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silverlassie · 03-06-2004, 04:40 PM

Anyone out there got a sure cure for a MOUSE problem...they moved in during the rainy spell and have undone hours of hard work. This is WAR!

Thanks!

Davydd · 03-06-2004, 05:27 PM

Mouse Traps and peanut butter. The more the better. I have eight of them in my Airstream. No way can the mice avoid them and it is working.

silverlassie · 03-06-2004, 05:44 PM

Thanks Davydd,
Got the peanut butter...off to WM to get a dozen traps...I'm planning a minefield... Arrrgh! I'm still washing up the mess.
Appreciate your help!

Silvelassie

MaShep · 03-06-2004, 06:53 PM

Just an additional note: mice and rats get "trap wise", after the first ones are caught.
You may want to leave the traps open for a few days... feed them with a tiny bit of food till they get lazy and easier to trick. Then set the spring on your traps. I'm also told that once a trap catches a rat or a mouse it's good to throw it out because the other varmints can smell "death" on it.
Use tiny bits of food so they have to work harder to get it and you'll have a better chance of a clean kill, not catching a tail or a leg.
Sorry, I guess that sounds creepy - but it's more humane.

silverlassie · 03-06-2004, 07:50 PM

MaShep,
I feel like a cop trying to outwit a criminal...(I'm in the criminal justice field). Although at this point I am so frustrated with these little *&%# for chewing my water pump wires I will try it all.
Thanks for your input, I will give it a try.

Silverlassie

Davydd · 03-06-2004, 08:11 PM

I bought the plastic kind that is easy to set versus the old wood and wire ones. With the plastic ones there is a grid of plastic cleats I found worked well with pressing those individual slice sandwich cheeses into it. Cheese tends to harden with age but it seemed to work as well. I haven't noticed the mice getting any smarter. The same trap worked more than once. The count so far this winter is 8 mice. Sooner or later you wipe out the available population. Haven't caught any in the adjacent garage this winter. My wife bought the smallest jar of peanut butter she could find and left it in the Airstream. She was very reluctant to let
_me_ get at it.

We took out the cushions and curtains so everything in the Airstream is hard stuff.

Oh yeah, I bought the mouse traps at Target, not Wal-Mart. I have a strong bias in that regard to protect my livelihood.

overlander63 · 03-06-2004, 09:13 PM

If the mice start getting wise to the peanut butter, try gum drops.
Terry

sd90mac · 03-06-2004, 09:24 PM

Hi,
Just a thought, but I've heard that mice will leave if they smell a cat. How about putting one in the airstream (with a litter box)
for a few hours, or over night and see if it helps.
At this point, it is worth a try. If we had a mice problem in ours, I would try putting the great white chicken siamese cat in there overnight.
Just a thought,
Marie

MaShep · 03-06-2004, 09:47 PM

<Cat smell scares mice> That makes sense to me... it's the predator thing.

silverlassie · 03-06-2004, 10:14 PM

Thanks all...let's see plastic mouse traps, cheese slices, gumdrops and a borrowed cat ( whoops no cat ....allergic), got the peanut butter...I'm making a list. I'm going to try peanut butter in some, cheese in some and gum drops in some. Let you all know what works the best...Bet the mouse with the gumdrop will have a smile on his/her face. Seriously thanks!

Silverlassie

Andrew Selking · 03-06-2004, 10:25 PM

Last year I caught two mice in my trailer. This year I bought a Product called FRESH-CAB . It is a rodent repellant it comes in a four pack .
I put out two in the trailer and have not had any mice this year. It seems to work and leaves a good smell. I bought it at Camping World. If you can't find it there do a search for Fresh Cab on the Internet to find some one who sells it. They Claim it works on mosquitoes and other bugs but don't know about that.

Have fun with those little creatures.

Andrew Selking

WBCCI #6062 VAC

silverlassie · 03-06-2004, 10:51 PM

Wow! Andrew...many thanks I just odered a package of four online. Will keep the cheese, pb and gumdrops going in the meantime... They say "Don't Mess With Texas ....well thanks to you guys it's don't mess with my Airstream.

Silverlassie

InsideOut · 03-06-2004, 10:53 PM

You'll have to keep us posted on how many mice you entice...

Shari

davidz71 · 03-06-2004, 11:35 PM

Peanut butter works for me also, I mean on traps for catching mice. A family of mice moved in at the beginning of the winter and I caught 2 and had 3 other traps tripped. The last 2 traps were cleaned off slick as can be without being tripped so I switched to sliced cheddar cheese. Caught one a couple days later. I just checked the traps a few minutes ago and cheese is still there. Hmmmm, no mice or they got smart on me.

Rog0525 · 03-07-2004, 01:25 AM

This is from the Department of Redundancy Department:
Do a search on "mice" and/or "mouse", you will find like a zillion threads.
Use traps, mothballs, dynamite, whatever works but puhleeze spare us from another mouse thread.

Rog

PS: rub some Lava soap on anything that touches the ground, they don't like it.

biggerbadbrad · 03-07-2004, 03:31 AM

Do you people have any idea what you are up against here?

idahosafari · 03-07-2004, 04:45 AM

Has anyone here seen the video, "Mousehunt"? it's very funny. My kids never get tired of watching it.

- Charlie

overlander63 · 03-07-2004, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by idahosafari
Has anyone here seen the video, "Mousehunt"? it's very funny. My kids never get tired of watching it.

- Charlie

Yes. Carpet the floor with mousetraps, just make sure they are tied down.

I did have a problem once, where a mouse was only wounded, he dragged the trap inside a wall, and died. Couldn't get him out. It was very aromatic in my house for a while. put a string in the same hole that the trigger bar goes in, on the back of the trap, and tie it to something in the trailer. Then if they try to get away, you just pull the trap back out from wherever they went.
Terry

COArgosy78 · 03-07-2004, 12:48 PM

We, too, have the mousy problem. Ours had 4 in traps w/pb. Stinky, but using Febreeze helped. Of course, we 1st used our ShopVac and then bleach in all areas we could. Our cushions we stored elsewhere for winter (curtains stayed). The other thing to work on is sealing off all possible entrance areas from outside (other threads have suggestions) and I read that using aluminum foil on any lines (water, etc) in areas before or around holes leading into trailer will help. Don't know if it works or why, maybe they don't like the feel (crinkled?) or it feels unstable. We are going to try it since we have the trailer back and working on her. Cat around trailer didn't seem to help much. Where we have her stored, there is a cat that likes to lurk underneath, but mice still inside, oh well!

PS I LOVE the mousey pic post! They are TRICKY lil stinkers!

Rog0525 · 03-07-2004, 02:12 PM

Mice like Airstreams. That is because they have good taste despite their unsavory hygiene.
I strongly advise against using poison. Not only is it inhumane but the little varmints will crawl off and decompose in areas that are hard to get to. Poison can also be ingested by other animals that consider dead mice as a delicacy.
If a mouse decides to declare squatter's rights in your Airstream, you as their unwilling landlord have the right to refuse residency. Mice have a bad track record of paying rent.
Pretend that you are smarter than the mouse and choose what works for you.
I was serious earlier when I recommended rubbing odorific soap on the tires, etcetera. Deer will not feed on an apple tree that has been coated with Lifebuoy or Lava soap.
Bottom line: There have been numerous posts on rodents and Airstreams. None are foolproof.
Put a cat in your AS if you are not allergic, spread mothballs generously, lay traps where your naked toes won't find them, pack all openings with steel wool. Do what you gotta do.
The option is to befriend the little varmints and potty train them.

Rog