooded area. After plugging holes outside I went inside and did them from that end also. Plenty of sticky traps inside. I saw this bait system online and bought one for $15. "J T Eaton 902 plastic top loader bait station" on Amazon.
Then I bought a 10 foot piece of 1 1/2 plastic pipe, 5 Tees and 5 caps and made 5 more. You can put several bait blocks on a wire that drop down as they are eaten. Dogs, cats, raccoons, etc. can't get at the bait. I have one by each tire and the tongue. NO MICE LAST WINTER! I put the others near the garage as they try to get in there too. Lots of bait gone, no mouse in the garage or camper.

[teegee1025]

Hi! We have a fifth wheel and over the winter I place dryer sheets all around the inside. Not sure why, but it works. Good luck!

[Dskyward]

I’ve read folks who spend lots of time out in the desert with mice problems swear that by using LED light rope (we use 50’ blue/35’red color on a low dimmer)underneath the perimeter of the trailer deters them. In 4 years of fulltiming, we’ve only had two events of one mouse each, caught them both within 24 hrs with $3 hinge trap (w/cheese, peanut butter respectively) from a box store. However, we had no lights setup during either event.

[CAG]

Just a suggestion but whatever you decide on as a plan of attach I would concentrate on all of the areas that touch the ground. Tires, and hitch mainly. It is unlikely that they are jumping that high to get to the bottom of the TT (unless they are kangaroo rats and we have lots of those) so while working at getting rid of what is now in the rig, stop more from joining the crowd by bait, sticky traps, whatever around the mentioned areas.

[LittleBill]

When we bought our used TT in 2011, it had at one time a infestation of mice. Cleaned it out and had no problem till about a month ago while I had the unit at home to work on. Caught a mouse and it was a day or two before I noticed it (phew ).

Had ordered peppermint oil last fall but had not used it yet. Put a couple of drops of the oil on cotton balls and placed around inside the unit and where the cord comes out to hook up to electricity. About a week or two later had to move my unit and I couldn't detect any peppermint smell on the two cotton balls I had placed in the hole the cord passes through. Wondering if that is normal for the smell to go away?

[CAG]

Any odor dissipates with time, except maybe skunks. That seems to last forever

[LittleBill]

Originally Posted by CAG

Any odor dissipates with time, except maybe skunks. That seems to last forever

Understand that. Just thought after a week or two that some smell might still be there that I could have detected a trace of the odor. I assume that mice probably can still detect it and will avoid it.

[Xboaters]

Originally Posted by LittleBill

Understand that. Just thought after a week or two that some smell might still be there that I could have detected a trace of the odor. I assume that mice probably can still detect it and will avoid it.

You need to refresh it regularly for it to be effective. But it does work!

[15BlueStreak]

They have probably just made a home inside. Maybe its not new ones coming in. Clean everything out of camper wipe everything down with lysol Clorox wipes to get food odors out of canper. Set traps where you see droppings, along walls or corners. Inside and out. Use some aluminum coil stock to wrap around jack and tires so the mice can't climb up easily. Glue traps work great or the Victor power kill traps work great as well. Good luck

[selectgear1]

In my 2011 TT they were getting in through the plastic vents. I could see the where they had chewed on both of them to enter. I cut some heavy screen and glued on to seal off those vents.