Critters in the Basement

[calicc]

I know I have seen this topic before but don't seem to remember much as I did not have this problem....until now!  Long story short, took MH in for service at a reputable dealer in Sacramento.  They kept it in their yard for a couple of weeks as I was traveling on business.  Bring MH home, camp a couple of times, get ready for big vacation in 2 weeks, start cleaning basement to get things organized and we find mice in the basement.  DW goes crazy, we call a pest control expert, pay for annual service on the house and MH and they install traps in the basement of the MH.  It has now been 2 days and no mice in the traps and no sign of them.  DW still freaked out about them and wants to trade the MH (not a bad idea but can't get what I need out of the currentl one!).  Was hoping you had a suggestion on how to make sure they go away, for good!

 

[ava]

bate the mouse traps with fresh chewed bubble gum, they can't resist it,
peanut butter is also good to bate the trap with. Get the old fashioned
kind of traps, think they are called Victors and set a bunch of them in the
motorhome, under the sink etc. If you don't catch any within a reasonable
time, say a few days then you probably don't have any left. Mice are nasty
but not the end of the world, I used to fight them every winter when the
farmer cut down the corn stalks in the corn field. Just check the drawers
and cabinets for turds and wash everything up. Tell DW to go to the pound
and get a big mean cat for the motor home, just kidding,  ;D I've known
many a small dog to catch mice too.

 

[BernieD]

Cal

Congratulations, you are now eligible to join the M.I.M.E. chapter of FMCA  - Mouse In Motorhome Experience. Dues are around $3/year and we have a meeting and potluck dinner at the semi-annual FMCA International Conventions.

 

[Ron]

Cal

Congratulations, you are now eligible to join the M.I.M.E. chapter of FMCA  - Mouse In Motorhome Experience. Dues are around $3/year and we have a meeting and potluck dinner at the semi-annual FMCA International Conventions.

Guess we don't qualify for that chapter. ;D ;D

 

[Carl L]

Long story short, took MH in for service at a reputable dealer in Sacramento.  They kept it in their yard for a couple of weeks as I was traveling on business.

Call up dealer and explain what happen.  Ask him for a courtesy checkout of your furnace burner chamber and refrigerator looking for mouse nests or litter.  You probably have gotten rid of the critters, especially if there is no food in the MH.  But added traps and alternate bait cannot hurt.

And finally a nice short hair female pussycat is a excellent mouse de-infestor.  And cats adapt pretty well to RV life.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

We are long time MIME members as well as the sister groups RSIM (Red Squirrel in Motorhome and RIME (Rat in Motorhome Experience). The initiation into these clubs is not fun, but the meetings thereafter can be hilarious, consisting mostly of folks sitting around the campfire and telling the tale of their experience(s). Copious amounts of suitable beverages make the stories seem funnier than the original experience!

 

[Marsha/CA]

Carl,

Don't be so sure the cats will solve the problem. 

We have 2 female cats who travel with us in the coach.  We had an experience at a campground parked by a lake during the off season....big rats got into the coach; and I mean "BIG" rats.  So big, that we had to get rat traps.  The campground usually has big dumpsters that the rats get into.  But it had all been cleaned and there was no garbage to rumble through...so they found us.

While we were in the process of setting traps under the kitchen sink area, we saw one.  Tim grabbed the cat and threw her under the sink right near where the rat was hiding.  She took one look at the rat, looked up at us and bailed out of there. 

We finally got rid of the rats, but it took several days of "trap work".  I washed every thing that we even thought they might have touched or walked over.  We soon solved the problem when Tim realized he had left the screw cap off of the sewer bay access door after we had dumped. 

I hate rats!

Marsha~

 

[Tom and Margi]

We were invaded by field mice when we were camp hosting up the Sixes River canyon in Oregon.  We put Decon under the sink where we were sure our yellow lab couldn't get at it.  It seemed to solve the problem. 

However, when we were in Arizona a few months later I opened a little-used bottom drawer and discovered at least a cup of Decon which the mice had apparently stored for the winter before they went outside to go to mouse heaven. 

Margi

 

[Carl L]

Don't be so sure the cats will solve the problem.  

We have 2 female cats who travel with us in the coach.  We had an experience at a campground parked by a lake during the off season....big rats got into the coach; and I mean "BIG" rats.  So big, that we had to get rat traps....Tim grabbed the cat and threw her under the sink right near where the rat was hiding.  She took one look at the rat, looked up at us and bailed out of there. 

I said MICE, Marsha.  Cats cannot normally handle rats for the simple reason that rats are too damn big and will normally tear a cat up something fierce.  Your pussycat was smart enough to realize that and bailed out in time.  Dogs are the standard rat killers -- the terriers specializing in the operation even to the point that there is a rat terrier breed.  A dog will dart in, grab the rat and crush it in its mouth before the rat can do damage. 

Cats can hunt rats but it takes two cooperating cats to do the job.  We had a very small (3#) grey American shorthair named Cloudy.  She was the product of a neighborhood litter, and her siblings were all around.  She would gang up with one of them.  One cat would get the rat into a nose to nose standoff.  The other cat would circle behind the rat.  When they were in place. The back one would jump on the rats back and bite its spine with its needle-like fangs.  If the rat tried to turn to meet her, the first cat would do the jumping. 

As long as we had Cloudy, some 15 years, no rats.  A few years after Cloudy died, they came back.  She was one tough little cat.  She terrorized two Labrador retrievers in a row -- regarded them as provided for her idle amusement.

Bet that is more than you wanted to know about rats, cats, and dogs, eh.  ;D

 

[winstons mom]

My daughter has a Jack Russell that is her "mouser".  When they get behind the appliances in her stick house he does a lot of sniffing and pacing until he knows he's headed them toward the traps.  If they get out in the open he'll chase them down.  They can't have a cat because the dog likes them too. 

 

[BernieD]

We were invaded by field mice when we were camp hosting up the Sixes River canyon in Oregon.  We put Decon under the sink where we were sure our yellow lab couldn't get at it.  It seemed to solve the problem. 

Tom & Margi

Congratulations, you too are eligible for M.I.M.E. ;D ;D

 

[Tom]

We didn't join the club, but....

We kept our prior coach in storage, way out in the boonies. The nearest place was Lawrence Livermore Lab, a mile away from the lot. On one of my occasional visits I saw mouse droppings all over the place. I checked every cabinet, under the sink, etc. Finally found a nest on a shelf in the oven    Our insulation was a little less effective after the nest was built.

 

[Ron]

Maybe we have been luck or maybe its the moth balls we have in the storage bays what ever the critters don't seem to like our bays and that is just fine with us.

 

[Tom]

One year, at an annual Halloween event on the water, I kept telling Chris to keep the door of the salon closed. She wouldn't listen, and I awoke one night to a critter running up inside the leg of my PJs. Chris didn't believe me until it ran across her face    A trap got it the next night though, and Chris sleeps better now  ;D

 

[Tom and Margi]

Tom & Margi

Congratulations, you too are eligible for M.I.M.E. ;D ;D

Thanks, Bernie ... it's nice to be in the club ......I think?  ;D 

After that episode, we tucked some bay laurel branches into the basement compartments.  I don't recall any further problems, but doubt that we were in high risk mouse territory after that, either.  If anyone's travels include an Oregon stay, laurel (bay) grows wild here, so toss some into the bays  for good measure. 

Margi

 

[ava]

just a little note about the decon, before the mice or rats go off and die, they
leave piles of blue poop everywhere

 

[29RK Dave]

We've had mice make nest in the glovebox on the trucks, and when we brought our 5er home, we found poop and a couple little mummys in some of the hidden spaces.  Before we closed it up for the Winter, Les and I went through, did a thorough cleaning, and placed red cedar blocks or bagged cedar chips in all the closets, drawers, and storage spaces we could find.  When we de-winterized this Spring, all was as we left it for the Winter. No mice or poop, and the coach has that nice cedar smell.  We also had the under side of the trailer under coated, which pretty much sealed the outside from the inside.  For those few openings which remained, such as the one for the power cord and where water drain lines exit, we wrapped them with steel wool.  So far, we're rodent free.   

 

[Lou Schneider]

My grandfather's non-toxic mouse poison was to mix flour and portland cement, then place it next to a dish of water.  His theory was the mouse or rat would eat the dry powder, then get thirsty and drink the water.  Water + cement powder = one critter that was plugged up good and tight.

 

[nana]

Had mice in the stick house a short time ago.  I bought a couple of "humane" traps at Wal-Mart.  Basically it's a plastic cube type thing with a door at one end that swings in but not out.  I put peanut butter on a piece of cracker and had my mice the next day.  Took them back outside, turned it upside down while just pushing the little door back in. 
Of course, nothing to stop them from returning through the garage again...

Ann