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Old 01-18-2025, 07:45 AM   #1
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Rodents and Casitas

This is specific to Casitas. Wondering if any Casita owners out there have had experience with mice or rats getting in the camper, or better yet found a way to exclude the stinkers. I am replacing a Aspen Trail wood and tin trailer that has too many entry points to keep up with and as a result propane lines are destroyed. My hope is there will be less material a rodent can chew through on a Casita and only having to screen off exhaust vents and where power enters the camper. I would welcome any product suggestions or homemade hacks.
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Old 01-18-2025, 09:47 AM   #2
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Besides vent screens, which are great, the single biggest "entry point" for ants, mice, and other small critters is the well-known "mouse door" in the shore power electrical cord hatch. When you are on shore power, your cord is an excellent entrance ramp for critters. I got rid of the small hatch, which was always a pain to try and work with to pull or push the shore power cord in and out from, so I upgraded it to a larger hatch, (not wider, just taller.) It doesn't have the rodent access door, and also locks. It also allowed me access to the space behind the converter, and is also where I mounted my hardwired EMS (electrical management system.) And an external Marine-style twist-lock 30 amp shore power cord plug-in conversion kit, so I can just unplug the cord, coil it up, and stow it. No more trying to put the spring snake back in the can!

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Old 01-18-2025, 06:02 PM   #3
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Thank you Casita Greg! That is exactly where they entered the current camper. Casita now offers detachable power as an option which I added. All my propane lines on current rv are rubber, and mostly exposed, all destroyed. But really the worst thing is the smell of their waste and the sleepless nights hearing them moving around, That and hearing the one caught in the trap at 6AM.
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Old 01-19-2025, 07:00 AM   #4
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We have lots of field mice, but they never went for the rubber propane line on the tongue nor ever got inside our Scamp. We do not leave the power cord connected, and all food and paper goods are removed over the winter. The propane line is a new one to me. I wonder if they make braided steel flexible propane lines?

We’ve actually had more problems with our vehicles. Under the hood and occasionally inside the cabin, they make nests and chew insulation for nesting material. We have to be very careful about food left in the vehicles. All it takes is a stray french fry. I cleaned out a nest under the hood of my wife’s car last winter, which appeared to be made with fiberglass insulation from under our house. It didn’t come back. I am especially careful with her car because it has the newer bio-plastic wire insulation.

As part of our regular pest control service, we have bait stations around the house and parking area.

It’s a multi-pronged approach. Close up as many entry points as possible, don’t give them a reason to get in, lure them away with bait stations, park on a hard surface and clear nearby grass or weeds, and check often to catch problems early.

Some people swear by dryer sheets- supposedly mice don’t like the smell. I put one on top of the cabin air filter in all our vehicles. It’s not proven, but I decided it’s easy, and that’s definitely their entry route. You could scatter some in the lower cabinets of your Casita..
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Old 01-19-2025, 09:24 AM   #5
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We have many hawks and owls in our neighborhood as well as plenty of critters they prey on. My guess is the mice and rats are looking for shelter because we are pretty careful about cleaning food out after any trip.Not sure why they go for the rubber hoses, taste or nesting material, I know squirrels ( aka rats with better public relations) have a taste for the plastic insulation on wires, found them in my attic in the past. Anyway thanks for the suggestions, hoping the Casita with copper propane lines and some vent screens and a quick release power cord will be the solution for the camper anyway. Looking forward to being a part of the fiberglass rv community.
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Old 01-19-2025, 02:05 PM   #6
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I don't have a mice problem but always hated stuffing a wet electrical cord back into that small compartment when camping. My solution was not as sophisticated or as pretty as Greg's....but it works well for us. I never open that electrical door hatch. The trailer cord remains inside at all times. I plugged in a heavy duty extention cord to the trailer cord.....ran the cord out through the small door opening....made a rubber casket to fit around cord and seal up the opening....the cord runs down under trailer....through the rear bumper.....through the trailer frame to the front and reattached the electric plug. I carry an extention cord in a plastic bin in my truck along with all other trailer supplies needed. When hooking up....I simply plug the ext. cord into the plug and into campground electrical. I always use a surge protector. This process is very easy to hook up and break down. We also park our trailer here on the property.....this solution works well here too.....my trailer is plugged in all winter. I should add....our trailer is parked next to my shop.....we have two shop kitties who both are great little hunters.....mice here don't stand a chance. Good luck.
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Old 01-19-2025, 06:52 PM   #7
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Casita now offers a detachable power cord from the factory. There are not any issues with mice on a Casita
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Old 01-19-2025, 08:50 PM   #8
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We have a '96 SD17 Casita. There is a rubber seal available to seal the electric cord to the hatch when the cord is pulled out. AP Products 008-644 Bug Shield Hatch Door Seal. Apparently it doesn't work on newer Casitas as the opening is larger, but fits perfectly on our '96. Don't know when the hatch opening was changed. Something similar wouldn't be too hard to make.
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Old 01-20-2025, 08:19 PM   #9
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My experience is that the old fashioned Naphthalene Moth balls are a good mouse, chipmunk, kangaroo and other rat, or other critter repellent. I keep a plastic bag of these in my Scamp outside storage (a 5 inch square fence post sleeve mounted on the underside). I also have a cloth bag in the engine compartment of both of our vehicles. They may last half to one year in the car and the truck, because of the temperature. Also I have a double plastic bag of these in our attached garage. I doubled up the bag to keep the smell to the minimum.



My wife likes to trow a number of dryer sheets in the Scamp when we winterize it. Their aroma is not as obnoxious as the moth balls.
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Old 01-21-2025, 07:58 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Escape 15A View Post
Casita now offers a detachable power cord from the factory. There are not any issues with mice on a Casita
Gee, I wonder where they got that idea from?...
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Old 01-22-2025, 03:47 PM   #11
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Keep a trap in my scamp. Once in a while I catch one. But yeah don't normally store food in a manner they are attracted to. Clean up regularly.
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Old 01-22-2025, 04:27 PM   #12
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Good subject. We have never had a problem. Our Casita is parked in our backyard.
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Old 01-23-2025, 11:01 AM   #13
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After reading this I put some glue traps in my Casita just in case.
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Old 01-24-2025, 12:12 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jgilliam1955 View Post
After reading this I put some glue traps in my Casita just in case.
Just to be clear, and not cause fear, my mouse problem was my current Aspen Trail stick and tin trailer. My guess is that I will have less of a problem in the Casita, maybe no problem at all, fiberglass RVs will be a new world to me come March of this year. My current camper is parked in my yard and I am pretty certain the mice got in through the shore power cable entry.
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Old 02-03-2025, 10:53 AM   #15
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I had to take my tow vehicle 2011 Toyota Tundra to the body shop as the mice had found their way into the engine compartment UNDER the hard plastic screen mesh under the windshi8eld wipers. The mesh thing had to be completely removed in order to clean out the nest. THey'd made a huge nest and then found their way into the cabin filter.

My auto body guy....he is a MASTER..........then found the opening in the firewall between engine and glove box where the cabin filter is. It was, oh, eight inches long, maybe ten, and three inches high without anything to keep rodents out. He installed a metal mesh (screen) and then steam cleaned the engine.
I've started spraying the tires, the engine compartment and believe it or not, behind the cab with peppermint spray. AND put little bags of peppermeint leaves inside the cab.
Damn rodents.
One of the things I learned is that Toyota, at least, makes their firewalls out of corn. Yes. And I'm told their hoses are composed partly of soybean. This is to save weight and be ''''environmentally" responsible, but it also is a hell of an attractant to rodents.
I haven't...........crossing fingers...found rodents in myh Casita but we clean it out and I never keep food or paper products in it during the winter.

I will never use poisons to kill rodents. I have a pair of barn owls that regularly nest in the box we installed for them in back of the house. We also have weasels, hawks, screech owls, great horned owls, barred owls, kestrels, and my neighbor's barn cat comes over regularly. Oh, and snakes.
And I have sticky traps and metal 'live catch' traps all round. I am careful in the summer for both...lizards apparently love to sniff sticky traps, much to their demise and my dismay.
Good luck on rodent control.
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Old 02-03-2025, 11:42 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by Meadowlark View Post
I
I will never use poisons to kill rodents. I have a pair of barn owls that regularly nest in the box we installed for them in back of the house. We also have weasels, hawks, screech owls, great horned owls, barred owls, kestrels, and my neighbor's barn cat comes over regularly. Oh, and snakes.
And I have sticky traps and metal 'live catch' traps all round. I am careful in the summer for both...lizards apparently love to sniff sticky traps, much to their demise and my dismay.
Good luck on rodent control.
One thought on modern poisons. Most are biodegradable. And they work by accumulation but other things eaten delute. So as long as the predator critters have a good diet of non poisoned food they will be fine. If you find dead rodents, it is a good idea to put them in a plastic grocery bag in the trash.
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Old 02-04-2025, 09:41 PM   #17
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I'm sorry to disagree withh you, computer spook, about rodent poisons. They don't degrade. They are supposed to kill the rodent in a few moments (theyclaim) but that's not fast enough to degrade. I have a photo here somewhere on my laptop of a northern sawwhet owl we found dead.

My neighbors were putting out poison for rodents. The owl had nailed a mouse that hadn't died quickly enough...they take some time for the poison to work. THe mouse escaped the house or where ever it had eaten the bait. The owl nailed it..bit the head off and died with the mouse in her talons and the head in her beak.

Don't use poisons. Please.
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Old 02-04-2025, 11:29 PM   #18
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I'm sorry to disagree withh you, computer spook, about rodent poisons. They don't degrade. They are supposed to kill the rodent in a few moments (theyclaim) but that's not fast enough to degrade. I have a photo here somewhere on my laptop of a northern sawwhet owl we found dead.

My neighbors were putting out poison for rodents. The owl had nailed a mouse that hadn't died quickly enough...they take some time for the poison to work. THe mouse escaped the house or where ever it had eaten the bait. The owl nailed it..bit the head off and died with the mouse in her talons and the head in her beak.

Don't use poisons. Please.

Facts are that either that was not a modern poison. Yeah there are still a lot of the old stuff out there. My grandpa literally used to have couple bottles of stuff they used to sell when he was a young man. It was literally an explosive. You know glue traps, this was an explosive trap. It was a bottle of a liquid with thick paper in it. As long as it was wet it was safe. You pulled a strip of the paper out and let it dry. Then when a mouse/rat walked on it the friction would set it off and the impact would kill the critter. Not blow it apart, but definitely killed it. We used the last of this when I was a teen. Yeah they don't sell stuff like that now.


Anything that is like an instant kill is going to be old. Anyone telling you about an instant kill is talking old or talking false. Most of it is based on the mouse or other getting several doses and then dying of the effects. Mostly it is stuff that causes them to bleed to death inside. That is the modern stuff. And it does break down over time.

They did used to sell cyanide laced grain but that has been a few decades ago. Heck we used to use cyanide in lots of things. It was a common product to have in the house. Would almost sound like your story ---- maybe. The farm that we shut down still has a bunch of stuff we need to get rid of safely. But it will be going to hazmat. But most people would just use it up. And yeah that can give bad results on a lot of levels.


Now with the modern stuff, stuff that you could buy today, it is all biodegradable. The old stuff was fat soluble. Which meant that if an animal consumed it, the poison collected in the tissue and stayed. When there was enough in the fat the animal died. What you can buy today is water soluble. Which means the animal pees it out. So you have to make sure that the target animals eat enough over about a 24 hour period to die. If they stopped eating it and survived it is gone in about 48 hours. Some times 72 hours. And it is continually breaking down.



So if an owl or other animal eats an animal which has died of these chemicals then yes they get dosed. Actually in small doses it is actually beneficial. Yeah kind of weird. But if something does eat the dead animal then part of chemical has broken down and they are not getting the full dose. Then they are larger than the target animals. So the fatal dose is larger. That means that one is not going to kill them, The example you used is obviously one of two things. First it is possibly one of the older poisons. It is a good reason to take all of those to your hazmat facility and not save money by not using them. Or actually that should more like a mechanical issue where the owl was "damaged" in the process of eating. It is possible that the animal was alive and inflicted a fatal injury while being killed. Or it is possible that in some what the bones or other parts damaged the owl and it does of an injury. I have seen a mouse kill a cat. Only once but it did happen. And so it can happen. Birds (like owls) are more susceptible to fatal injuries. And the specific of your story would sound like that. Heck even cyanide would not kill that fast.



Now back to predators eating dead poisoned animals. If one eats a dead animal as I said it would not get the full dose that killed the animal. The older poisons actually would put a massive dose in the victim so something eating them would get a larger dose than what was a fatal dose. with modern poisons the target animal will die with only at the point of death only very close to a fatal dose. Then as I said it would be breaking down. So the animal eating it would only get the minimal fatal dose for the smaller animal. Then as long as it survived it would be totally gone in a few hours. And as long as it only ate one or two in that time it would survive.


Now if the predator only was eating fairly fresh poisoned animals yes it could get a fatal dose. You may notice that I also specified that I do dispose of in the trash any dead target animals. That is one reason I do this. A lot of people actually don't realize the issue with feeding wild predator's dead poisoned animals. But if the predator is eating probably at least half unpoisoned animals it is going to be fine.



Now there are new poisons on the horizon which also highly selective. The target animal dies from eating it, but a predator such as an owl could actually eat the pure stuff and live to tell the tail.
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Old Yesterday, 08:43 PM   #19
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It is all nice about the modern biodegradable poisons, but still the best is to keep pests away by meticulously cleaning up any food spills or crumbs, especially before winterizing. While camping, never let any mouse food collect in the nooks and crannies or get rubbed into the carpet. And keep them away by using something that repels them, like those mothballs. The critters have really good sense of smell, much better than ours.
The same goes for the house or apartment. I once bought a bag of grass seed, left it in the garage and the mice got in it in no time. Storing it in a tight metal can was the solution - no aroma, no food.
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Old Yesterday, 09:15 PM   #20
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Not going to say its impossible to get in on a Casita but it would be very tough. The fiberglass shell wraps the entire trailer including the floor. The only access points would be the fridge grills, furnace intake/exhaust and the electrical cable door and all these would be a 2' jump. The door on some of the older 16' models could pull away from the body over time but the 17' use a regular rv door and they seal pretty well. If the rodent got up on top, they could chew through the caps on the 2 grey and black tank vents but it would not get them into the cabin, just the tanks. I have never seen any sign of rodents in ours and we have had it for 12 years and its 27 years old. I have added steel screen on the back of the fridge vent but mostly for bugs.
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