Rodents

[Susido]

As someone who uses an RV on a farm this is a subject I've got lots of experience with. First off a little research on the Internet will show you that mice laugh at moth balls and dryer sheets and enjoy listening to those electronic rodent repellers. And a mouse will never voluntarily leave once they find a home, they will soon die if they are relocated.

Now on a farm you generally find mice most everywhere and there are only two realistic methods of ever getting completely rid of them - warfarin and cats (preferably not at the same time). I now have a couple of very good mousing cats much of the year and leave bait over winter and this has so far eliminated all signs of mice from enclosed buildings.

For some reason my old 5th wheel never had any mice in it for about 8 years but I grew complacent and stopped leaving bait out and last winter it was overrun with them. They got into nearly every single compartment and any package they could chew through. Now I've left bait in about 5 spots and no sign of them this winter - yet anyway. I never did have much luck seeing where they could be getting into the trailer or sealing up any gaps. The new 5th wheel I just bought will go on a sloped gravel base with poly vapour barrier so that might help make it less attractive to rodents.

The best mouse story I have is the time I went to BBQ something. I had not used the BBQ for all of a week and I lit the flame to pre-heat without lifting the lid. Came back a little later to a strange smell and mice fleeing down the legs of the BBQ. Discovered the bottom of the BBQ was home to multiple generations of (highly excited) mice who had nearly filled it with nesting material. Felt rather bad about that and it seemed like that meal didn't taste quite right. From now on I'll lift the lid before lighting it.

[suza]

Originally Posted by Susido

The best mouse story I have is the time I went to BBQ something. I had not used the BBQ for all of a week and I lit the flame to pre-heat without lifting the lid. Came back a little later to a strange smell and mice fleeing down the legs of the BBQ. Discovered the bottom of the BBQ was home to multiple generations of (highly excited) mice who had nearly filled it with nesting material. Felt rather bad about that and it seemed like that meal didn't taste quite right. From now on I'll lift the lid before lighting it.

This gives me an idea: Find an old BBQ (everyone has one lying around), leave any food residue, supply it with nesting material, and you have a mouse trap. You will have to check it regularly and dispose of the mouse colony before it gets too well established. If you're lucky, they will find this more attractive than your precious house on wheels.

We had the same experience, but fortunately opened the lid before lighting. Something bigger than mice (rat, squirrel, ?) had built a nest, made predominately of garden twine, right in the middle of the grate