Mice: what is so attractive...?

[Chuck]

about my catalytic heater??

I've seen evidence of mice in my trailer this season. I've tried many of the suggestions mentioned in previous discussions to try and convince them nicely to go elsewhere, but nothing has been effective, so far.

couple of months ago, after noticing a new bad smell, I found that a mouse had crawled into my catalytic heater and died. of course, he was in a less than easily accessible cavity, but I was able to get him outta there without too much trouble. Since then, I've been more dilligent about keeping the trailer plugged in to shore power, so the "ultrasonic repellers" (110v) could stay on all the time. I suspected that they weren't really doing much. turns out, I was right.

a week after our last trip, the wife went out to the trailer for something, and noticed the smell was back, only worse this time. she could see that another mouse had gotten in there. So, I went out to expell this one, and as it turns out, there were 2 of the little bastards in there. There was lots more evidence of their presence this time, in the form of chewed fabric (from the heater's pad...great nest material, I suppose) on the floor under the unit. The little critters were just laying there, dead...it doesn't appear that they got themselves stuck or hung up on anything; seems like they chewed on the pad, it made them sick, and they died right there. I know there's some kind of catalyst (platinum?) woven into the fabric; would that do it?

anyway, the last step of the cleanup operation this time was to deploy 2 conventional spring-traps, baited with peanut butter. no more "mister nice guy". but here it is, several days later, and nothing else has been caught. I figured they would have had more friends maybe there's nothing else in the trailer, but it just seems odd that 3 would suffer the same fate like that. anyone ever had trouble with this?

[Ken J]

Hmmm think you have discovered a new way to get rid of mice - make sure they chew that fabric

I've had great luck with moth balls under the trailer, poision, bounce pads, traps and an ultrasonic thingy - not sure which one is working, but have not had mice in 3 years......

Ken

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by Ken J

Hmmm think you have discovered a new way to get rid of mice - make sure they chew that fabric
Ken

yeah, well...the problem is that they don't chew it and leave; they chew it and crawl in to a hidden cavity and DIE, leaving an unpleasant mess for me to clean up. same reason I wouldn't want to use "intentional" poisoning.

the thing I worry about w/ the traps is that I might be attracting outside mice that might otherwise just be passing by, to come inside. maybe their sense of smell isn't that keen, but I don't know...
in any case, with any mice found in the traps, I'll never know If I was solving the problem, or creating a new one.

[sukiandmarc]

Bounce sheets worked for me too.

[markdoane]

When I find a dead one, I make little nooses out of twine and hang them from the gas lines.

It serves to warn off others.

[Pick]

I have had good luck with those "sticky traps". Of course you need to check them quite regularly, so the catch doesn't stink up the place. I have not had any mice in the "thing" since moving to Florida. German cockroaches were coming in, but that was because it was parked under a yard light. Moving the "thing" away from the light cured that problem.

[Ken J]

Actually the best way to catch mice - is to get a bucket and broom stick - put a little water (enough to drown them) and a bit of peanut butter - use the broom stick as a nice walkway for the mice to ummm jump in sorta speak. I would think if you put it outside the trailer, they will go for that first. There will be lots of room at the inn

Ken J.

[balrgn]

Originally Posted by Ken J

Actually the best way to catch mice - is to get a bucket and broom stick - put a little water (enough to drown them) and a bit of peanut butter - use the broom stick as a nice walkway for the mice to ummm jump in sorta speak. I would think if you put it outside the trailer, they will go for that first. There will be lots of room at the inn

Ken J.

I have done this at my camp in teh winter, I use anti freeze, stays liquid in the cold.

[BigAl]

So Pick,
Are you calling your trailer "thing" so as not to be offensive as in coach or trashy as in trailer, or is it just a nickname? I'm curious.
Mine is a trailer. Airstream of course.
Al

[Rog0525]

Why do we need yet another mouse thread? It's all been posted before.
Bounce dryer sheets DO NOT REPEL MICE. This is a false belief which gets mentioned nearly every time anyone mentions mice. Read through the lengthy A new kind of "Bounce" plan and see the evidence.
Why do mice invade Airstream trailers or any other structure in the cold weather? To build cozy nests of course. Do we want to keep them out or kill them after they have gained entrance and put up with the stench? My choice is to keep them out. In addition to plugging any openings with steel wool, I spread moth balls in and around my trailer during the winter storage. I also coat the tires and anything else that touches the ground with Lava soap. Mice cannot abide the smell of mothballs and Lava soap.
If you ask 10 people how to avoid the problem of mice in Airstreams, you might get 10 different opinions, as is evidenced by the multitudes of posts on this topic in the archives.
I really wish a moderator would condense all of the mouse threads into a sticky thread as I made a feeble attempt at in Mice and Airstreams...a condensed thread Otherwise, the redundancy in these threads might warrant a new forum entitled "Mice!".
I really don't mean to be grouchy on this topic, but it keeps getting posted over and over, and I have yet to see a definitive answer, just the same suggestions over and over again and it gets tiresome.
If you do a search with "mouse" or "mice" as the keyword, you will see that it ranks right up there with "how much is my Airstream worth?" or "which tires should I use?".
Egad, how many opinons do you we need on the same topic?
Are we getting buried in redunancy? Are we getting buried in redundancy?
Trying to keep mice out of your Airstream is almost as difficult as trying to keep Tin Hut out of your beer cooler.

[rideair]

Just remember one thing:

"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!"

Paul Waddell
WBCCI/VAC/WDCU 1270

[Chuck]

Originally Posted by Rog0525

Why do we need yet another mouse thread? It's all been posted before.

no, it hasn't. can you find another thread that asks for an explanation of this attraction to and apparent death from the catalytic heater? I have not found one.

I have seen the other threads, in which people report that they've seen 'em here, seen 'em there, repelled them with all sorts of substances. But never once have I seen a report similar to mine. Perhaps there is something unique about this particular heater, that makes it smell like cheese, but work like arsenic?

[Rog0525]

Chuck, I was mainly bothered by the "Bounce" responses. That idea was diccussed at great length in the thread I mentioned. It simply doesm't work,and it concerns me when misinformation is repeated. That is why I'm suggesting that it would be a good idea to gather up all of the many posts regarding mice and condense them in one thread, as has been done with other important topics such as winterizing. When I tried Bounce in my trailer, it made a bad situation even worse.
I can't think of any logical reason why mice would prefer nesting in your catalytic heater rather than any other nook, but at least it's better to have them there rather than in a really hard-to-get-to area such as between the walls or inside the belly pan. Yuck!

[Ken J]

Thats interesting - I know of folks who swear by using bounce - I don't think you should catagorically say it doesn't - thats misinformation......

I also know that some folks think ultrasonic thingies don't work, others think they do. I see nothing wrong with putting out all the ideas that have been used.

As far a posting this subject, you may find it hard to believe that there may be new members who are not aware of how you get rid of mice, or those who do see an answer to their particular senerio.............

If you really want to get down to it, there probably aren't many subjects that have not been covered before............................................

Ken J

[markdoane]

Chuck,

There is a ton of information about platinum toxicity in mice. http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cg...stract/45/1/86

Cis-platinum and other analogs have been extensively tested (in mice) as cancer fighters. As with many chemotherapies. it is the toxicity of the agent that battles the tumor.

I guess in this case, the little rodents were self-medicating and overdid it.

[Rog0525]

Originally Posted by Ken J

Thats interesting - I know of folks who swear by using bounce - I don't think you should catagorically say it doesn't - thats misinformation.....
Ken J

Ken, I apologize if I said anything offensive to anyone. I truly did not mean to be argumentive. Most of us post advice or opinions which are based on our personal experience and/or research. MY experience with trying to repel mice with Bounce dryer sheets conclusively proved to ME that it does not work. I tried the idea based on a suggestion I read in these forums. The result was that mice wreaked havoc in my trailer for two weeks (in a storage yard) and left me an awful mess to clean up, not to mention the health hazard risk (hantavirus). That is why I'm a bit touchy when I see this idea reappear.
Best regards, Roger

[Ken J]

Yuk.....I can see why you don't like the bouce idea.....

My sorta conclusion after reading all the mouse threads is once they get in they are hard to get rid of - I think a lot of the ideas that are suggested prevent them from coming in if they are thinking about entering, however, once they have entered its much more difficult to get rid of them.

I had one get in about 3 years ago or so and I went nuts ( I live in Hantavirus country ) - took every suggestion and did it all - I think the first mouse that looking in my trailer said holy shhhh------ and I've not had a problem since.

This thread has made me realize that I'm getting lax - the only thing I have going is the ultrasonic repellent - still not having mice, even though the trailer is stored in a mice infested sheep barn. Think I'll step things up over the winter.....

So Rog what did you end up doing to get rid or your mice?

Ken J.

[Rog0525]

Originally Posted by Ken J

So Rog what did you end up doing to get rid or your mice?
Ken J.

Once they're in, there's not much to do other than trap and kill them and discourage others from entering.
As I mentioned earlier, I use a combination of mothballs and Lava soap to keep them at bay. This has worked well thus far for me. The secret is in trying to be smarter than the mice, which I find very difficult.

[SilverSurfer]

I use three strategically placed ultrasonic devices in my trailer after finding that they used my curtains for bedding material. I put the devices on an extension cord and place it directly where I noticed the problems. You could try that.

It seems to work for me.......Also, I like reading new threads about this subject. It's a constant problem that I can relate to.