26 foot travel trailer with mice problem

I have mice in my trailer.
I plugged up 2 holes that I think they were coming through. I cut a hole for an inline water heater and I have a holw for city water. I plugged them with 1/4" mesh and steel wool.

I also put out baits, and now I have added some sticky traps.

* What else should I be doing to get rid of these mice?
* What other access points should I look for in the trailer, so I can block them up too?
* What sort of disinfecting plan do I need to implement? (do I need to clean all the sleeping bags and heavy clothes, or do I just need
  to find the places where mouse droppings are found and clean that)


Also:

I saw a mouse in the trailer yesterday when I went in. He was moving slow. He did not startle when I shouted and stomped my foot. Does this mean the bait I put in 2 days ago is working and they are lethargic from the poison, or are mice just that stupid.
(the mouse was so slow I used my foot to push him out the door, I probably should have stomped on him, but mice freak me out, a gushing blood and entrails mouse would have really freaked me out, I think)

What else do I need to know to make this place livable again?

Oh yeah:
I bought some mouse/rodent repellant and threw it all around my trailer. I am told it does not really work but I am desperate.

I bought Tom Cat bait and I don't remember the brand of the other stuff. I don't know if one brand is really better or not but I thought I should mention it.

Also I picked up loose stuff, like shoes and empty grocery bags with paper towels and toiler tissue in them, that were on the floor and also on the bed. I put non-perishable foods into big containers with lids. they are not air tight but no mouse could climb the contrainer and the lid would keep them out anyway. However, smell would surely escape. So I need to get any more holes plugged up.

Thanks for considering this question
and especially thanks if you choose to respond
This is gross. I had my car stolen once, when I got it back it felt weird, dirty. This is like that.

One more thing:
one mouse, the one I kicked out, was as big as my thumb, but I also saw a mouse about 1/3 that size. So maybe they have a family in here, maybe they have made a home in my trailer.

Update on the mouse I kicked out:
He is laying in the gravel where I park the trailer, he was barely moving, and when I kicked him again he flipped over on his back and just lay there. Maybe the poison is working but I still would like "mouse experts" to let me know what to do. I am an adult male, I am supposed to know about this stuff but I don't.

If you saw a sluggish one, it's probably poisoned. Keep at it, especially with snap traps and peanut butter. The more you snap, the less chance you have of one or two dying and decaying somewhere inside. Stick with it. You will eventually eradicate them!

GOOGLE Mouse Bucket trap. I've had trailers in the past where I felt it would be impossible for them to get in yet they always find a way. I use to use regular snap mouse traps but got tired of checking them every couple of days. Then I started using the bucket trap. I used pink antifreeze instead of water to prevent freezing. I would dump it in the spring.

I wouldn't use poisons. They can get into an inaccessible place and die, then you will have a real problem.

happened to me to too long ago
I know what you mean...just feels invaded and dirty.

I learned about the poison killing them in less than ideal places many years ago in an old house I was renovating.  They would die in the attic.  I still remember the smell vividly...pulled a bunch out that way, so many that it became almost routine...I could smell it as I approached the front door, so I'd hang my head, emit a sigh, and go for my respirator and shovel.  (fortunately the attic was mostly uninsulated so they were easy to find and easy to scoop up with a shovel)

Back to the RV.... what I did put out a bunch of traps, as well as a bucket trap.  Didn't do any really good cleaning at first because I didn't want to disturb them and run them off before they could get in the traps...  caught one in a snap trap, and that was the only one.  After that I monitored for a bout a week.  No more caught, no new droppings or signs....so I brought it home and took the opportunity to do a "spring cleaning".  I took everything out of every cabinet and every drawer.  Gave me a chance to look for droppings or nests.  Washed everything and wiped everything down inside with antibacterial wipes or disinfectant.  Overkill I think but it made me feel better.  Monitored for new signs for a while before I put everything back in.

In my case it was because the storage lot was cleaning out a nearby barn, and I caught it before it really got infested.  the only real damage I found was a bunch of insulation pulled from around the oven for a nest under the cabinet drawer.  I still need to pull the oven out to inspect that a little better and see if I need to re insulate anything....

My next step was going to be to get some night vision goggles and an air rifle...and set up an ambush.  8)

I use decon which is a poison but effective

Use snap traps.  Don't use poison.  You don't want them crawling off somewhere you can't get to and stinking up the place.  The old basic snap traps work the best. I even screwed mine under the cabinets down on a bigger piece of wood so the mouse couldn't drag the trap off. Yes, that happened once.

Thanks to everyone for responding. It looks like I will take the poison and put it outside and use snap traps inside.

I don't want to find a bunch of dead mice somewhere.

I don't know what a bucket trap is but I will find out and see if I can use that.

My neighbor has had a mouse problem in his garage for as long as I can remember and I live next to a pretty large field of grass.
So I have been in my house for about a decade and am only now getting them in my trailer.
It could be worse but this is still a lot of work that I don't want to do and it is disgusting.

Edit:
I know what a bucket trap is now and I think it is a great idea.

Mice is one problem I have never had..... Installed Cat. (Meow type that is).

BUCKET TRAP!!  Cheap, easy to make and very effective!

Rodents  may have peed all over your clothes, bedding, towels, pillows. So wash everything that can go in the washer.

Even now, because I am used to 3rd world conditions in my past, I always wash the top of  a food can before I open it. I have no idea if it has dried up rodent pee on it from a grocery warehouse. Maybe extreme, but I used to shop in an area that rarely had air conditioning, so doors were standing open and the critters came and went as much as the shoppers did.

Mice don't stop to pee in one spot, they dribble it along as they travel.

If you have access to a handheld blacklight (UV light), you can actually use it to detect rodent urine since it fluoresces under UV. In dark conditions, mouse urine will fluoresce blue-white to yellow-white, depending on how old it is. Rodent hairs will glow, too. Be forewarned, however, that other things also fluoresce under UV light. Other materials that will also fluoresce include certain lubricants and detergents, some bleaches, pitches and tar, certain glues and adhesives, plus sugar and rice kernels. You can usually distinguish glowing rodent urine from other substances by its pattern of small trailing droplets.


I've been traveling with bug, rat and mouse poison in my RV for 8 years and now that I bought a 5th wheel to fulltime in, first thing I did was hide poison all over it inside and outside in the basement lockers. Any where I could hide poison that my dog wouldn't find it, though he's not likely to eat it, just wanted to be super safe. I have an outside shed on my RV lot and I have it stocked with poison too.

Usually poisoned mice will try to get back outside and hunt for water even though it won't save them. If they die, the poison I was using seemed to dehydrate the body quickly. I found a 2 dimensional mouse that seemed odorless. I'd rather deal with a dead mouse than a destroyed RV.

Years back 2 rats made a huge mess inside my sailboat (my main home at the time) while I was absent for 10 weeks. It took me a month of serious hard work to clean up the nightmare. I had to throw out a mountain of stuff that was damaged beyond repair or too costly to clean. Luckily they didn't shred my upholstery because my bed had a memory foam topper which they liberally shredded and dragged all over the boat to make nests. There was no food on board so they were starving. Apparently I locked them inside before my departure. The boat had just been put in a storage yard for my 10 week absence. The only food was a plethora of spice bottles that were all topped with large corks. They chewed through every cork searching for food in the bottles.

As for cleaning, you want to remove everything out of the trailer and clean it all. Use a vacuum preferably HEPA filter type to vacuum every nook and cranny plus all the upholstery and mattresses etc.  Empty the vacuum often outside and keep cleaning the HEPA filter so the suction remains strong.  Vacuum under the mattress and remove any cushions you can to vacuum under those too. Vacuum inside every cabinet. Remove drawers and vacuum inside the cabinet area and of course vacuum the drawers.

Mice and rats pee and poop everywhere so it's essential to clean anything and everything after an infestation. You may have trails and trails of dried up mouse pee all over the place.

Here in the RV park I am in now, a neighbor left her RV for a month then came  back and it was so badly infested with mice she had to pay some sturdy men to remove her entire destroyed couch. It was ruined from the inside out, as they had managed to make nests and homes for reproducing in the underside and back side of the couch. She is still battling with cleaning and odors as her rig is well stocked for fulltiming.

Probably the fastest way to start cleaning after removing everything and vacuuming, is to get plain white vinegar and squirt bottles plus paper towels or microfiber cloths. Even if you use microfiber cloths, you need a stack of them as they dirty up quickly but they are washable and renewable.

You can pretty much clean anything and everything in the RV with vinegar without damages. It cleans and kills a ton of germs and dries odorless. You can put it full strength in the squirt bottle or dilute it with water down to 50%. Distilled or purified water is the best.

Mice can and do find ways to get inside even if you are living in the RV. A few years ago I was yacking on the phone one night when I let out a shrill scream by accident. I was in Florida during an extreme cold front. While on the phone I was sitting in the booth staring at the cab over bed when suddenly a mouse appeared and walked across the bed! I never did find him, but I had the RV stocked with poison and for good measure, the next day I bought more poison and traps. I baited the traps but never caught anything.

Which my neighbor who is battling her infestation announced yesterday that traps had so far caught 6 mice in her 30 foot 5th wheel since she returned. Every day I see her loading up more garbage or more laundry. The clean up is the real nightmare.

Good luck and at least when it's all done, you rig will look terrific!

Yeah and no need to Google bucket trap... we have a thread right here on the forum that explains the entire process. 

Click here and read the thread: Ultimate mouse trap

i have used Cab Fresh it works great since i have started using no critters

In the five winters we have had our TT, two we had mice three we did not. I have used several anti-mouse elixirs but cannot honestly say any of them worked better than just dumb luck.

I times I think mice can walk thorough walls.

This winter we use peppermint oil with success. Next year who knows.

marknoo said:

Thanks to everyone for responding. It looks like I will take the poison and put it outside and use snap traps inside.

Click to expand...

Don't use poison outside where other animals or pets can get to it.

DO did you get rid of the mice?
Clean up the mess?

I would have killed the sluggish one and threw it outside.

I use poison.  It really is the only 100% effective solution.  Any other methods take more time and effort.  A Victor Tin Cat trap may be OK too.  Just leave the mice in there until they die.

The one-feeding poison stuff works best.  Bromadiolone, Bromethalin or similar.  It's safe around other animals, as the mouse barely eats any of it and goes off to die.  They do not pack it away, nor does it contaminate their bloodstream.  If they die in your RV, it's only a few days and the smell goes away.  No big deal if you cannot find them.

Buy a rat box and keep it loaded with poison and near your RV.  That should keep mice, rats and chipmunks out.  If the poison is banned in several states, that is the one to use...

We had evidence of mice/rats in our basement garage. It is rather open to access because it is an enclosed area under our 7' raised deck. So, I searched online and came up with this mixture of baking soda, flour and sugar. It really worked! I placed it on paper plates, put two in the garage and one under the MH. The next day there were foot prints and pee in the mixture. YUCK! But, after a couple days I didn't see any new tracks or disturbance in the mixture. I never did see any evidence of activity under the MH, so I was very pleased! Never have found a body or smelled anything...yet. LOL    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuMpUQXIHJk

Here's a guy that knows his traps... has tested and reviewed hundreds of mousetraps, and posts "Mousetrap Monday" videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsoVcrFyrF8  (A "Walk the Plank" version of the bucket trap mentioned above)

I once kept a 5-gallon bucket with about an inch of bird seed in the garage of my house.  Original intent was just to store bird seed, but since I did not put a lid on it, I discovered I would catch about a mouse every couple of days in the bucket.  They managed to get in, but could not climb the steep sides on the inside.  At first, I dumped the mice out in the woods behind my house, but then realized I did not know if I was catching the same mouse over and over again. 

Plus, my son was rebuilding the engine of an old car in the garage and the mice kept building nests there, so I finally ended up using regular mouse traps and putting a lid on my bird seed bucket. Number of mice dwindled and nests disappeared.

No poison in bird seed, so no worries about pets or other animals.  I think peanut butter on the inside of the bucket would also work.