Mice!!!

[Old Rv'er]

Home Depot & Lowes both have several types of mice traps and killers. Get some of which one you think are best and put them in the basement compartments and the cabinets where you have seen the problem. One product traps the mice in it and then you just throw it away or take it outside and empty the thing in the large area behind the coach. Then you wont have the dried up bodies to deal with. Regardless, put peanut butter on convential mouse traps as they cannot resist the stuff. Taking the coach for about a 25 mile or so trip will scare the little buggers to want to leave once the coach has stopped, that is what worked in my case, even though I put out several traps, the thing moving ran them off.

RV Critterguard - do an internet search for it, purchase what size you need for the openings which the power cord, water hose and sewer hose exit the coach, then the little things cannot get in. I put out anpro ant block weekly as well around our coach to kill ants too.

[Paul R. Haller]

Having been a contractor for many years When people want a new home close to the city but not inner city; We buy a lot and build custom. That said, lots are usually near undeveloped space and that brings all kinds of critters. Over the years I have gotten quite good at spotting potential entry points and that is your first and last defense against unwanted intrusion. Mice particularly can squeeze down to a dime. That's about a 1/2 or 5/8 hole. I use copper scrubbing pads and closed cell foam. They absolutely will not chew copper... it's poisonous to all things biological. Strip off some copper wool, stuff it into a hole, and spray foam it to keep it in place. They will not chew there after that. I say its your last line of defense because once inside they will chew wires and make nests with common building materials. They are, after all, a common vector for disease. Find every entry point and close it off. After that, you will have no problems. Mice rats and voles are just like we are. If they want out of rain and cold they will forage for an easy access point and take full advantage of it. Make your entire RV mouse proof by sealing every entry point. Trapping and finding them once inside is way harder then preventing entry in the first place.
-Paul R. Haller-

[takepride]

We had a "passenger" for exactly one year. We picked him up in the mountains and he kept my toaster clean. Then I bought him an electronic repeller for an anniversary present and camped in the same spot as the previous year. He left without saying goodbye, but left his gift behind. Still seems to be working, as we've had no more visitors.

[gator67]

Thank you all for the contributions. It's interesting how some things work for some people and not for others, and vice-versa. The hammer method and surgical tubing method proved fruitless, but it was fun trying . We were backed up to a field in the site we were in, and after my wife saw a mouse in the living area, she said "we are moving!". We moved to the center of the park. We put traps in the bays and in the lower cabinets and under the drawers. We also put mothballs in the bays and around the coach. So far it looks like the trek from the field to the coach is too much for the little rodents, so maybe they'll set up shop somewhere else... haven't seen any since we've moved and set up our defenses. BTW... a local pest control company said they best baits for mice in the traps are peanut butter, dog food (I know they like that because they ate a hole in the package of dry dog food to get to some) and chocolate.

[Voyager35L]

Trapping the mice is easy. Where have you found that they have gotten into the unit? What have you done to close the entry points? I have a Winnebago 35 foot class A, they are getting in, I set traps that get them, but I want to stop the access. This is recent. I went two years with no mice. Now four in a month set to mice heaven.

[gator67]

I don't know what to attribute the "no more mice" to... either the moving, or the sealing of entry points. We have an electric cord reel, so I put steel wool in the hole where the cord goes thru the bottom of the RV. I also put steel wool around the water hose and sewer hose, where they enter through the bottom of the coach. I would put steel wool through any other entries I could find. I put mothballs all around the coach and in the bays... that's supposed to help. Our bottom is fairly well sealed but it doesn't take much room for mice to get in. I understand they can get on the tires and into the engine and tear up wires. I don't know how one can stop that.

[Old Rv'er]

All - These folks make lots of different types of foam/plastic sealing things for various round penatrations in an RV. I use them for the fresh water hose and the power coard real, which also has a hole for outside cable tv if provided in the RV park. I am going to make my own for the sewer hose because our coach is different than many and has a door we slide out of the way for the SH to go out of the coach. Ours has the air operated SH, so mice cannot gain entry through that housing, but I want to seal it up anyway. Regardless, I have used these folks products for over four years and they are still working for me, great quality.

See this link: RV Accessory, Motorhome Pest and Insect Control - RV-Critter Guard

[kraig]

On the earlier Alpines there is big access point for critters larger then mice. Mine was a 2000 with the brake pedal through the floor,with the fuzzy stuff around it. Not sure what year WRV statred using the adustable brake pedal, which are not a problem. I was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, when out of the corner of my eye I saw furry thing come through the brake pedal opening. It was a chipmunk that got in and started runnning around. Opened the front door , chased it from the back of the motorhome out the door. Since the way the pedal operates, there is no way to seal around the pedal opening, I made two slotted sheetmetal covers to cover around the pedal, and used them any time I am parked.

[Voyager35L]

I blocked the heater vents. Found that a cord access point in the sewage area was not 100% secure. They could have easily entered through that point and up into the unit through a vent area that is near that point. The traps are holding. It is a diligent effort to keep looking. I have found so far that each mouse is through human error....me.

[Craig1965]

I've also found them coming through the outside refrigerator vents and following the wiring in.

[jimpattigeib]

All great stuff the stop mice from making the MH a hotel. I have good luck with snap traps and walnuts. Always place the mouse trap along a wall. Placing the trap on card broad keeps the carpet clean. If you don't get around to checking a trap and the mouse has been their awhile, remove the mouse, discard the trap, or lightly burn the trap area with a few stick matches to rid smell/odor. Still cannot understand why they like the MH batteries even with everything off?

[Janet&Sid]

Have one pac rat in our coach, but she has so many other redeemable qualities that I have decided not to get rid of her.

[new2RVn]

We haven't had a problem with mice yet. Now squirrels and palmetto bugs is a different story. The little suckers chewed a fuel line in two on top of the gas tank and messed up the wiring on top of the right rear jack. Repairing that was zero fun.

[firedoc]

Palmetto bug=cockroach