Travel Trailers and Mice

[Sporty]

So the end of camping season is almost upon many of us, for my family it is. This is our first year with a travel trailer and I'm wondering what people do to keep mice out of their trailers over the winter? I've read different solutions on the internet, moth balls, bounce sheets, ultra sonic mouse repellents.

I figure there are people here that have good advice to share that is tried and true!

Thanks ahead of time for any replies.

[Echo_37]

I have a friends who puts bounce sheets in any spot a mouse might get in , ie power cable opening and where any pipes come in and say they've never had a mouse in their camper in 20 years. I am going to try this and probably set a couple traps just in case.
Dave

[Albertadiver]

We used steel wool and spray foamed the heck out of any possible penetration under our trailer and around our water line penetrations. We had a big mouse problem for a whille, and haven't had an issue since spring thankfully!

We did the bounce sheets but I think that's an old wives tale.

[Sporty]

Albertadiver, does the steel wool rust? I've read about that too but some people say it rusts too much and to use copper wool, which I have no clue where to get.

[Albertadiver]

Originally Posted by Sporty

Albertadiver, does the steel wool rust? I've read about that too but some people say it rusts too much and to use copper wool, which I have no clue where to get.

It will rust, but we did the steel wool from the inside for the most part. There's a bit outside but that's covered in the spray foam.

I think mice leave a scent trail to how they find thier way into places. Once you fully plug that up, they can't easily find thier way back in again.

The weak spot for us was above the water tank, where the pipe goes through the floor with a bunch of wires to the pump. Tricky to get inside there from inside the cabinets and also tricky from below as our water tank had a plastic shielding around it, giving the mice a great platform to work from below.

[Dmay]

As well as plugging any holes, etc., I poke holes in plastic gunpowder bottles and put in some mothballs. Then put these by anything that gives ground access, one on each spring, front and rear jacks etc......

[Stinky Buffalo]

X2 on the Bounce sheets.

I just bought a used trailer this month, and noticed that the previous owner had put a pot scrubber in the the AC power plug hole - sort of wrapped it in a "C" shape around the cord. I thought that was a pretty good idea. I'm planning on eventually putting in a Marinco recepticle in there - that should elimiate the possibility of any mice getting in there in the future.

Stinky

[Geezle]

When I had a mouse in my work trailer my boss told me to take a paper plate and put some shavings from a bar of Irish Spring soap out on in and then close up the trailer. Apparently after a while in the enclosed space (with the sun hitting it?) the smell gets too rank in there for the mice, or something to that effect. Same idea as the mothballs I think.

[JB_AOL]

Empty trailer of all food (including crumbs, canned food, spices, etc.). Then clean the trailer really good (ie. vacuum everywhere). Then make sure all holes are well sealed, use expanding foam or w/e. Then I use good old fashion Irish Spring soap bars.. I place them all over the trailer, in every cabinet, storage locker (inside & out). And last but not least, if you are storing it on grass, make sure it is really short, rodents tend to hide in the taller stuff.

One thing I noticed alot in my storage lot, is people will leave their stabilizing jacks down over the winter. Not really sure why, they just left 4 ladders for the furry *****ers. My family have been doing this with multiple different RV's over the past 30yrs and have never had a mouse in our trailer over winter. Although we did manage to pick some up during a camping trip one year. Nothing like hearing the mouse trap go off in the middle of the night under my bed and a "breakfast's served" being yelled from the front of the motorhome..

Good luck..

[I-Love-Eyes]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL;655574[B

]Empty trailer of all food (including crumbs, canned food, spices, etc.).[/B] Then clean the trailer really good (ie. vacuum everywhere). Then make sure all holes are well sealed, use expanding foam or w/e. Then I use good old fashion Irish Spring soap bars.. I place them all over the trailer, in every cabinet, storage locker (inside & out). And last but not least, if you are storing it on grass, make sure it is really short, rodents tend to hide in the taller stuff.

One thing I noticed alot in my storage lot, is people will leave their stabilizing jacks down over the winter. Not really sure why, they just left 4 ladders for the furry *****ers. My family have been doing this with multiple different RV's over the past 30yrs and have never had a mouse in our trailer over winter. Although we did manage to pick some up during a camping trip one year. Nothing like hearing the mouse trap go off in the middle of the night under my bed and a "breakfast's served" being yelled from the front of the motorhome..

Good luck..

And any possible bedding materials--ie: paper towel, toilet paper, clothing, etc.

[Sporty]

Thanks for all the replies, much of what I've read has been suggested in this thread with varying results so I guess I'll try it all, Irish Spring soap, bounce sheets, moth balls on the outside. I've read where people placed them all over inside and couldn't get the smell out of their trailers. I heard once a long time ago that cedar chips is also a deterrent instead of moth balls, anyone else have experience with this? One site I read also suggested to get game urine from a hunting store or used cat litter and place that under the trailer as well. Lots of stuff out there its hard to determine what consistently works.

So its best to bare bones the trailer for storage then I assume? I'll start loading up on the spray foam and steel wool in preparation for storage. Thanks again for all the replies

[gitrdun]

Laundry detergent...makes the place smell nice too.

[Sneeze]

Just make sure you dont leave any food or bedding type materials in it. Set a few traps and you should be good.

[Whiskey Wish]

You can get copper wire mesh at Lee Valley Tools. I would stuff it in the hole as best I could then seal it with spray foam.
FYI - Mice "pee" continuously every few inches as they travel as scent markers.

Keep Your Powder Dry,
Dave.

[medhatken]

Another vote for the Bounce sheets here. I have been using them for about 6-7 years now. My trailer sits in the back corner of a large yard with tall grass all around and not ever have I seen a trace of a mouse. At the end of the season I empty my trailer out, winterize it and spread out the big box of Bounce everywhere, evry hatch outside, every crack and crevice, across the top of the slide, everywhere and come spring it smells april fresh too.

[diamonddave]

Another trick that I know works, is to get old clean yogert containers and place cotton swabs soaked in pepermint exctract in these containers. Place them in all of the cubbies, closets, pantries, ect and you will have no issues at all. Smells wonderfull come spring time to.

[jiggin4eyes]

its bull **** i have my trailer in the bush all year long and the mice make nests with bounce sheets

[Dewey Cox]

I've been waiting seven years for someone to call bs on bounce sheets...

[jiggin4eyes]

im in BC now just installed steel wool on all my drops and placed expanding foam running 19 traps 9 inside 10 outside and have ripped my forest river trailer apart over the last two months and was clean for 31 days , i would average one a day outside and i have had five inside a night foe five nights , and have traps missing inside my trailer , So ****ing done with mice

[bat119]

Originally Posted by jiggin4eyes

its bull **** i have my trailer in the bush all year long and the mice make nests with bounce sheets

X2! The Irish spring is BS too they chew on it

set 12 traps with peanut butter and check once a month

[JB_AOL]

Clean your trailer out of any possible food or crumbs, and make sure any holes to the outside are plugged, jacks up.

I use Irish spring but place it on the outside at potential entrance points, and have never had a mouse or noticed any chew marks on it, so.. Either it works or they just don't like my trailer.

[gmcmax05]

Originally Posted by jiggin4eyes

its bull **** i have my trailer in the bush all year long and the mice make nests with bounce sheets

BINGO, I've seen the same thing & where they have been eating the Irish Spring soap bars. Maybe the people that are using this stuff don't have a mouse problem, because the mice can't get in, or maybe there's no mice in the area!! Seal up all holes in trailer & you won't have a mouse problem.

[bear crossing]

Do your normal cleanup,then put some brickets on plates in a couple of different areas,i have had fantastic results.

[4thredneck]

My trailer sat two winters beside my friend's trailer, my trailer had bounce sheets in it his didn't. My trailer never had a mouse in it in the spring his did. Never did anything under my trailer that wasn't done at the factory.

[DRhunter]

Has anyone tried this product? Might work great for inside a trailer
https://hightailusa.com/pages/how-it-works

[260 Rem]

As a back-up, use a "live" trap with plenty of warfarin and cheerios as bait. They dry up, no smell, and the trap doesn't need to be checked often.

[skidderman]

For me bounce sheets & soap bars did not work. When my slide closes the seal is not tight. For two yrs now I have plugged the seal gap with steel wool. In addition I put enough sticky traps on the floor that a mouse can't make a u-turn without getting in trouble. As well I set up a 5 gal mouse trap for extra insurance. The steel wool is on it's third year. If it worries you replace it every year. It's cheap compared to the damage mice do. Also spray foam in every gap I could find. No mice since I started using steel wool.

[tbiddy]

We had major problems with mice when our 5th wheel was being stored at the farm. We tried everything mentioned here and nothing worked. I think if you use Bounce, Irish Spring, etc... and you don't have mice, its cause they can't get in. That is the only thing that works.

Finding where they come in and blocking the entrance points. A couple tricks is to turn on all the lights and lie under the trailer in the dark and see if you can see any light coming out. Putting some baby powder down to see if you can find a trail. What I was told was mice don't have bladders, so when they walk they leave a trail of urine. This is how they can find the way in next time. I also heard using a black light, you can see where the urine trail is so you can find where they are coming in.

We blocked all the entrance points we could find and moved the trailer to our gravel pad at home. That seems to help. We usually get one or two in the spring but not the 20 or so we would have to clean out before. Put a couple glue traps down and check them every few weeks.

[ETOWNCANUCK]

Trade your trailer in for a nice big tent.

Won't have to worry about any mice then.

[V45 sabre]

I would agree with the posters that say Irish spring doesn't work. they will chew on it. I think the biggest thing is to try to plug holes to keep them out in the first place. the other stuff is only a last resort and doesn't really work.