Mice

[Freder]

So if a person puts a sheetmetal ring around the jack and tires, will this keep mice out of the camper. I'm thinking of putting the jack in a 5 gallon pail and having some tin benders making me a round rings of sheetmetal with a slip drive to get a complete enclosure around the tires. I don't think mice can climb sheetmetal?? Or at least the shiney stuff they use for furnace ducts.

[JRTJH]

Mice get on the roof of my pole barn and climb in through the vents. The entire pole barn is painted steel sheeting. Don't discount the ability of mice to climb sheet metal !!!

That said, I think you're saying that as long as you seal the area around the jacks and the spare tire that you believe you'll have done enough to prevent mice from being able to find a way into your RV ??? If that's what you are saying, remember that there are "splits in the coroplast" where the low point drains exit, holes cut in the frame rails where the slide rams extend, voids where there are "mis-matched" installations, vents on the roof of your RV that are open to the back of the refrigerator and if you leave your roof vents open, directly into your RV interior, furnace vents that provide air for combustion, and aluminized "dryer hose" that goes from the "heated sub-floor" up into the main cabin at the furnace air distribution box. Even if that box is sealed, the aluminized hose can be used as a "highway throughout your RV" by mice that might enter the sub-floor, travel up to the air distribution box and from there, enter any of the heat ducting. They can easily chew through the thin mylar surface of the vent ducts.

There are significantly more entry routes into your RV than just the jacks and the spare tire.

[travelin texans]

Plus their little sharp teeth can make an entry point most anywhere.
I buy Ramik Green pellets at Tractor Supply & scatter under & around the rv, so far so good.
My friend uses moth balls that work well to keep the critters & most people (including me) away, always smells like great grandmothers couch.

[Freder]

I was actually thinking of using the sheet metal sort of as a fort wall around those points at which a mouse could gain access to the RV. The tires, the tongue jack. So if you can keep the mice from actually getting on the frame of the RV, then sealing the access points would not be needed. I'm still thinking that around those Forts of sheet metal I would put mothballs and traps.

[JRTJH]

Mice around these parts are as proficient at digging tunnels as the gophers and moles..... They climb steel buildings, dig under foundations, chew through vinyl siding (so coroplast is no challenge) and if that isn't sufficient to gain entry, they eat rubber seals on the bottom of garage doors and OSB siding makes for comfortable holes to access what they think they want "from the other side". Building a "fort" or "moat" around your trailer? Probably an exercise in futility, although it might keep snakes from getting into the area protected by the steel ramparts... Probably make the mice feel safer knowing snakes can't sneak up on them while under your trailer. YMMV

[Wingerdinger]

I learned an easier method to create a barrier. Mice will not walk in Comet cleanser, so I but several cans, and dump it all around the tires and jack, and basically spread it all around my TT. Along with the usual Bounce dryer sheets and some peppermint oil, I have never had mice in my last three units, in 16 years. It is stored in a vinyl shelter, right next to a wooded area, 4 to 6 months a year in Minnesota.
And these new RVs have a ton of holes in them!

[sourdough]

I've used several methods trying to keep them out. My success for the last 5 years has been Fresh Cab. I place a packet on top of each tire, inside the trailer at strategic locations, at the large garage door opening etc., and at the edges of the tires on the ground and tongue jack. I've not had any mice intrusions (thankfully).

[Freder]

Thanks all. I too use cab fresh and dryer sheets. We store the TT in one of Dads quonsets, with a concrete floor. My brother has problems with his 5th Wheel, but we have been OK. Just trying to be ahead of the game. Comet, interesting. We use to put mothballs in our Tent Trailers, but it took almost a month before you couldn't smell them anymore. So now we've put a ring of them around the wheels and hitch jack. And it all seems to work. Yes, lots of traps and the sticky ones also. But at 20 below, how sticky are they? I like those little teter-toter types. You are right, mice could find a way into Fort Knox.

[Travelinlou]

I use a sprung with Pinesol to keep mice out. Placing them in a sandwich bag and leaving it unsealed. Place them in cabinets and storage areas. They hate the smell. Even dried out they can smell it and leave. Another solution is to place Irish Spring soap bars in the same way. Did this in my shop once and they were gone in about a week. Nerves a problem after that. If they are in your camper, use the Pinesol first, it’s stronger, then use the soap long term.

[kjohn]

I used Irish Spring soap in our last two TT's. No mice, so far. I put in the storage bays, and around the trailer in nearly every bottom cupboard, etc.


Different "pest", I recall reading about somebody who poured a trail of waste oil all around the outer perimeter of his campsite, believing that snakes would not cross the oil. If there were snakes where I had my tent pitched, I wouldn't hesitate to give that idea a whirl.

[CrazyCain]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Mice around these parts are as proficient at digging tunnels as the gophers and moles..... They climb steel buildings, dig under foundations, chew through vinyl siding (so coroplast is no challenge) and if that isn't sufficient to gain entry, they eat rubber seals on the bottom of garage doors and OSB siding makes for comfortable holes to access what they think they want "from the other side". Building a "fort" or "moat" around your trailer? Probably an exercise in futility, although it might keep snakes from getting into the area protected by the steel ramparts... Probably make the mice feel safer knowing snakes can't sneak up on them while under your trailer. YMMV

Michigan Strong!!!!