Mice prevention

[raising4daughters]

Biggest problem over the past 3 years with our NTUS HW PUP has been mice. It's not even just an over-the-winter problem. We returned from a weeklong trip 3 weeks ago, I opened it up yesterday, and found mice had gotten in, chewed up our spare roll of toilet paper in a lower cupboard, and ate through the same side's ceiling curtain. I made the mistake of not resetting our traps after we returned figuring I'd do it the following week. Well, 1 week turned into 3, and that was enough for them. No major harm, but frustrating because I've checked everywhere on the underside, even removing the wheels, to look for entry ways.

I started looking around and think I've found their entry point. It's on the door side which is where this damage was and where I see the most droppings. If I'm right, it looks like they've found a way through the refrigerator's vent. One one side, it looks like they've chewed through the grating. Never noticed this before, never even thought about them jumping that high.

Based on pics, think I found the spot? Suggestions for solving? I'm thinking of fastening some 1/4" wire mesh (chicken wire) over the vent, at least temporarily. Any other suggestions?

 

[Michael J]

I find peppermint oil has always kept them out for me the only problem with that is it makes the trailer smell like a candy factory my trailer sits right next the the farmers hay field and we see planty of mice juet not in the trailers we have 2 pop ups

 

[kcsa75]

We've been using Fresh Cab for years and it works like a champ. We store our camper in a barn next to a hayfield but have never found so much as a dead bug.

Fresh Cab® Rodent Repellent - Botanical Deterrent | Earthkind

Use Fresh Cab® Rodent Repellent to prevent mice infestations. Our botanical mouse deterrent bags are lab-proven to be effective without using poison.

www.earthkind.com

 

[xxxapache]

I don't want to deter them. I want to eliminate them. I keep poison bait stations in the area of my TT and snap traps set in the TT.

 

[jmkay1]

Wow raising4daughters I agree that sure looks like the spot they got in. Kind of want To check my vent covers now. On Amazon I found some metal bug covers from camco that lay over The vent and zip tie on. Not sure if it will help or not. I was trying to stop bees from getting in mine. You may have to buy another vent cover though first.

Camco 42139 RS620 Flying Insect Screen for Dometic RV Refrigerator Vents https://a.co/d/60cSNLk

 

[Anthony Hitchings]

replace the damaged vent, and wire in place metal mesh (hardware cloth) over both vents.

 

[raising4daughters]

Anyone know how to pull these vents off? Looks like a couple of push pins are holding it in. Guessing I squeeze them together and pop it out but hate to completely break it.

 

[tfischer]

I wrote this in a Facebook group a week or two ago, to a similar question:

The first and most important thing you need to do is make sure they don't have ways in. Go under the camper with a flashlight, look at all places where wires, pipes, etc go through the floor. Seal any gaps... a mouse can get through a space the size of a dime. I'm sure this thread will fill up with people saying "Irish Spring!" "Dryer sheets!" etc but the absolute most important thing is to keep them out to begin with.
Secondly you need to make sure there are no traces of food inside. This includes baited traps. You don't want to lure them in and encourage them to chew their way inside. They have no reason to chew their way in if they don't have an incentive.
Finally, you can use some repellants as a last line of defense. If nothing else I figure this helps hide any lingering food smells from camping season. We've come to use peppermint oil and Fresh Cab rodent repellant. We have stopped using dryer sheets and irish spring because there is too much evidence that it doesn't do any good.

 

[Groomporter]

I confess when it comes to mouse control I can't help but thinking little tiny condoms (runs and hides...)

 

[raising4daughters]

I wrote this in a Facebook group a week or two ago, to a similar question:

The first and most important thing you need to do is make sure they don't have ways in. Go under the camper with a flashlight, look at all places where wires, pipes, etc go through the floor. Seal any gaps... a mouse can get through a space the size of a dime. I'm sure this thread will fill up with people saying "Irish Spring!" "Dryer sheets!" etc but the absolute most important thing is to keep them out to begin with.
Secondly you need to make sure there are no traces of food inside. This includes baited traps. You don't want to lure them in and encourage them to chew their way inside. They have no reason to chew their way in if they don't have an incentive.
Finally, you can use some repellants as a last line of defense. If nothing else I figure this helps hide any lingering food smells from camping season. We've come to use peppermint oil and Fresh Cab rodent repellant. We have stopped using dryer sheets and irish spring because there is too much evidence that it doesn't do any good.

Based on the pics above of my vent covers, do you think those are entry points or exit points?

 

[tfischer]

Based on the pics above of my vent covers, do you think those are entry points or exit points?

I don't think mice have a one-way door lol. I would seal up anything that looks like mice can get in... and that can be as small as a dime.

 

[tfischer]

I had mice in our fridge compartment once. They chewed up through the screen that goes below the floor... I don't think they got in the camper proper due to the fridge being in the way, but maybe yours has a way they can squeeze through? In my case I bought an aluminum "attic vent" and nailed it to the bottom of the floor.

For yours, you could just use some steel wool or something to block that hole. But if they have a reason to get inside they'll chew a new one.

 

[brettstoner]

To remove the fridge vent use a coin or screwdriver and turn the black locks 90 degrees then pull out from the bottom. Replacement covers are pretty cheap. Do you have cats? I have 2 indoor/outdoor neutered cats and found they take care of any pest issues. They are fed everyday but they just love to hunt. It is amazing how many animals they kill! My wife loves it because we no longer have rabbits in the garden eating the vegtables. It does get a little disturbing when they play with their catch before killing them. They go out for a couple hours while I sit on the porch and work in the mornings. Come back around noon for lunch then sleep in the afternoon. They don't go out at night.

 

[poppy65]

Biggest problem over the past 3 years with our NTUS HW PUP has been mice. It's not even just an over-the-winter problem. We returned from a weeklong trip 3 weeks ago, I opened it up yesterday, and found mice had gotten in, chewed up our spare roll of toilet paper in a lower cupboard, and ate through the same side's ceiling curtain. I made the mistake of not resetting our traps after we returned figuring I'd do it the following week. Well, 1 week turned into 3, and that was enough for them. No major harm, but frustrating because I've checked everywhere on the underside, even removing the wheels, to look for entry ways.

I started looking around and think I've found their entry point. It's on the door side which is where this damage was and where I see the most droppings. If I'm right, it looks like they've found a way through the refrigerator's vent. One one side, it looks like they've chewed through the grating. Never noticed this before, never even thought about them jumping that high.

Based on pics, think I found the spot? Suggestions for solving? I'm thinking of fastening some 1/4" wire mesh (chicken wire) over the vent, at least temporarily. Any other suggestions?

Dryer sheets

 

[orties]

I wrote this in a Facebook group a week or two ago, to a similar question:

The first and most important thing you need to do is make sure they don't have ways in. Go under the camper with a flashlight, look at all places where wires, pipes, etc go through the floor. Seal any gaps... a mouse can get through a space the size of a dime. I'm sure this thread will fill up with people saying "Irish Spring!" "Dryer sheets!" etc but the absolute most important thing is to keep them out to begin with.
Secondly you need to make sure there are no traces of food inside. This includes baited traps. You don't want to lure them in and encourage them to chew their way inside. They have no reason to chew their way in if they don't have an incentive.
Finally, you can use some repellants as a last line of defense. If nothing else I figure this helps hide any lingering food smells from camping season. We've come to use peppermint oil and Fresh Cab rodent repellant. We have stopped using dryer sheets and irish spring because there is too much evidence that it doesn't do any good.

I totally agree with this advice. We put hardware cloth (1/4” size, I believe) behind our refrigerator and heater grates. The cover for our electrical cord access wouldn’t latch closed completely, so I made a little ball of the hardware cloth and stuffed it in there when storing. Never had an issue after that. Previous owner used mothballs. I wouldn’t recommend unless you really like the scent. Took more than a year for it to go away!

 

[tfischer]

I totally agree with this advice. We put hardware cloth (1/4” size, I believe) behind our refrigerator and heater grates. The cover for our electrical cord access wouldn’t latch closed completely, so I made a little ball of the hardware cloth and stuffed it in there when storing. Never had an issue after that. Previous owner used mothballs. I wouldn’t recommend unless you really like the scent. Took more than a year for it to go away!

We use steel wool in the electric hatch as well as the hatch for the indoor/outdoor stove gas line to go outside... something that the previous owners did. We also used to use on the heater exhaust, but some years ago I bought one of those Camco insect screens that are custom designed to go over the vents... this looks very professional and stays on 24/7/365 to prevent insects as well as rodents coming in there.

We use mothballs OUTSIDE the camper. Inside the camper we use Cab Fresh and Peppermint oil... someone above said it smells like a candy cane factory... and it does! But I kind of like it lol.

So for review, and in order of priority:

1. Remove ALL access points. Anything the size of a dime or less. If it looks like a crack, seal it.
2. Get rid of any scents that might lure them in and promote chewing a new entry point. This includes baited traps INSIDE the camper.
3. As a final line of defense, use peppermint oil and cab-fresh inside the camper, and potentially mothballs outside the camper.

Last year we stored the camper back at home (outside) for the first time as we used to have to store it offsite. I saw mouse tracks under the camper and was concerned... but no mouse signs inside the camper once we opened it up. Not sure if we're lucky but I'm going to keep doing the steps above as they've worked for us for years now.

 

[bigm23]

We just had our first 2 dead mice found in ours. Was mad they made it in, pooped everywhere and started to chew the curtain. The previous owners even did what they could to keep them out and had bounce sheets all over. I just went through to clean out the whole trailer and spray a deterrent we had used in a basement. We had the bait to kill them and they had started to eat those, plus the other bags of stuff the previous owner used. I wonder if can get the fresh cab that someone else posted and see how well that works. I so don't want them in there and their diseases. They didn't chew any toilet paper but they did chew paper towel it looks like to make a nest but they died doing that.

 

[COPUP]

I take a bar of Irish Spring soap and cut it up into a few chunks. Then I just place those chunks in the camper near any potential entry point for a mouse. I haven’t had a mouse problem yet, and I know there are some mice in my yard where I store it. I wouldn’t want to poison them just in case they die somewhere in the camper that is hard to access.

 

[xxxapache]

You can remove all the food from a trailer, but I don't believe you can remove the scent of food. I believe mice will come a looking regardless.

 

[tfischer]

We just had our first 2 dead mice found in ours. Was mad they made it in, pooped everywhere and started to chew the curtain. The previous owners even did what they could to keep them out and had bounce sheets all over. I just went through to clean out the whole trailer and spray a deterrent we had used in a basement. We had the bait to kill them and they had started to eat those, plus the other bags of stuff the previous owner used. I wonder if can get the fresh cab that someone else posted and see how well that works. I so don't want them in there and their diseases. They didn't chew any toilet paper but they did chew paper towel it looks like to make a nest but they died doing that.

How did they get in?