I am counting my blessings. When I went out last week to
check our RV (which has been winterized and sits in the driveway pleading with
me to gather up the family, jump in and head south for the winter), I did not
see any little beady eyes attached to furry bodies scampering across my clean
floor. For that I count my blessings,
because at least I did not have to jump on top the couch and scream hysterically.
No, I didn’t see any actual mice, thank goodness.
Unfortunately, I did see their nasty pellets of evidence scattered in the
cabinet under the sink.
When we were getting the RV ready to for winter, I
thoroughly cleaned every nook and cranny. There was no food or even food crumbs for mice
to feed on, no paper products or toiletries either. The only things left in the
RV were some cleaning supplies and our bedding, which fortunately the mice have
not yet used.
Keep the RV Clean
Keeping the RV clean (and more or less empty of everything
that isn’t bolted down) alone is not enough to prevent mice from coming in and
looking around, as we have learned.
So what will we do to prevent mice joining us once we start
living in the RV, or even just camping in the RV?
For one thing, I plan to get some food storage containers,
made of either food safe plastic or glass, if I can figure out how to keep glass
from breaking as we bounce down the road, to store our food. I cannot tolerate
the thought of having any critter with more than two legs having access to the
food that I’m going to feed my family. Apart from that, I’m going to keep any
food crumbs cleaned up and the trash emptied as regularly as possible to not
entice mice -or bugs - to climb aboard.
Apart from that, here are some more things we are doing or
have considered.
Plug All Holes
I’ve read in several places that a mouse can squeeze through
a hole the size of a dime. That means that mice (or bugs, eww) can get in
pretty much anywhere that light can shine through when you turn on RV interior
lights and go outside to look under the RV at night. Of all the preventive
measures, filling those holes or cracks is probably the most important and
effective thing we can do.
As far as plugging the holes goes, I used spray foam. It’s
about $3 - $4 a can and apparently mice won’t chew through it. Time will tell.
Other people use steel wool to plug holes and then secure it with duck tape.
I’ve heard suggestions for using bronze or copper wool too, if you can find it.
The problem here, however, is that I can’t access, or necessarily even see, all
the holes.
Use Scent as a Deterrent
Some people swear by smelly home remedies for keeping the
mice away. At this point, I’m willing to try just about anything to get rid of
the mice, so yes, I am using some smellies in the RV.
I bought a 2 oz. bottle of 100% pure peppermint oil
(not
the same thing as peppermint extract) and emptied it onto 14 cotton balls.
Then, I read that I only needed to put a few drops on each one. Oops. Mine are
soaked. I really would have liked to have been able to use more cotton balls
throughout the RV, but the 14 I am using have left the RV smelling quite pleasant
throughout. Well, pleasant to me, anyway. Apparently, mice don’t find the smell
pleasant at all and avoid it. Here is to hoping!
The cons to using peppermint oil: it’s expensive for such a
little bottle. It’s not extremely easy to find unless you go online to buy it.
It needs to be replaced once the smell starts fading. Mine is still strong
after a week. Some people say that mice will use the peppermint smelling cotton
balls to nest, but maybe, just maybe, those mice are using the ones where the
smell has already dissipated.
Other smellies that might work: Bounce dryer sheets placed
generously throughout the RV have a reputation for keeping the mice away. They
need to be replaced as the smell begins to fade. Like peppermint oil, some
people say that mice use them for nesting materials, while other people claim
the mice won’t come near them.
Moth balls. Again, some people say they work. Others say
they don’t. Anyway, they definitely stink and they’ll make your RV stink, too,
if you bring them inside. And then there’s also the fact that they are
carcinogenic. I’ll probably use them if nothing else works, but I’ll put them
outside the RV and not inside.
Set Mouse Traps
Victor mouse traps- Yes, they work, but I’d prefer that the
mice don’t come in at all and then I wouldn’t need traps. That’s in a perfect
world, though, and I don’t live in a perfect world. I’ve had luck in the past
baiting with sausage when the mice wouldn’t come near peanut butter. The real problem is that traps might not catch
all those nasty critters who come for a visit.
Catch and release mouse traps – I personally never wish harm
on any creature. Like I said, I wish they just wouldn’t come in at all and then
I wouldn’t have to worry about it. However, while I don’t enjoy causing mice harm,
I also cannot and will not tolerate sharing my food, home, car, RV or other
possessions with those nasty disease carrying rodents. For that reason, I don’t
use catch and release traps. If you release them too far away, they apparently
are disoriented, cannot adjust and end up starving to death. If you release
them too close (the recommended 100 yards), they find their way back into your
RV. NO way, not my RV!
Bucket trap-You place a board to work as a ramp from the
ground to the lip of a 5-gallon bucket. The mouse climbs the ramp and jumps in
the bucket to get the bait, but then there’s no way out of the bucket. In the
bottom of the bucket is bait setting on top of either several inches of water
(which will freeze if it gets too cold and not work) for drowning the mice or
antifreeze (which you must not use if there is any possibility of pets getting
into because it will poison them), or just bait if you plan to release the
mice. I’ve read in several places where people have stated that antifreeze will
keep the mice from stinking and so you wouldn’t have to empty the bucket
frequently. I’m not saying that the bucket trap is the most humane of ways to
get rid of mice, but it is apparently a method that works.
Use Poison
Cons- Mice tend to hoard pellets of poison instead of eating
it right away, and so it doesn’t work very well. Pets and children can
inadvertently get poisoned if they have access to it. The mice that get
poisoned crawl into the walls and die, and then they stink up your RV for a
good long while.
Homemade poison- Mix either borax (in the laundry aisle at
Wal-mart) or plaster of Paris, and flour. The mice won’t be able to digest the
borax or the plaster and they die. Again, the mice will still stink if they
climb in your walls and die, and pets and children can also be poisoned if they
eat it.
Conclusion
Personally, I don’t think there’s any possible way to get
rid of mice once and for all. I think it’s going to be an ongoing battle. Maybe
I’ll get a reprieve for a few years, if I’m lucky, but I know that someday
they’ll be back. And I might be prepared, but I’ll never be ready.
