Mouse Proofing

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grashley

grashley

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May 7, 2015
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Location
Western Kentucky
While working in the basement of my FW, I note several large holes to the outside, such as the front landing gear shaft opening, access for potable water line to the hookups from the bottom, wiring pass through holes, etc.  Note all of these are outside of the living area. 

Are these openings an issue or is the real "rodent seal" above the basement storage areas?
 
I've discovered on my motor home that if they can get into the basement, they can just waltz wherever they want in the coach.  Only opening I have is through the large hole for the sewer hose.  All the smaller ports for extension cords and water hoses have those mouse  proof ports with the small opening in the door.  I ended up stuffing steel wool around my sewer hose and then weighting it down with locally available rocks to keep them from pushing it out of the way.
 
yeah, i agree.... they could get into almost anything. 
even if the intended barrier is in the level above, i'd close off any opening I could find to slow them down.
teh issue is there are so many nooks and crannies under and over frames, hidden by mechanical systems, etc.... there's absolutely no way to plug all the holes in mine short of submerging the whole RV in a vat of epoxy
 
Utclmjmpr said:
  REMOVE ALL FOOD SOURCES.>>>D
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It takes more than that. When I use to winterize, there was no food at all in the RV and they use to get in every year. I used the bucket trap to catch them.
 
There is NO way to mouse proof any RV so I focus on giving them no reason to go in.  First I keep the bus clean and empty of all food and odors.  Next I use a product called Tom Cat rat and mouse killer.  I place them around the outside of the bus which gives them a food source and no reason go look any further.  So far I have never found any mouse droppings in the bus.  I recommend the rat killer and not the mouse one just because the rat killer box is larger which makes it much easier and more inviting for the mice.  Plus the bait is much larger so it lasts a year.

https://www.tomcatbrand.com/en-us

 
Sorry - My bus doesn't stay outside, I have a garage.  I know, I Know - I am spoiled.  Plus and more importantly, the Tom Cat is in a small plastic container with a hole in the front that is only large enough for a very small animal to go in, like a mouse, a vole or a mole so if your worried about rabbits, cats, dogs, whatever - they won't fit.

 
andre said:
When you leave it outside doesn?t it kill other wildlife? Not judging just wonder how that can be avoided.

Andre
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Anything that will eat mouse or rat poison you do not want nosing around outside your RV either.  Chipmunks, squirrels, woodchucks, etc. Keep them all away.
 
I understand that but do they go back to their whole and die or you generally find corpses under your camper. There are a lot of chipmunks in campground and would hate to have to pick up corpses under camper every day. Again, not against but trying to understand what to realistically expect.

Andre
 
yeah, i remember being told when I had rodents in my attic years ago that the rodents will go out of the house to find water and die out there.  That aint so..... what if they just came in form having a drink before their "meal"?
Regardless, i had to pull a lot of rats out of that attic before I got it under control!  Ugh!  thankfully it was an old house (1926 vintage) mostly uninsulated so they were usually easy enough to find.
 
I have the luxury of winter inside storage for our camper. But even inside the threat of rodents and such is very real. I live in a rural community where tractors and combines out number cars and trucks. I go to the local John Deere dealer or TSC and purchase a product called Cab Fresh, or it could be Fresh Cab. Ask for either, they'll understand. Myself, or anyone that has ever used this product has ever complained. It's easy enough, comes in a 4 pack, with citrus and other scents in a sealed pouch. I do about 8 of the pouches just scattered about the camper. Passthrough, cabinets, water heater, just anywhere you can think of.
 
There is a story out of England during WWII.. A Radar Research station. Every time they fired it up ZAAAAPPPP  Fried ratr and blown circuits. They tried traps (Same result) Poisons (nope, that did nto work either) ffinally they hired a Rodent Specialist. A professional Rodent Specialist.. Suddenly things worked as planned as the Mice and other rodents did not desire to hang around any more.. Of course they did have to pet the cat from time to time and feed him cat food and clean his litter box.. But it sure beat blown circuits.

NOW... as it turns out you do not need an actual cat.. Just the proper aroma
 
I used to work for a 50,000 watt radio station that had it's transmitter and towers in the middle of a cow field, i.e. in the middle of lots of rodents.

When it was manned 24/7 the workers kept a family of cats there, and to entice them to stay around they'd put out an occasional bowl of cat chow.  The cats did their job, and there was never any problem with rodents getting into the building or any of the equipment.  The person who bought the chow would include it on his monthly expense report for reimbursement.

One day the company got a new comptroller and he refused to pay for the food, returning the receipt with a note saying it was against company policy to pay for an employee's pet.

The employee re-submitted the receipt and called the cat food "mouse eradicator fuel."  It sailed right through.
 
Rene T said:
They could chew their way in.
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A rat box is what a professional exterminator will use, combined with rat poison.  I have used them in the past and have never had anything chew their way in.

Other methods such as snap traps, electronic traps, live traps, bucket traps, cats, etc. are all less effective or take more time and money.

John From Detroit said:
NOW... as it turns out you do not need an actual cat.. Just the proper aroma
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Just let an intact tom cat in the RV for a few days, problem solved...  Actually, as a trapper from years ago, I doubt that any urine product works.  I have caught too many animals that should have stayed away if it actually worked.
 
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