How can I keep mice out of coach?

[Clarabelle]

This week is the second time we went to our coach and found mice droppings inside.? A few months ago they got into our lower cabinets and made a mess out of the paper towels.? I caught one the next day in a cheese snap trap.? The coach has been sitting about a month since our last big trip.? I keep it at a storage place under a roof, but open on the end.? The floor is a dark gravel.? Maybe there is some kind of treatment that I can do to the ground?? It's hard to tell where they are getting in, but mice can get into some really small openings.? Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[rubysamm]

I know that moth balls are a great mouse deterent, I can't imagine you can put a barrier of moth balls around the entire coach though!! It might look a little silly :-\
I would think keeping a trap in the lower storage with peanut butter or even one of those sticky mats that they stick too?  Good luck
Lori

 

[JimChan52]

I'm new here but .....  I read an article the other day that said to put "bounce" dryer sheets in each compartment and that would deter mice, yellow jackets, and other pests. 

 

[John From Detroit]

Several years ago the British military was testing high powered radar, they had a problem with rodents eathing the insulation off the high voltage wires.  They woudl fire up the rig, and ZAAAAAPPPPP Fried rat

They tried everything, Bait, Traps, Repellents, nothing worked

Finally they installed a new rodent deterent system  CAT.  No more mice or rats

 

[Bob Bell]

We've had a problem with mice.  I found evidence in one storage compartment, the outside fridge access and in the coach.  I started a regular ritual of using traps and I think I cleaned them out. Then a friend recommended putting in these sonic rodent repeller things.  The ones I use are called "Mole Chaser."  I got two from EBay.  I think Lowes has them.  They are battery powered and last a few months on a set of C cells.  So far.... for a year.... no returning mice.  Our unit sits in open most of the year.  A friend who is in the Pest Control business says to block their entry.  We have three slides and that's not easy to know where they come in, but I have put steel wool in a few places underneath.

Good luck.

Bob Bell in sunny Borrego Springs

 

[Bob Buchanan]

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Last summer I had a really bad "rat attack" on my rig. There was a thread on rats/mice that I responded to after that you will probably find interesting and hopefully find some pointers. Click HERE to read my post there -- plus you can then read the entire thread.

According to the pros I contacted, most of the remedies offered are myths and do not work. Those that try them and are successful feel they work but most of the time, the critters just left anyway . . .

 

[JoAnn]

Those little mice can cause big problems.  3 years ago (with our first mh)  we were about to pull out of the driveway for a weekend trip and bam back up camera wouldn't work.....then hubby found several other things that wouldn't work.  We ended up having to get towed and no trip for us.  Seems a mouse had chewed all the wires up above the dashboard, behind the tv area etc.  To the tune of over $3000...  Motorhome was sitting in our driveway.  I'm always afraid of this now and put mothballs around, when it will not be used for a while, even if I don't see any droppings.  Not sure if it works or not, but so far .....  I will check out the old thread also.  Thanks!

JoAnn

 

[Clay L]

In accordance with what Bob Buchanan said, here is a personal experience of two years ago:
In a seasonal campground in NH where we spent a few summers, the guy three sites down put in a sonic repeller and bounce sheets all around when he closed up in the fall.
He came down and got me when he was opening up in the spring and siad "You have to see this". He showed me a mouse nest made out of bounce sheets and right next to the sonic repeller.

 

[Bob Buchanan]

He showed me a mouse nest made out of bounce sheets and right next to the sonic repeller.

Yep -- both are a waste of money.   I recall going to several stores such as Home Depot to purchase traps -- and probably tried most of them. That was before talking to the pros who laugh at most of them -- and suggest that basic spring traps are the best route to take. However, the rats that I had even avoided the spring traps -- even after I had determined that I had rats vs. mice.

HERE is another post concerning the same incident on a thread about the many uses of duct tape started by Carson from FL. It should be interesting to anyone thinking of trying the myth of using steel wool covered with duct tape to block possible entry points.

 

[Shadowman]

I know some may see it as a myth, and maybe it depends on number of mice or type of rodent, but we have been using bounce sheets in our MH for 3 years now with incredible success. Granted our MH is parked on an RV pad next to our home in a very suburban neighborhood. After the MH's first winter at our house, we came out in the spring to find mice droppings virtually everywhere. In almost ever cupboard, drawer, cushion. I realize it was sitting for a few months, but I guarantee there was more than one occupant during the winter, else we must have left a large supply of fiber in there for that little fella to eat all winter. My wife was disgusted and it took some serious cleaning and scrubbing before she felt comfortable once again.

So the following year she had heard about the Bounce sheets from a good friend of ours that use them at their cabin. I figured the worse case scenario would be the MH would smell nice when I went to dewinterize it. For the last 3 years we have been putting the bounce sheets throughout the MH, usually cut in half and placed in each drawer, cupboard, opening. In those 3 years, we have yet to have another mouse dropping in the MH. I'll admit I thought my wife was NUTS, and I'll deny it if you tell her, but I knew there was NO way to block all the openings where they could get in and it has worked great.

Again, this is only my experience in a suburban area. I'm sure if you are in a rural area where the mouse population is larger or in an area where they are a little more aggressive, this idea may not work for you, but it has for us so I thought I would share.

 

[rffg]

Good Grief.  Mice must have different sensors for what they like or dislike, depending on geography.  I am here in San Diego County and made a post just yesterday regarding my mice/rat problems.  Mice/Rat poison did not work (the squirrels at it), Bounce and other dryer 'things' did not work, various type traps have been avoided.  An electrician (the one who did my last repair as a result of mice) told me to use Moth Balls.  I started that about a month ago I guess.  No mice since.  I spread them under the motorhome (a few here and a few there) with the heaviest concentration around the rear engine and front generator.  I replenish the dastardly smelling moth balls about every thrid or fourth day.

Seems to be working fine now.  My fingers are crossed.

Regards,

 

[The Sofa King]

i am a licensed pest control  person.. even though i dont do the actual work i do  run the pest control department at Bay valley foods here in pittsburgh... I KNOW A LOT ABOUT MICE and bugs....

NONE OF THE  ABOVE DETERRENTS WORK...NONE OF THEM..

the only advice i can give you is  seal every opening you can find 1/4 of an inch or bigger..  they will get in any way..

keep decon or some other rodent bait in several locations in your RV or trailer any time it is stored for any period of time...

done leave any food in your rv for any period of time.

if you find droppings clean everything that you can with a mild bleach solution.... mice pee all the time wand leave trails of it every where they walk  (dont believe me... use a black light and look for your self).. and they carry some nasty diseases

dont use cheese in traps... use peanut butter, tuna, or raisins they go nuts for them..

thats about it..

 

[tippleunduly]

Best thing I ever did was to build a tight barn for my coach. I got fed up with mice getting in, no matter what I did. If the coach sat outside, mice got in. I even found a nest right next to a pile of mothballs I had thought would keep them out. It's great to know the coach is now secured in a mouse-resistant structure!
Bill

 

[The Sofa King]

Yep -- both are a waste of money.   I recall going to several stores such as Home Depot to purchase traps -- and probably tried most of them. That was before talking to the pros who laugh at most of them -- and suggest that basic spring traps are the best route to take. However, the rats that I had even avoided the spring traps -- even after I had determined that I had rats vs. mice.

rats are very challenging to rid your self of... they do not have the natural curiosity that mice have... they avoid new things ( like traps ) like the plague (get it like the plague.haa!..lol  ;D ) they are very solitary, smart, destructive creatures..  you have to trap them in a different way than you do mice..

trapping rats:

rats like to run along side walls and things... they use their whiskers to guide them along  so frequently you may see a rub mark along the wall that they are running..

put down a rat sized snap trap in or along side their run path ( the mouse size ones are too small to kill em) dont set it... leave it like that for a couple of days...

start baiting it use just a little bit of  peanut butter, tuna or raisins preferably tuna in oil they go nuts about it... again don't set it..

after a couple of days set it... check it once a day

if you catch one... and you think you have more.. repeat the above procedure just move the trap because if they see one of their com padre's laying there dead on your trap that wont go around it any more... also throw away the  rat and the trap....  the trap is useless after one dies on it they wont go around it some kind of smell that the dead one leaves on it.......

 

[The Sofa King]

rats are very challenging to rid your self of... they do not have the natural curiosity that mice have... they avoid new things ( like traps ) like the plague (get it like the plague.haa!..lol  ;D ) they are very solitary, smart, destructive creatures..  you have to trap them in a different way than you do mice..

trapping rats:

rats like to run along side walls and things... they use their whiskers to guide them along  so frequently you may see a rub mark along the wall that they are running..

put down a rat sized snap trap in or along side their run path or any wall ( the mouse size ones are too small to kill em) dont set it... leave it like that for a couple of days...

start baiting it use just a little bit of  peanut butter, tuna or raisins preferably tuna in oil they go nuts about it... again don't set it..

after a couple of days set it... check it once a day

if you catch one... and you think you have more.. repeat the above procedure just move the trap because if they see one of their com padre's laying there dead on your trap that wont go around it any more... also throw away the  rat and the trap....  the trap is useless after one dies on it they wont go around it some kind of smell that the dead one leaves on it.......

 

[John From Detroit]

Let's see if I can make this rhyme.

God bless our cats they are the kings and queens of our house
They keep the house quite free from mice and things
for they would like for the mouse to drop in for dinner
But the the mice do not think that would be fine
For the mouse figures that, he just might be the main course
Though the kitty will say "NO I won't eat you"
The mouse knows that cats have sharp teeth
and they also know the kitties love mouse to eat.


I still say the best way to discourage mice it to install CAT