Keeping mice out of the camper

[TheRealRoland]

Hey everybody,

So far, the 2610ML is doing what it's supposed to do :-) Keeping us warm in slowly-cooling-down SW WI.

Here's a photo i took, of the stuff underneath the sink.



There are basically two areas where a lot of cold air is coming into the trailer. The area on the left is where all the air pipes are going underneath into the underbody, the area on the right is where water seems to run through, plus some other cables.

When looking at this, i spotted an half-eaten walmart plastic bag, so something must have been trying to build a nest. I did catch two mice so far, with a couple of weeks in between.

Now, i think i have two options:
- use expanding foam
- use steel wool

to block off these two passages.

Pros and cons? I can think of the foam being an issue in case any of the water hoses spring a leak, but steel wool?

A small aside: when i did stuff the hole on the right full of steel wool, the level indicator of one of the grey tanks went from empty to showing full. In general, are the connectors for the tank that close to that hole? Or should i consider that a mouse has chewed through the wire?

Anyways, i may need to look for one of those flexible 'snake' camera/screen thingers (dunno what they're called), to inspect what's happening in that hole on the right :-(

Any other pointers?


----
couple things to add:
- don't want to use mouse pellets; you don't know where they die, and if they die outside the camper, raptors may grab it for a little snack, and the poisoned mouse will now pass on that poison into the food chain
- read in another post not to use steel wool, perhaps copper instead?

[llr2800]

I would try to stop them underneath as there is a lot to be damaged under the floor. It is not easy and everyone has different things that "work" for them, at least until it doesn't

[MoonShadow_1911]

Hey everybody,

So far, the 2610ML is doing what it's supposed to do :-) Keeping us warm in slowly-cooling-down SW WI.

Here's a photo i took, of the stuff underneath the sink.



There are basically two areas where a lot of cold air is coming into the trailer. The area on the left is where all the air pipes are going underneath into the underbody, the area on the right is where water seems to run through, plus some other cables.

When looking at this, i spotted an half-eaten walmart plastic bag, so something must have been trying to build a nest. I did catch two mice so far, with a couple of weeks in between.

Now, i think i have two options:
- use expanding foam
- use steel wool

to block off these two passages.

Pros and cons? I can think of the foam being an issue in case any of the water hoses spring a leak, but steel wool?

A small aside: when i did stuff the hole on the right full of steel wool, the level indicator of one of the grey tanks went from empty to showing full. In general, are the connectors for the tank that close to that hole? Or should i consider that a mouse has chewed through the wire?

Anyways, i may need to look for one of those flexible 'snake' camera/screen thingers (dunno what they're called), to inspect what's happening in that hole on the right :-(

Any other pointers?


----
couple things to add:
- don't want to use mouse pellets; you don't know where they die, and if they die outside the camper, raptors may grab it for a little snack, and the poisoned mouse will now pass on that poison into the food chain
- read in another post not to use steel wool, perhaps copper instead?

We use 0000 steel wool, Moen's Mouse Mix, and Mouse Free. I'll probably change it to brass wool in the next year. There are several threads about keeping mice out of the coach. If you search for my handle, you will find a post where I also included the links to Moen's Mouse Mix and Mouse Free. Both are non-toxic and all natural.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Gronk1]

I never had much luck with those plastic snap traps, they fell apart every time they were tripped. Switched to the old wooden ones. My best luck was with sticky traps. I used copper to close all the hose/pipe/cable holes leading out of the basement. Used spray foam to seal the coroplast.
That was 1 1/2 years ago & haven't had a mouse problem since. Threw down some dryer sheets for good measure...don't know if they worked, but the trailer smells a little bit like clean laundry.

[jkwilson]

Those passages go to the heated underbelly of the trailer. If you seal there, you are too late. They are already in the trailer.

[trailrydr]

We use Irish Spring soap in plastic soap dishes with 20 or so holes drilled in it placed in the basement, storage compartment, kitchen pantry, and behind the toilet in bathroom. We only had them once, and tried peppermint spray which only made them come in more. After setting the soap (with double stick tape on bottom of dish), and a few lethal spring style snap traps with cheese wiz in the storage area, we caught 2 and never seen them again.

Be sure to also set your traps, or whatever works for you, especialy while camping too. They love the free meals unwise campers leave around campsites, and look for warm places to stay at night. Infact, we think thats were ours came from, and not our storage lot.

[IBEW Sparky]

You definitely have to block them from getting in from under the RV itself. Get yourself some black caulk, black spray foam, and some copper pot scrubby pads. Start by sealing ever little gap that you can find underneath, look for gaps around the landing gear, ALL the edges of the coroplast. Drop the spare tire and look up at where the cable comes through the coroplast... wrap a copper wool scrubby around that and force it up into the hole and cover it with caulk or spray foam. Look at the side frames and do the exact same thing around the spare tire crank, the slideout cranks, and any other holes that you can find. Also stuff a copper scrubby in each cord hole port forcing it slightly through the bottom hole.

12 Pack Copper Coated Scourers by SCRUBIT – Scrubber Pad Used for Dishes, Pots, Pans, and Ovens. Easy scouring for Tough Kitchen Cleaning. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RTZC5X1...ing=UTF8&psc=1

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Agree with the copper wool or scrubbies. If you check all the different types of foam, there is one marketed as rodent retardant. Supposedly mice don't like to chew on it.

[huntr70]

I'll add to soak a bunch of cotton balls with peppermint essential oil and throw them around.

Mice do not like mint. Mint oil is the primary ingredient in the product "Mouse Free".

[4x4dually]

In our old trailer, which looked like they cut the holes in the flooring with axes, I filled the holes with course steel wool. Then I put the straw of the foam can in the middle of the wool and filled the wool with expanding foam. The mice won't eat through the foam and they won't pull the steel wool out that way. Worked great. You can always chisel it out if you have to fix something.