How to stop the mice?

[Wirenut-JAY]

Our last camping trip ended on November 17. We cleaned out the camper (including all food and drink) and put some mouse traps in just in case some got in.

In the next 2 weeks I trapped nearly 20 mice. I put the camper in my shop and started looking for holes. Jayco should be ashamed of themselves. When I dropped the bottom plastic covering there were so many huge holes between the inside and outside of the camper a wonder we didn't have larger animals in there. After a week of spray foam, screen wire, caulk, wood, and sheet metal I finally thought I had everything closed up.
I put the camper back outside less than 48 hours ago. I just checked my traps and had 3 more mice. It's parked on a gravel pad near the house but we live in the woods so the gravel pad is surrounded by leaves, grass, trees, etc.
Any good ideas short of having a cat or snake live in the camper? I would have thought with no food in there and it's not heated they wouldn't even be that bothered about getting in.

 

[pconroy]

I too filled all of the holes I could find with urethane expanding foam. But that may not be enough. I also had my wife go inside the RV at night, with a super bright light. I was on my back under the RV and was able to find a few more openings.

I was surprised one evening, by a couple of small black eyes peering back at me. I found that they were using a channel that Jayco ran the RV heat duct thru as their passage. I bought some 0000 steel wool and packed that up.

So far, that seems to have done the trick.

When we park now, I have three traps set and I check them weekly.
Again, so far, so good.

 

[Grumpy]

Any good ideas short of having a cat or snake live in the camper? I would have thought with no food in there and it's not heated they wouldn't even be that bothered about getting in.

They don't need much of an opening and any remaining food residue/odor will attract them.

A mouse can fit through a hole as small as the size of a dime, which is roughly equivalent to a quarter of an inch or the width of a pencil; meaning they can squeeze through very small openings due to their flexible bodies and lack of collarbones

 

[Gary sr428]

My grand Design under belly was totally covered, this new Jayco 225mls belly is a joke! They ran the drain valve lever out between the fame and the plastic. Looks awful thin to, I'm buying a roll of underbelly tape in spring and closing all the holes up!!

 

[mrmom]

I use peppermint oil to keep out the critters. They apparently do not like the intense smell. I use about 8 old baby food jars with cotton balls in each. Place them around the camper and then squirt about 10 drops of oil into each jar. I usually will refresh the oil about every 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[Glamper64]

X2 regarding the peppermint oil and it smells like Christmas all year round
I also spray this stuff called "Mouse Off" or "Proof". It came in a kit with 2 jugs and a sprayer...you need a compressor. You spray the entire bottom of the RV...it's a thick oily liquid that lubricates/protects everything...mice don't like the smell and because it's slippery. I bought it probably 6-7 years ago and used it up this Oct. Not sure it's still available but it worked great! There's also the sonic devices that give off a signal mice don't like and we can't hear...you can but a six pack and place them in and outside around the RV.

 

[LJ4874]

The first year owning my 264BH I found droppings inside the camper and in the front storage (specifically inside the folding chair carriers). I started buying Grandpa Gus bags immediately. I used more than the recommended number of bags for the size AND I used the spray version as well under the camper along the outside edges and all exterior compartments. I replaced the bags and resprayed every 60 days or so and I haven't seen any new evidence of mice. I also found that the fragrance of this product make the camper smell so nice. Hopefully this continues

 

[cpd1343]

We had a couple of mice our first year. They chewed thru the spray foam filling access holes. I packed the holes with stainless steel pot scrubber pads and sprayed all foam sealant with this: https://nhoilundercoating.com/product/mouse-out-2-cans/ I respray once a year in the fall. Have never had another instrusion.

 

[KCSA75]

Fresh Cab. We store our camper in a barn next to a hayfield. We've been using Fresh Cab for years and never found so much as a dead bug. You can find it at an Farm Store, Wal-mart, Menards, Amazon, etc.

 

[Taftcoach]

It seems like once you have them you send out word to week their friends.

Our Jayco was sealed much better than others we've owned but we had one campsite in Colorado that the mice were trained. It took a day or two but we got the two really tiny openings closed.

We also put repellent around the tires and Jack.

 

[RogerR]

My prior camper had multiple attacks by mice so I did the exterior stuff with stainless steel or aluminum screen and then foam in place.
Then i went inside on all the cabinets I could get to and did the same on the inside. I also added screen wire to my winterizing schedule on the refrigerator vents. I already added screens to my furnace and water heater openings.

I don't cover mine as the last one I covered they used the cover as a way to get to the roof and down through the vents.

 

[TowPro]

I only fix holes on the bottom. Once they are into the basement you can plug all the holes you can get to under cabinets but they will still get in. first I trim all that damn useless foam that the manufactures sprays everywhere, clean the area you need to work on with alcohol, then I use aluminum HVAC tape around any stuff that passes through the frame or has gaps, than coat the edges of that tape with black silicone out of a caulk gun size tube.

 

[Wirenut-JAY]

Thanks for all the tips. I'm going to get some of the repellent spray and hit the underside with that.
It sounds like I also need to take the kitchen cabinets apart and look at where the furnace ducts go thru the floor. I hadn't thought about that since I couldn't see it from underneath.
I think I'm gaining on them. I used to get at least one if not 2 or 3 a day in the traps. Now I'm down to 1 every couple of days.

 

[TMTEX]

I only had a mouse/rat 1 time (that I know of). He/they chewed through the vent under the fridge. I put these tomcat baits on the floor. I found one eaten and also found a dead rat near the camper outside.
https://www.grainger.com/product/16...vqsPxCFsYX4xuJjdJAsaAu_5EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Wirenut-JAY]

So I pulled the kitchen and bedroom drawers out to look under the cabinets where the furnace is. I found two more holes I couldn't see from underneath because they're above the front gray water tank. They are now full of screen wire and spray foam.
I also noticed that my furnace was installed crooked and not properly aligned with the duct going into the floor so I fixed that.
So far I've found 7 large holes that Jayco made for pipes and wires and didn't seal them. All were easily big enough for a mouse. Some were big enough for a squirrel and 1 or 2 probably big enough for a cat. It's a shame they let stuff like that out of the factory.

 

[Lake Huron]

We've been camping/glamping for 14 years and only twice have we ever had a mouse issue. The first time was just some evidence, no damage. Last year we ended up with some damage in our Northpoint. Only because we had three bags of candy drop behind a panel wall that was mounted on the floor of the pantry used to protect the slide out controllers from getting damaged. They chewed on the slideout motor wiring. We clean out the trailer every year and put dryer sheets all over everywhere in it. The one place we didn't have dryer sheets is where the mice were, candy didn't help though. The last couple years it's been in and inside storage facility, otherwise all of our trailers have been stored right here at the house. Mice deterrents help but you need to go to the root of the problem, their existence. You need to eliminate them. I have a shed between my house where my trailer(s) would sit and the woods. I put traps in the shed because they go there first. I start setting them in late September and check them daily. When I first started setting traps I didn't realize how bad of a problem I really had. I was nailing 4 a day for months then it's would trickle down to one or two a day. Winter would hit and I'd get one a week. Spring and summer would be one every couple 2 or 3 weeks. It was like this for a couple years. Now I get a mouse every week or two during the fall months and then nothing all winter.
Mice are relentless and smart. They will get thru a hole you can hardly get your small finger in. I've seen them chew thru frozen ground to get into ground mounted utility boxes.
Like I said, go to the root of the problem and start thinning the population because you'll never eliminate them.

 

[muckinfuss]

I'm partial to TomCat green sticky baits. Some sort of attractant in them that mice can't seem to resist. I want the mice dead, just not in my walls or under the floor dead and stinking. They stick to the trap with no escape and that's an easy disposal. Not sure about the dryer sheets, I've found them chewed up into a nest and full of their little BB's. They eat the Irish Spring. You'll never be rid of them....just fewer to deal with is the best you can hope for.

 

[cmartin0623]

Mice fix

Had the same mouse issues. I tried everything I could find and nothing worked. That is until I found pure menthol crystals. Bought a couple bags on Amazon and shook the crystals around the underbelly and no mice since.

 

[Ozzie D Odyssey]

I made sure there were no openings under my 29V the first week I had it. I bought 4 of the mouse traps that are flip lids that go on a 5 gallon bucket. If you’re an animal lover you can live trap them in the bucket and take them for a ride. During warmer weather I put about 4” of water in the bucket and. In the colder months I put half a gallon of RV antifreeze in the bucket instead of the water. The antifreeze is non toxic in case a cat or dog get into the bucket as opposed to rat poison. They catch a lot of mice before they get into the rig. I also put glue traps inside in the cabinets. Knock on wood, no mice so far. Here’s the bucket traps I used. https://www.amazon.com/Fomont-Trap-...=1735414285&sprefix=bucket+mou,aps,133&sr=8-9

 

[Mlw-JAY]

I used to get mice in my 2022 Jayco then I crawled under it and found large openings around penetrations so I stuff holes with steel wool and then sprayed flex seal over it. then I put a life size plastic owl under behind the wheels and the seems to work. don't use any type of foam the mice love to chew it and make nest in the foam