Eliminating Pests

[JoseRo]

Anyone had any success getting rid of and/or repelling mice from your motorhome?

[Maggiedad]

We have tried a lot of things but still get the occasional mouse. Hoping someone has some good ideas.

We tried peppermint oil, which makes the rig smell good but doesn't seem to stop the critters.

Removing ALL sources of food is critical.

Bait mouse traps with peanut butter, not cheese. They love it.

Our rig spends a lot of time in a metal outbuilding plugged into shore power. Just yesterday I made a shield out of a funnel and put it on the cord to see if that will help. Hard to say where they are getting in, but an easy entry would be that power cord.



Good luck on your quest, will be following the conversation.

[TLGPE]

Walmart and many other stores sell spring type traps. Bait them with peanut butter--crunchy works best-- and set them inside cabinets or along the walls. Placing them in bays can help get them sometimes.

If they are in a room, you will usually get results at night when the lights are off.

This does work; we have done it successfully.

Tom

[DRM901]

We put all baits outside the rig now. Around the inside storage perimeter. Finally figured out we were just encouraging them to come inside. We use the green 1" cubes. They don't attract as many other bugs, other than tree roaches.

[ransil]

I use green bait blocks out side the buildings around the permiter, I put them in 1 1 1/4" pvc about 1 foot long with caps drilled with 3/4" holes kinds offset to keep the rain out. If the RV is outside I put them at each wheel.

The PVC keeps the coon and other critters from eating them and the rain out, coons still drag them around trying to get the goodies.

when I first started use this method I would bait once or more per week, now its one a month if not longer, I have about a dozen around the house and garage.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Noticed that you are kinda new on IRV2 and wanted to say hello!

We only had mice one time and a couple of traps with cheese did the trick!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[RVPioneer]

We have a round plywood “plug” that hinges open and closes down around the power cord to fill the opening in the floor. Think Pac-Man.

Some have fashioned sheet metal flashing 10-12” high to surround the tires.

We’ve also peppered the coach and metal building with Irish Spring.

[rodekyll]

Like others have said, baiting inside encourages the critters to invade. Not just the mice. I'd me more worried about the darn ants. All they need is to find food somewhere once, and there will be waves of foraging intruders thereafter. I like sticky traps and snap traps laced with peanut butter. Peanut butter stays good a LONG time. The other night there was a ruckus outside. When I investigated, a rat trap with 8 month old peanut butter bait was gone. Yeah. Rat trap. 8 month peanut butter. Gone.

My brother has perfected a "moat" of sorts around his wheels. He says he got the idea from a DIY bedbug barrier. He made circles of PVC gutter stock that snap apart for installation. He places one around each wheel and fills them with water. Then he puts a little veggie oil on top to keep mosquitos from breeding in them. He never gets mice inside, but occasionally finds a floater.

Now for the tree rats I have a .22 pistol that I load with those little single BB cartridges. They're relatively quiet and very low velocity -- you can see the pellet as it flies. Inside of 40' I can put a BB within 1/4" of where I point. Sometimes it takes a few days to find the squirrel in a position that it's safe to shoot (ALWAYS KNOW WHAT'S BEHIND YOUR TARGET). I like to backstop them with a tree or the ground. They think it's funny and often stop minding me because I stalk them and nothing bad happens. Then I put one in their ear.

[JoseRo]

Thanks to all who responded. I'm currently using multiple spring traps as well as granular and spray repellent. I'm also building the bucket derived mouse mass murderer.