Mouse in my motorhome
I have just collected my panel van motorhome (Devon Aztec) from its annual habitation service and they told me there is evidence of rodent entry with minor damage under the seating in the rear lounge. They said they might be nesting in there?. They advised clearing all the furnishings and fittings out until the culprits have been caught and disposed of. This is a completely new problem to me so I would be grateful for any advice on i) how to deal with the current problem and ii) how to stop it re-occurring. My engineers brother works in pest control and said using peanut butter on traps is one way of catching them. What other options are there.
My van is used regularly between Spring and Autumn but during Winter I don't really touch it when it is in storage. I normally just lift the seat cushions up to allow a bit of air flow as advised.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Comments
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We’ve lived in a rambling circa 1700s farm house for many years now and the annual autumn influx of numerous mice is more of an irritation these days. There are traps and traps but the most effective are the wooden “little nipper” traps. They will spring on smaller as well as larger mice. The metal traps are more difficult to set and not worth the hassle. Set the nipper traps so that they’re on the point of springing after you’ve set the bait. Cumbrian mice are partial to milk chocolate. I’ve never tried peanut butter but that’s not to say it’s less effective. Loose bait like Pasta Bait should be avoided because if the creature dies in an inaccessible place it will be difficult to eradicate the smell.
If its rats you will get the best results with a dog but I’d be surprised if a rat was living in your motorhome unless you leave food laying around.
It’s important to wipe and disinfect ALL surfaces since mice have little control of their bladder.
On a lighter note, don’t worry, they wont stay for long when the weather improves.
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I suffered with mice nesting too and chewing through the fuel injector wiring. Managed to do a home repair mind for pence when the dealer quoted hundreds of pounds to replace the whole cabling. However, 'over there' martens are a real problem under the bonnet. They cause far more damage than our rodents. Approaching €100m on car insurance repairs last year.
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Another vote for the little nipper traps here and used with peanut putter are extremely effective.
I set a couple of them in my garden shed a few autumns back and heard one go off, successfully catching one of the little blighters, before i'd got back to the house.
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much more humane to use those nice little boxes you can buy (Rentokil) or similar, you put the poison inside the box, mouse enters box eats the poison (granules) leaves the box goes back to nest and dies within 24 hrs, eventually body turns to dust, if mummy mouse with young, young also die, with a spring trap you only catch one and in my experience if you have one you have two, when living in Scotland we had loads just used to throw granules of poison into loft space, you just need to be careful of pets consuming the poison.
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We had some mouse damage in our previous van. Thankfully nothing expensive.
We checked it thoroughly, because obviously getting your motor home eaten is not a good thing.
We actually changed our storage arrangements partly because of this, but for a while put tumble dryer sheets in the van as apparently it puts the mice off.
Example here.
It possibly is a complete urban myth!0 -
Not quite sure how we check if they only came in for shelter
so crawl round, under etc the various parts of van & seal as suggested with strong wire mesh. Then Bait away merrily both inside & outside to catch any vermin that have taken up residence but can no longer escape as well as any relatives that want to pay 'em a visit
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Has anyone had any success with battery powered ultrasonic deterrents?
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I've been using mains powered ultrasonics for a long time now. Used with a plug in timer they have protected my shed ( Containing lots of bird food ) while we have seen evidence of the occasional rattus norvegicus ( thank you Rocky
) in open areas. I use the timer to vary the length of time the deterrents are working so they don't get used to the noise which we cannot hear .0 -
We have also got a mouse problem in our motorhome again this year. They appear to be getting in underneath. The mesh grills are too large and once in they get about using the ducting and panelling. We have blocked holes inside with wire wool which still allows air to circulate, but cannot be chewed. We also spray peppermint oil around on the bedding, as we don't mind the smell - mice are supposed to hate it. Good luck!
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Put some pepper on a brick when the mouse sniffs it it will sneeze and knock it self out pick the mouse up and when it comes round release it somewhere safe hope this helps Or buy a cat
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We use the metal mousetraps [just under £5 per pair from B&Q] set on a very fine trigger. Caught 18 during Summer until we found out the entry point to the kitchen; caught another mouse 2 days ago.
We use margarine with hot chocolate powder sprinkled over and fix both the bait and the trap base with Blutak because the crafty devils nudge the traps out of the way and/or duck under the spring loader to access the feed from under the sprung platform. We also use the domestic poison blocks that encourage the mice to nibble, become drowsy/careless and then trigger the trap.
It's a battle of wits and gets personal if the mouse beats the trap twice ... Occasionally, the mouse will approach the trap at 45 degrees to the platform and that means it gets caught by the rear leg. I use an offcut of thin tongue & groove to garrot the mouse, keeping my hands wellclear of any nipping attempts ...
Steve
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