Eek - Mouse Proofing the RV

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.