Mice in Travel Trailers...

How do you guys keep mice out of your trailers when they're at the lease? I've never had a problem until this past year and I cant get rid of them. The trailer is a 2014 so I thought it was pretty solid. I know I trapped at least 20 of them during deer season alone. Brought the trailer home at the end of the year and got it all cleansed up good. Took it back two weeks ago, went down this weekend and they're back. Not to sound like a pansy, but those things absolutely disgust me. I gotta figure something out!!

I use a combination of things:
1) Tomcat Bait blocks....to throw on the outside around camp
2) Dryer Soft sheets....in drawers, storage compartments and cabinets
3) Peppermint oil....placed on cotton pads in storage compartments
Typically I'll use the dryer sheets in the off season and go to peppermint oil closer and during hunting season.
Been working so far,I had mice a couple of years ago and now no more.
Do not leave any foods or crumbs out...also check where your water lines come up through the camper floor. Not always sealed up properly.

You do sound like a pansy, but I'll tell you everything I've tried, since they disgust my wife too.

A. Dryer sheets everywhere. This is my wife's idea. I hate the things and I don't think they do squat.
B. If you have full-time electric, those things you plug in to scare mice away. Again, I don't think they do squat, but I paid $40.00 a piece for them and by golly they're getting plugged in.
C. Moth balls under the trailer and anywhere inside you can stand it and dogs/cats can't get to it.
D. Rat/mouse poison everywhere. They have those dog/child proof plastic bait stations now.
E. Glue traps everywhere along the edges.

We use, believe it or not, ALL of the above at our cabin. What did I do for the travel trailer you say?

F. Give trailer away.

Honestly, I think D. (poison) works the best. They're supposed to leave the premises to get to water and not leave a funky dead mouse smell in your trailer, but, you'll know if that works instantly. Just a matter of finding the carcass and removing it. (You might get your wife to do that. )

Just get a couple of rat snakes and keep them in the trailer.....

fresh cab or Repels All. The second works really good and I spray it about every 3 months.

Get a cat!

Have done most all of the above. Still use the old victor mouse traps in the cargo area and under kitchen cabinets, sealed all the cracks and holes I could find under the trailer with the spray foam.
We have an old house nearby and I keep the poison in each room of the house. We might catch one in the trap occasionally but not often.

We have electricity all the time so I might try one of the plug in deals. I tried some little pouches from the hardware store last year, they obviously didn't work. I'm going to try some poison, it just makes me negus with all the dogs and kids that roam around our place. I'm Definetly going to invest in some sort of spray repellant and drown my trailer in it.

Just get the plastic bait stations. If the kid's intelligent enough to get in that, he/she's smart enough not to eat rat poison. You can't get your finger in there. ("That's what..." oh, never mind.)

Did you crawl underneath and look for how they are getting inside? A mouse can compress its skeleton to 1/4 its size to squeeze into small openings.

Do this and your mice problem will stop
it worked for me and its the only thing that will stop them from getting in



You have to get a roll of good duct tape, like Gorilla brand and a flat head screw driver and crawl under the belly of the camper
be prepared to be there awhile

Everywhere there is a water line, propane line or electic wire going inside the camper the factory drilled holes, big holes and a mouse can squeeze through a hole about the size of a nickel and get inside


I took duct tape and made small wads out of it and forced it up around those holes where the wires and lines go inside. All around, leaving no space open
I did that and it stopped them from getting inside
pack it tight and they won't chew through it like spray foam
some use steel wool, but it just rust over time

Then I started using liquid Tomcat poison in a small mason jar in one of those baby chick water feeders. I kept one of those under the camper at all times

mice problem solved, never had an isse after that and kept my camper there for 2 years

Cab fresh, repels all, mouse free for repellents.
Farnam just one bite II (agricultural product) for bait/poison.
A dozen old fashion mouse traps spread around the inside of the trailer half baited with cheese half with peanut butter.
Glue traps under drawers & in floor level cabinets.
Cotton balls or pads with several drops of peppermint oil.

After doing all that for a few years you'll realize nothing you do or use will be a permanent solution.

Don't use baits inside the trailer, they are designed to attract mice & rats to feed on them.

"You....you are very good, you. You gotta gift."

Iris Spring bath soap bars, cut them in halfs, no more mice or evidence of mice. Less than $4.00 for 12 bars, I had my doughts at first, going on a year now mice free.

rat poison under trailer, in a pan, about 2 -3 lbs

1 tray of poison inside trailer

guarantee to work or your money back

I use Contrac blocks in the larger bait stations for mice and rats. The bait stations keep the dog and other non-target animals out of them. I place the bait stations around the perimeter outside. They are devoured monthly, so it takes continuous baiting, but it has eliminated my problem around my cabin and barn. As mentioned, don't put them inside. It is an attractant and will encourage the mice to find a way in. I learned that the hard way. A couple of good barn cats would probably work well, too.

I leave the toilet seat up and have drowned several. I had a rat that ate my plastic pipe. I poisoned it and it died in a havahart trap so I got rid of it.

My situation a bit different as I leave my camper inside my barn, and have all the hookups inside, but have also had a mouse issue. Sorry to say, in my opinion, all of the remedies in the world are essentially useless, except one - poison. If someone has something that works for them, by all means more power to you, and keep it up, but I am a believer in Tomcat bait.

I place 5 or 6 tomcat stations around inside of barn, near doors and corners. And another 3 or 4 on inside of camper. I've tried to seal every nook and cranny, but they still find a way inside.

When trying to use repellents, I still had constant traffic. After starting to use tomcat it took a few weeks before they were gone, but now, the only time I have a problem is when the bait stations get emptied. They seem to last several months for me, and when they are empty, the mice are back quickly. As someone said earlier, tomcat (from what I understand) dehydrates the mouse and it goes looking for water, so they don't stay inside. I'm not an expert, but it must work that way because I rarely have to cleanup a dead mouse - either in TT or barn.

That is the bad thing about traps - if you aren't there everyday, the last thing you want is a decomposing vermin in your stuff. I do keep a few sticky traps in stock, but only use when I am going to be in camper, and I've seen recent sign. I also think the bait stations are fairly safe for kids and pets, but you do have to be careful that your pet doesn't find a dead rodent from the poison. That could be bad.

Regardless, I do also think it worth trying to seal all access points, but it is hard to be 100% successful. And yes, make sure all food is out, or in airtight containers. I use sealable tubs I bought at container store for any food that I leave in camper. A better solution would be not leaving anything in camper, but a pain to haul food back and forth, and tubs seem to work.

Good luck!

What Dalroo said!!

Hopefully a mix of all these will solve my problems - thanks fellas!!

The tomcat stations and mothballs around the outside work well. I have put a few mothalls in the inside also. Never had a problem with them after doing that.

If you have pets, do not use poison as it really sucks when your dog eats a dead mouse. These are the best traps I have ever used:

http://www.victorpest.com/victor-electronic-mouse-trap-bm2524s-3

Steel wool in their holes might work. I told a female cousin to put steel wool in their holes and she said how do you hold their little legs.

The contrac blocks are like the tomcat bait in that it dehydrates the mice/rats. It is a one feeding bait and the rodent then looks for water and dies. We have a professional pest control for our business who recommended the contrac brand. It may be identical to tomcat. I'm not sure, but he indicated there is very low risk of your dog getting sick from secondary exposure from eating a dead mouse. The amount of poison just isn't large enough and is diluted when digested by the rodent. However,you absolutely don't want your dog getting into the poison and eating an entire block. That could be lethal.

I got to put my wife on this.

Shaved up Irish Spring Soap

If you look around for a pest control store you can get buckets full of the poison blocks. It's the only way to get enough of them to do any good and get them relatively cheaply. I bought a two gallon bucket full of them for $40. Put those things everywhere and leave them out all year round and you'll get rid of the mice. Five or ten pounds of those blocks will do the trick.

If you have dogs you have to be careful because the dogs will sometimes eat them and you don't want that. The issue is not so much the dog eating dead mice because there won't be much of them by the time you come back, and because any individual mouse won't eat that much poison. But the dogs will sometimes eat the blocks, so you have to put the blocks where the dog can't get them.

This is why i like having a popup, when i shut that thing down and close it up, there is NO getting in, even for a mouse.

I agree with all of the above-this is the most rats I've ever seen. Something about the drought. I've got poison everywhere. Clear as much area around you camper as possible--they love grass. I see many running ahead of my tractor.

I've have definitely seen more this year than in years before. I'm gonna see if I can find a few barn cats to hang around. Maybe I'll feed them just enough to keep them around but not enough to keep them fill do a mouse is still on their menu.

STX has some product he recommended and it requires them to go seek water...
Everytime he recommends I tell my self to write it down and I forget

Tom Cat Liquid Mouse/Rat bait. Cheap plastic chicken waterer(size to cover you length of days to next trip to lease...qt or gallon or 5 gallon size). Put it out where pets can not get to it. It will clean up a rat/mouse problem. Might get a bit smelly at first. (With pets you can put a cardboard box over the waterer with some smaller cut out holes for mouse/rat access. Might put a weight on top for more security. I hide mine behind or on top of shelves, cabinets, etc in the barn area. Put them in the attic if I have a problem with mice or rats up there.)

I have a camphouse that's 80 years old so no plugging holes there. Poison is all I have found that really works. I have to take it up during bird season so Jenny won't be tempted to eat it.

Going to try the Irish Spring thing - hope it works!

Will Quail eat or drink any of this poison?

We've had so many copperheads this year I haven't seen a mouse in months.

The problem with that is, now you have a cat. Just tradin one varmit for another varmit.

I have tried nearly everything suggested and still don't know the right answer. Some years are awful and some years are tolerable, but I can't figure out any pattern. My biggest disappointment was dCon pellets. I put them out and the trays were empty in less than a week. I thought I had the answer. I found the little green pellets months later neatly stashed away in closets and under the bed.

I have a motor home at the lease, instead of a travel trailer. This past year, mice chewed up wires on the engine and cost me $800 in repairs. It's impossible to protect the engine. I'm going to try some combination of moth balls, dryer sheets and a noise maker in the engine compartment this year. Hope the moth ball fumes won't damage anything.

pellets - that's your mistake

use the Tom Cat cubes/or any cubed poison , they can't stuff that in their mouth to go bury/hide in closets or under bed

Peppermint oil.

Has anyone tried fresh cab

I've got a rat right now that could drag a loaf of bread around like a lion drags a gazelle....

Rattlesnakes work, too. I'm hoping I don't find any inside my trailer this week. Bullet holes in the floor are a pain.

Papa45, what kind of music you going to play for them. Classic, country, rap, disco - some of this new stuff will scare anything away. Lol
Got a chicken coop, had rats all sizes. Used the rat boxes with the green 1" tubes in them (they lock down no pets can get to them) worked real good. Didn't bother the chickens. All good except for the5' rat snake behind the garbage can, that was it for the wife - and me.

It works as well as dryer sheets, Irish Spring, or plug in sonic noise maker.
Doesn't work at all. I have found nothing except poison that will keep them out of a trailer.

Note to Self...

I added this to my List

I'm gonna be ordering some of this, along with a few other things to take down for dove season!

something a friend of mine learned almost the hard way ... he put out rat poison and tucked it away so his dog couldn't get to it, rats/mice ate it but died somewhere else where the dog could get to the dead rats/mice ... a few days later his dog come up sick with loss of appetite, vomiting and muscle tremors. he took the dog to the vet that's when the vet told him the blood work came back that the dog had rat poison in its system. it was touch and go for a few days.

just be careful if you have pets in the area ...

The plug-in thing is what we did when we were leaving our trailer at the lease from Sept to Feb. The only mice we saw were the ones I trapped before we plugged the thing in......

The key is to find the right combination of this ideas that work for you. I found that moth balls, the little plug in noise makers, poison cubes, and some Critter Out spray worked for me.

I know this...

Mice=Snake...

I will turn mine over trying to make a new Door...


I have never had issues but seen a Video and Pics of a Guy that was sitting in his Camper and watched a Rattlesnake crawl across his TV...

AFTER that as soon as I open it up, I make Lovie go look under the bed and all cubbies before Thurston enters

Rattlesnakes work good on mice.

In a Field...Not in my Butt Hutt

Set it on fire. Mice will leave quickly.

I would die, that's all there is to it. Right after I crapped my pants. The guys would think I sat up to late drinking and woke up with raging diarrhea... Nope, just dead because there was a snake in my trailer. Only thing worse than one snake is two snakes. I don't like em. Not one bit. Now I'm going to send in a search party every weekend before I go down. Thanks a lot.

Drop the mic and walk away. Your idea won.