How to keep mice from chewing their way into toy hauler

[island12]

my Dad plugged holes with aluminum foil to keep out rodents( if you can see the holes). I put a new floor down and saw the hole we patched 30 years ago when a rat got in.
The nice thing about foil is it compresses and can mushroom. He also told me they wont chew it either.
Hope this helps.

 

[Tin man]

This may sound simple, or stupid, but have you tried mouse traps?  Not high tech, but you will make a dent in there population.  Just may go some where else for food.

Jim

 

[polaatx]

This may sound simple, or stupid, but have you tried mouse traps?  Not high tech, but you will make a dent in there population.  Just may go some where else for food.

Jim

Yes, I have tried mouse traps with great success. Killed 7 so far and they haven't been back for 10 days now. However, as explained earlier, I am leaving the country for a year. I live in middle of wilderness. As far as I can speculate, their population is far greater than the 7 I killed. And I think they can smell where other mice have been before so others will be drawn to the same area.

today I started spraying the bottom of the trailer with peppermint oil / water. See earlier recommendation in earlier post.

I hired someone to come here once in a while and replace the traps and spray more.

 

[zr1sparky]

flour mixed with plaster of paris kills them and they cannot resist it. 

 

[Tin man]

My mother in law used moth balls near the openings.  She said they worked. Must be the campher they do not like.

 

[polaatx]

flour mixed with plaster of paris kills them and they cannot resist it.

Great tip!. Thank you. Home depot sells it http://www.homedepot.com/Paint-Patching-Repair/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xh4Zbob2/R-100126904/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.UB8a8rSPXnY

 

[Stella]

While I have not tried this in our RV, our home had a similar problem and I was able to eliminate it by using Great Stuff expanding foam in the tiny cracks they got in through. It has been two years since we were invaded.

http://greatstuff.dow.com/

It really expands a lot inside, making a pretty good seal.

 

[polaatx]

We use "essence of peppermint oil" which can be diluted and sprayed with a garden sprayer. The peppermint deters the mice as it burns their lungs when they breathe it. They apparently steer clear once they catch a smell of it. We spray the bottom of the MH in the fall, and so far so good. You can buy peppermint oil on ebay. Not exactly cheap, but we find its effective.

My report back:

Peppermint oil & water sprayed all over the gap underneath trailer doesn't seem to work. The critters were back two nights ago chewing away. Killed two  with traps by the next morning. Maybe outdoors it peppermint loses its potency.

 

[polaatx]

While I have not tried this in our RV, our home had a similar problem and I was able to eliminate it by using Great Stuff expanding foam in the tiny cracks they got in through. It has been two years since we were invaded.

http://greatstuff.dow.com/

It really expands a lot inside, making a pretty good seal.

Thank you. I will try it. I need to buy some sort of camera to see between gap to see what's going on in there and where to spray.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

While I have not tried this in our RV, our home had a similar problem and I was able to eliminate it by using Great Stuff expanding foam in the tiny cracks they got in through. It has been two years since we were invaded.

http://greatstuff.dow.com/

It really expands a lot inside, making a pretty good seal.

That would be my choice of preventing mice from entering a RV.

It might also be a good idea of cleaning all the interior and exterior of the RV and make sure there is no scent that might attract animals (mice, rats, squirrels). Lot of animals mark there homes by scent so if the scent is around the exterior and the interior then they will keep coming back. So if you wash down everything you can might help keep them out. Also make the interior unfavorable to them by using noise makers. Like I've got some older ultrasonic boxes that actually make loud noise (human heard) that mice don't want to hang around.

 

[polaatx]

That would be my choice of preventing mice from entering a RV.

It might also be a good idea of cleaning all the interior and exterior of the RV and make sure there is no scent that might attract animals (mice, rats, squirrels). Lot of animals mark there homes by scent so if the scent is around the exterior and the interior then they will keep coming back. So if you wash down everything you can might help keep them out. Also make the interior unfavorable to them by using noise makers. Like I've got some older ultrasonic boxes that actually make loud noise (human heard) that mice don't want to hang around.

Hi Mopar, when i was overseas for 6 months last year and earlier this year - they managed to get in and nest in two places, INSIDE the trailer, in my desk and under the shower. everything has been washed inside. But you have a good point about washing outside.

The trailer is sitting on dirt. Would you go as far replacing the dirt underneath the trailer?

 

[Mopar1973Man]

No. But I would water it down and rinse any urine, animal fecal matter, or scent away from under the trailer. Most all animal mark there home by scent of some sort. So if you wash out the scent, make there home unfavorable it should keep them at bay or attempting to entering the RV.