Living with mice

[happypill]

full- timing , currently in california state park in SoCal, in a 30' argosy. The mouse is in the house. any ingenious ways to catch the critter. i have searched, and found some entry points in the back bumper, next to the water/sewer lines, and i've filled the gaps. next i've placed traps in the pantry. i dont suppose poison is a good idea. any advice out there?

[NevadaGeo]

Hope you just have one mices, not two.

[tinhutjohn]

Every fall we get an invasion of mice from nearby corn or soybean fields.
We take a five gallon pail and fill it about a third full of water (and usually some antifreeze because our temperatures drop below freezing). We smear some peanut butter around the inside of the pail about 2" below the rim. We place the pail in the middle of the floor and lean a board up to the lip of the pail from the floor. We call it the Long John Silver trap (walking the plank). We never fail to clean out the little critters and usually no more than one or two set ups are required. We usually check the pail about once a week and usually collect 5 or 6 mice before the trap doesn't catch anymore and we don't see any more scats.
Good hunting ARRRRRRRGGHH !

[Roadrunner]

Mousetrap with a little peanut butter on the tray...gets em every time!

Bob
TAC PA-5

[Jim Foster]

Go to the pet store and get a hamster cage. You know the one with the wheel for them to run around in? Set it in the middle of the floor, put some food in it, and leave the door open. After you have trapped them, they could provide hours of entertainment.

The "walk the plank' idea sounds good too.

[Mikethefixit]

HAPPYPILL
You can get GLUE BOARDS that will hold that little critter. They also make a humane trap where the mouse enters and then cannot get out.It can then be picked up and disposed of,no muss no fuss.

[Boondocker]

It is almost always a family and not "a" mouse. Personally, I think you have a better chance of mastering cold fusion than mouse proofing a camper, but that is just my opinion. If you have a camper long enough, you are going to get mice.

For trapping, I like the old fashion trap with peanut butter. I do, however, feel compelled to admit that tinhutjohn gets the trophy for style.

[Ganaraska]

In my house they come in pairs. If I catch one mouse I will catch another hours later or the next day depending how soon I reset the trap.

The most popular trap in my house is on the floor tucked under the kitchen cupboards in a corner. It catches more mice than all the other traps in the house put together.

So, the location of the trap is important.

Peanut butter is good for bait, so is bacon fat. They seem to like these better than cheese.

[DaveFL]

After you catch, mothballs are supposed to deter, I hang an old onion bag with a supply of mothballs under the frame and around the radiator. I probably have more openings than any trailer, but the ones I found were drainage pipes exiting, caulk and aluminum cut to seal oversized opening made by plumbers.

[leopattie]

Not that I'm on the side of the mice, but those glue/sticky boards are inhumane... they capture but don't kill and you might find just the leg of one of those creatures stuck to the board and are left to wonder where old tripod went off to die. Trap 'em instead!

[VIKING]

Are you sure it's not the mouses Airstream?

My dad used to live adjacent to a farmers field in Hollister years ago and the fieldmice were definitley long-time tennants. They used to gather under the tv in the evening when we would sit down to watch, and the mice would watch us watching tv-for hours! You could see a dozen beady eyes looking out from under the tv at you.
We learned to live with them, cuz we couldn't kill them all. Obviously can't do that in your Airstream, but do stay away from poisons. A dead mouse you can't find is WAY worse than a live one who visits now and then. Your nose knows!

Rich the Viking

[Silverfoxrae]

Borrow a cat :-)

[VIKING]

This one's a great mouser!

[Airtandem]

my wife loads out trailer with the Bounce dryer sheets (has to be Bounce) we tried others and they didn't work. She will use almost the entire box and place the sheets under the bed, behind the couch, in most storage areas that do not contain food by the water pump etc. She also does this when the trailer goes in storage and it protects it for the winter. Besides mice, the dryer sheets also repels most insects.
When she uses too many, they also repels me. At least that is what I tell her if I want to get out of something.
Somewhere there is a blog of "101 uses for dryer sheets"

[Airtandem]

oops, the dryer sheets also repel pink elephants; I haven't seen one in ages.

[Jammer]

1) Cats do help.

2) Traps are fine if you check them every day.

3) You can put sheet metal barriers around the tires and tongue jack, and that will make a big difference.

4) Poison bait works too.

[goransons]

I would be careful with poison bait, unfortunately with poisons you don't get to chose the final resting place of the furry little friend, and if they chose the belly pan, or inside the wall to die, it is really amazing just how bad that can smell, a few years ago we learned that in our basement the hard way and had to gut a bedroom to get dead mice out of the walls and ceiling. Did find the hole in rim joinst in the process, but that is somewhat off subject.

[NevadaGeo]

Good use for those lemonade can tops you been saving for target shooting, they make good fender washers to rivet over the holes in your belly pan.

[Jammer]

The advantage of poison bait for mice is that you don't have to check it every day. So, if you have a trailer in winter storage, and don't really expect any mice, you can leave some bait packets out just in case, which will stop any problem before it gets out of hand.

[Whirlaway]

Originally Posted by Jammer

1) Cats do help.

2) Traps are fine if you check them every day.

3) You can put sheet metal barriers around the tires and tongue jack, and that will make a big difference.

4) Poison bait works too.

Do you have a picture of this???

Thanks,

Lin