problems w/mice in winter storage

[yyyyyguy]

Just wondering if anyone has had trouble with mice in winter storage and if so how would you try to prevent them. I'll be storing my Scamp inside an old barn. Can they climb up the tires to get inside? Any help will be appreciated. Pete

[Reid Larsen]

You will be amazed where mice can get in. Make sure you take any food out of the trailer and I would (do) take the cushions inside-tho not being in the great north wet maybe you don't have the mildew issue. Mouse nests in the cushions would be a drag however. Your scamp is lucky to be inside.

[MsRubyLu-Kathy]

If you want to try a natural way, check out:

Things to Use to Repel Mice Naturally | eHow.com

Mice don't like strong scented herbs such as cloves. I use clove oil which also happens to be a mildew inhibitor.

[Lil M.]

Scented dryer sheets kept them out of my trailer last winter. Plus removing bedding and food.

[mary and bob]

I've heard the dryer sheet story before, and there is some other scented repellant that can be bought at Amazon that I can't locate the name of right now. I had a mouse problem in my daughters popup last year and this is what a local RV dealer told me to do; take a couple of the red solo drink cups, cut two V shape notches in the lip, put some rodent poison in the cup, then put it lip down under the trailer by the tires, put a rock on the cup so it won't tip over, and that's it. The idea is to kill them before they get in your trailer, and the cup keeps your dog or cat from getting at the poison. There are also similar traps you can buy that do the same thing, the cup is just the homemade cheapo solution. I also set the spring type traps and some of the sticky traps in the campers I'm storing in my barn and check them frequently.

[Cricket]

I know we use the dryer sheets in the summer for our snowmobiles and ATV's....unless they are stored in our garage (which is getting full). My parents never had a mouse issue in their pop-up and they parked it right on the edge of a field all winter..... Sometime the dryer sheet work and sometimes they don't....friend of mine got mice in her wheelers and the darn things used the dryer sheets for bedding!

[mary and bob]

The urban myth is that you can only use the "Bounce" brand dryer sheets

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

The urban myth is that you can only use the "Bounce" brand dryer sheets

My mice like the generic stuff, it makes a softer and nicer smelling nest.

Seriously, though I set mouse traps with strips of cloth glued to the trigger as bait. The mice like to gather nesting material and will tug on the cloth until....uh, until they don't anymore.

[Jim Bennett]

I would take the proactive approach, and just ensure that they can't get in. This should not be too hard with a fiberglass trailer. Any hole you can get the tip of your little finger in, a mouse can get in.

[keekers]

I agree with Lil. Food out, cushions out, lots of dryer sheets in.

[honda03842]

I think it's really hard for a mouse to get in the trailer though we never winter store it. With the motor home and our home we load them up with Decon before we leave.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by yyyyyguy

Can they climb up the tires to get inside?

Only if there are holes that are not sealed for them to get in. There should not to many spots on a fiberglass trailer for them to get in - filling holes with extra fine steel wool has known to work - although I cant think of any spots on my Scamp with an opening big enough except perhaps were the electrical wires enter the trailer at the front and the power cord hatch on the side. As others suggested take all the food out & taking the cushions out are good ideas, if thats not possible put them up on end.

This Old House website has a story in regards to using dryer sheets to keep mice away and at the end of the day they recommend steel wool.

[TaniaD]

Just gotta get in on this one...we have an old cabin in the woods where the floor has gaps between the walls. Someone told us to use Life Soap to keep the mice away. They ate the Life Soap! It is Decon for us. They eat it like candy, but at the end of the day, I atleast know they won't be coming back for more!

[rgrugg]

We had mice & chipmunks in our Kodiak a year ago. There was a large opening on the underside. Closing that took care of it. When we go south in the winter one vehicle stays home. We've had mice in the heater blower and under the hood. We put a lot of moth balls in a pan underneath and hang a bag or two under the hood. No more problems.

[Hambone]

I've see mice climb concrete block walls, so tires and any opening should not be a problem for them. From personal experience dryer sheets make perfect bedding material (storing cars) so I use decon in ,around. few cats wouldn't hurt either.

[yyyyyguy]

thanks for all the help, will use many of your suggestions, don't like mice, like the smell of dead mice even less.
Pete

[Thomas G.]

I don't like to poison mice because I can't control where they die and I worry about secondarily poisoning owls or other predators.

[bicklebok]

Mice have cause me so many problems with a large bird loft I keep, that I had to poison them. They nearly took over my loft and were actually eating the feathers off my birds at night to make nests. I took a peanut butter plastic jar and cut a small opening(just big enough for a mouse) in the plastic top and mix peanut butter with the poison. The peanut butter keeps all the poison stuck together so I dont have to worry about pellets falling out and another animal eating it. Then I put the jar in a tight area where no other animals can get to it. Mice love peanut butter, so they find it and eat it.
Mice can really do a lot of damage. I have seen where they ate holes through 2x4's and press wood to gain entry. They have nothing but time on their hands and every night they will keep gnawing until they gain access if they want in.

[Raz]

Years ago we had a Honda civic become infested. Numerous nests. They came in through the vent. Nest in the blower. Nest in the head liner. Under the spare. In the kick panels. Sealing a gap in the vent grill stopped the entry. Traps and decon took care of the mice. We pulled the head liner, seats, carpet, etc. to clean up. A citrus cleaner took care of the smell. This was twenty years ago. There's a lot more stuff for them to damage in today's cars. On the trailer I seal the fridge vent with aluminum screen and clean the trailer inside very well. We remove all the cushions and anything else that could make a nice home. Raz

[Anne H]

Definitely do whatever you can to keep them out of your trailer. I had a old VW Westphalia that the mice got into - dead mice, mice poop and mice nests in the headliner, in the heater vents (can you spell "Hanta Virus"). One mouse chewed a hole into my fresh water tank and drowned!!