Wintering in 5th wheel and had our first unwanted guest

[Fishsizzle]

We sold our home and bought some bare land, so wintering in the Alpine.

I thought I had most obvious hole foamed and plugged from Mice. The only hole were the bigger cut outs in frame for the hydro cylinders for the mowers slides.

Anyway, we woke up to a bang the other night. It sounded like a big critter. Set traps and instantly had one snap. It only caught his foot and I couldn’t reach it so he got out and back into the underbelly.

Well, last night, he was unable to get out of the trap.

I made up some covers using rings that go around pluming in bathrooms to go over the cylinder holes and have them held on with welder magnets so I can pull them off when we need to slide in the kitchen/dining rooms

[notanlines]

Justin, those are the same type traps we use. Ours are the white smaller trap, but I can see that you were in serious need of the bigger trap. For the first time ever we have found little grey visitors in the Suites. We've never had mice before, but some dumb-*** left a package of cookies in a lower drawer to lure them in. (That would be me) We trapped five and that was the apparent end of them.
With the size in your trap I might sleep armed!

[Fishsizzle]

Originally Posted by notanlines

Justin, those are the same type traps we use. Ours are the white smaller trap, but I can see that you were in serious need of the bigger trap. For the first time ever we have found little grey visitors in the Suites. We've never had mice before, but some dumb-*** left a package of cookies in a lower drawer to lure them in. (That would be me) We trapped five and that was the apparent end of them.
With the size in your trap I might sleep armed!

Yeah, Pack Rats are awful. Sorry about your mice. We had some this summer as the neighboring trailers threw bird seed out like it was ground cover for landscaping.

[Badbart56]

We came in off the road in June and found signs of mice in the front closet. I went and bought 4 sticky traps and put a piece of candy in the center of each one. It captured 3 mice in two days. No more mice since.

[Brentw]

I went thru my whole rig, pulled drawers out, removed panels ( like under stove/fridge etc)and closed any perferations with plywood and foam in every compartment. I even closed every gap between cabinets (compartmentalized) and placed screen behind every louvered opening (furnace returns). Then crawled into storage pass thru and closed doors on a bright day, spray foamed every indication of light.
I've been mouse free for 1 year, it's a constant war on them, I still keep traps loaded for any that my sneak in.

My brother had a pack rat move into his truck camper, got at him quickly and early, he was traveling in the heater ducts.
Good luck.

[Fishsizzle]

Originally Posted by Brentw

I went thru my whole rig, pulled drawers out, removed panels ( like under stove/fridge etc)and closed any perferations with plywood and foam in every compartment. I even closed every gap between cabinets (compartmentalized) and placed screen behind every louvered opening (furnace returns). Then crawled into storage pass thru and closed doors on a bright day, spray foamed every indication of light.
I've been mouse free for 1 year, it's a constant war on them, I still keep traps loaded for any that my sneak in.

My brother had a pack rat move into his truck camper, got at him quickly and early, he was traveling in the heater ducts.
Good luck.

The Pack Rats are horrid. Parents Fuzion was a mess after they took it hunting and they got in.

Stereo/DVD player- I had to rewire
Tank sensors- had to rewire
Leveling system- had to rewire
Gen Set start- had to rewire
Heating duct runs- had to redo 3 so far

I had to cut under belly 4 times to make all the repairs. Brightside is I figured out how to put it back together. I “stitched” it with crisscross zip ties then ran over the seamed with the tape. Worked slick

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Fishsizzle

The Pack Rats are horrid. Parents Fuzion was a mess after they took it hunting and they got in.

Stereo/DVD player- I had to rewire
Tank sensors- had to rewire
Leveling system- had to rewire
Gen Set start- had to rewire
Heating duct runs- had to redo 3 so far

I had to cut under belly 4 times to make all the repairs. Brightside is I figured out how to put it back together. I “stitched” it with crisscross zip ties then ran over the seamed with the tape. Worked slick

It's not surprising that the wiring was essentially the only damage. The "environmental protection considerations" have changed the makeup of wire insulation. It "used to be petroleum based" and in the interest of oil reduction, the insulation is now manufactured from "renewable plant based oil". Much of the plastic insulation is now manufactured from soy based oil. If you think about it, putting "food smells around wire" is a sure fire way to entice "plant eating critters" to explore the wiring bundles.....

Until manufacturers add something to the formula that changes or masks the smell of food, wiring is going to be vulnerable to rodent damage. Will they spend the money to change the formula? Probably not as long as they can keep selling wire without spending the extra money.

Until you can find a way to mask the smell of food being shed by the wire insulation, you're going to find "wire damage"... That's one reason why Cab Fresh is so effective and why peppermint oil, as long as it doesn't dry and stop masking the soy based insulation smells keeps "critters away from the wire".....