MICE!

[Montana Rog]

I was watching TV this evening in our 2003 3670RL and a mouse came out by the kitchen sink. Where could they get in? I will be looking at the outside where all the lines..waste, and gas and water enter the unit. I WILL win! ha ha

[LonnieB]

Pesky little destructive vermin. They have cost me more than I would ever have imagined. An alternator, battery's, a gob of electrical wiring, the windshield washer hose on my pickup, and all the plug wires on the DW's rig. There is no telling what else I haven't found yet. Lot's of spring type mouse traps, glue traps, poison, and a box of 12 guage shells later, I wound up with 23 confirmed kills, and a dilapidated hot tub full of holes. I haven't seen any around for a few months now, but I am worried about the Montana.

On Edit - I wish you luck in your quest to rid your Monty of the little #*%@&*#s.

[txkrumm]

Just remember the average mouse can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime. Steve

[LonnieB]

That's for certain Steve, and if the hole isn't big enough, they can chew through almost anything except steel, concrete, and brick.

[bsmeaton]

I had one that came in with the firewood into the basement. Must have started little as it nested and ate holes in my AC cover stored down there. He did get inside. I set out Decon and when I returned the box was empty except, he had found all of the little screws that were missing in the light fixtures and trim and set them in the box for me . I thanked him and killed him.

When I pulled the nose belly down to check the welds - I found out where all the decon went as it showered me with the little pellets.

I ended up putting steel wool in all the holes and pipe penetrations in the basement and belly. Not sure if it helped yet.

[mtnhntr]

I was going to seal the bottom from the outside, then promptly went to plan B. I don't see how you can reasonable seal from the outside as the bottom has too many gaps and holes. My plan B was to seal from the inside every hole I could find. I used 1/8" plywood cut to seal around pipe penetrations making a tight fit, added bronze wool (won't rust) to all penetrations and in some shot the hole full of that foam insulation "Great Stuff". I also set traps around the outside on the ground and some inside. To top it off, I placed bounce sheets throughout the 5er, and on the outside, hung the DW's nylon footies full of moth balls near every thing from the 5er that touched the ground. I'm ready for battle!

Ken

[smc]

We found a hole that had been drilled under our drawers, and a opening at the front end of the kitchen slide. After blocking them, we have not had a mouse since.

[MikeandBarb]

We found a hole underneath the drawers (next to the sink) and thought we had the problem solved. But ended up trapping 11 mice in a week. The search continues.....

[315RLS]

quote:Originally posted by Montana Rog

I was watching TV this evening in our 2003 3670RL and a mouse came out by the kitchen sink. Where could they get in? I will be looking at the outside where all the lines..waste, and gas and water enter the unit. I WILL win! ha ha

If you go back through the archives you'll find this is a re-occurring thread. When we first had them I took steelwool and the insulation in a can and filled the massive holes that Keystone assembly people had cut for the water and electric under the sink/cupboards and the runs through the closets etc. That and taken any foods out of the trailer when not in use has erraticated the problem.

[Montana Rog]

Thanks for all the tips..I will wage war today. I may have lost the battle, but I WILL win the war! Because we are fulltiming in our 3670, I may have caught the early stages. First I am going to go get some Electricians duct seal and plug anything on the botom, then look in all the kitchen cabinets for penetrations. I did find where the gas line for the oven came in there was a plastic thimble that had worked up. I pushed that back down as best as I could...it's more than an arms reach almost...so that may be where they are coming in. I have sealed up most of the belly with more screws, but it's hard by the springs to get to. Maybe that great stuff will work there. Again..thanks for all the tips..I needed to vent! Rog

[Montana_6480]

Rog

Have you tried the electrical supersonic gizmo you plug in a 110 outlet? We put in two of them this year, and so far no mice (I hope). We usually get them when weather starts to get colder and they're looking for a warm place to hibernate. If you can hold them off until it gets cooler, they'll hopefully will find another place and leave your unit alone. One thing I found that does not work is the use the granular decon. Mice collect this and store it away inside your unit and die off leaving a pile of decon for other mice to go to etc. etc. I find that the decon in a solid bar works better, because the mice will take a bite and only eat what they can and die off. they can't take th whole bar, it's too heavy. They still die off inside but I find there aren't as many. Always put the bait outside not inside. Good luck.
Giddyup!

JPP

[richfaa]

Those sticky traps work real good. Had a Mice invasion in the house and got rid of them in a week with the sticky traps.The decon works good but they eat it then crawl off and die somewhere and stink..Caution..don't step in a sticky trap...they are really sticky..

[LonnieB]

Watch that you don't put the sticky traps where your pets can get them. They will trap a full grown Chihuahua, and the more they struggle, the more stuck they get.

[Montana Rog]

I found a big hole under the sink where all the lines go under the floor. There are various water lines..the on board water tank fill pipe, a 2inch heat duct...you name it..it goes though there. They just had to drill a mega hole for some reason. I also found where they were getting in though the belly skin. They had a 2 inch hole saw to drill holes for the electric brake wires. Little bit of an overkill I'd say. Also around the leaf spring shakles there were holes. Hope I found them all. I used gorilla duct tape, steel wool, duct seal, silicone calking and some foam in a can...Now I am going to try and catch what I already have in here! When you full time you got time to work on this stuff! Also..thanks for all the tips everybody!

[bigmurf]

Mothballs

[Trailer Trash 2]

A realy hungry cat thats my answer. then a dog to scare the cat away.

[LonnieB]

I like the cat & dog idea .

[kdeiss]

It has been our experience that moth balls or dryer sheets do not work.

[Okie Guy]

Last weekend I had the facing off under my fridge. I found a huge opportunity for the varmits to get in. Where your electric cord exits the trailer a mouse can squeeze in through the cover. Once the mouse is inside with the electric cord there are holse drilled for water lines to go through. I put bounce, steel wool and tape over the holes from inside the cabinets and then put a "Just One Bite" bar under the electrical cord. On the underbelly I have been using expandable foam and this industrial farm tape. I get mine from the John Deere dealer and it is simular to duct tape but it is black and about 6" wide. This has me winning the war(I think).
Okie Phil

[old turbo]

I think I finally cured the mouse problem in my 04 Mountaineer. I think I have used 5 cans of foam crack and hole filler, the low expansion type and a 5"x20" piece of tin to fill a gap, they at keystone left by my rear bumper connection. Quality Control,ha ha,ha. I have also used spray bed liner to fill the smaller gaps and to make the spray foam black. I think every trailer with the artic package should come with a free case of spray foam to fill in the gaps and holes. After all this we were camping in the fall and guss what? I am watching the tube late at night on the sofa,and a little critter wanted to watch with me as it was nestled on my shoulder. I never told my wife until we were home or we would have wound up at a motel for the rest of our stay. I am not done yet,I think I have found the last enterance. The power cord is the one in the rear of the trailer that you shove into the trailer in the space under the frig. The mice used that to crawl up and enter the trailer. I put steel wool in the gap inside and put a rat guard on the power cable just like a ship.