Get Rid of Rodents for Good With These Tips From an RVer
Fall is the time of year when mice and rats sneak into RVs, looking for a safe, warm place to raise a family. A place that’s preferably close to food resources and water. A place exactly like your RV. Unfortunately, they can often live completely unnoticed until at least a few of them have moved in. At that point, you’ll usually find their pellet like droppings or urine in drawers and cabinets, and you might seem some dark streaks around the bottom of interior walls. By the time you see an actual mouse or rat, these critters can be really difficult to get rid of. However, you’ll need to get on it fast because mice and rats can cause a lot of damage to your RV very quickly.
What Doesn’t Work
Over years of RV life, I’ve had the opportunity to try a lot of different methods for getting rodents out of the RV and keeping them out. I’ve found some methods are better than others. Before I fill you in on which are the best methods to rid your RV of these pests, let’s take a look at three things that don’t work when it comes to dealing with rodents in an RV.
3 Methods That Don’t Work
- Ignoring them and hoping they’ll go away on their own. They won’t.
- Irish spring soap: Some rodents seem to be deterred by the Irish Spring scent, but others are attracted by it.
- Ultrasonic rodent repellent plug-ins: While ultrasonic rodent repellers can work for a little while, rodents get used to them. Especially if there’s a chance they can get a free meal or safe place to build a nest.
The “folk remedies” (smelly stuff, flashing lights, ultra-sounds, etc.) don’t work, at least not for long. Many report success with various of these methods, but I believe they are just lucky, or haven’t been infested yet. — db4570, iRV2 Forum Member.
3 Rodent Control Methods You Should Avoid
- Live traps: Live trapping is by far the most humane method of catching mice. However, live trapped mice should be released at least 2 miles from where their caught or they’ll find a way back home. That means inside your RV. For this reason live traps aren’t a very good method for controlling rodents in an RV.
- Glue traps: Glue traps are plastic plates that hold a super sticky substance. They’re inhumane because any small animal that stumbles onto a glue trap becomes stuck to it. This includes mice and rats, but also includes reptiles, amphibians and birds. But no matter what species of animal gets stuck in a glue trap, it suffers greatly before it finally dies.
- Rodent Poison (rodenticide): Commonly available rodent poisons include anticoagulants that thin the blood, poisons that produce a buildup of gas or calcium in the blood, and nerve toxins. Any of these can cause a slow and painful death. Not only that, but pets and/or wildlife (owls, eagles, racoons, coyotes) can be poisoned by eating rodents that have consumed rodenticide. For these reasons, mouse and rat poisons are inhumane and should be avoided.
4 Proven Methods That Get Rid of Mice in Your RV
1. Put the attractants away
Mice and rats are wild animals that depend on their ability to scavenge to find sources of food. That said, they’re really curious, and will investigate anywhere that might provide them with a nibble. If they don’t find food, they generally move on. Now, keep in mind, a rodent’s idea of food is different than yours or mine. For them, good sustenance can be a dog food kibble, a small seed, or a lick of peanut butter left of a knife. With that in mind, if you don’t want to attract mice, you’ll need to think from a mouse’s perspective. Here are some ways to keep mice and rats from feeling welcome:
- Avoid leaving dishes unwashed overnight
- Dispose of trash before bedtime
- Keep pet food and treats in an air-tight, rodent proof container
- Don’t leave pet food dishes out overnight
- Keep food in upper cabinets or in the refrigerator
- Clean up accidental spills and grease spatters immediately
- If you feed birds, install seed catchers under bird feeders and keep bird seed in a rodent-proof container
2. Clean up any messes
Rodents are curious, and if they can smell that another member of their species has been somewhere, they’ll be drawn to investigate that place. For this reason, you should clean any areas where mice or rats have been with an antibacterial cleaner. Plus, rats and mice sometimes carry diseases that can make you very sick. Therefore, it’s a good idea to put on some rubber gloves and a mask before you start cleaning. A mask is especially important if you think you might be dealing with deer mice because these are the ones that carry dust-borne Hantavirus, a potentially deadly respiratory virus.
3. Block potential entry points
Rodents are amazingly flexible and can squeeze themselves through any hole that they can fit their head into. Therefore, you’ll need to look carefully for possible entry points. The most common place for mice and rats to gain entry into an RV is often the utility cabinet, but rodents can also gain entry to the RV through rooftop vents. They can also wreak havoc in the engine bay of a motorhome by chewing wires and lining air filters with nesting materials.
I inspect the underside of the MH on a monthly basis, and seal anything that may provide an entrance point with expandable foam and steel wool where appropriate. I also remove any potential food sources from the coach when in storage … absolutely everything.
JBright, iRV2 Forum Member.
Block all possible entry points on and under the RV (such as around sewer hoses or electrical cords) with steel wool and spray foam (where it makes sense to use it). On the roof, line the refrigerator vent with hardware cloth to prevent access there.
Spray engine bays with rodent repellent spray or sprinkle liberally with peppermint oil. Reapply every 30 days.
4. Set traps
Heavy-duty snap traps provide a highly effective and “relatively humane” solution to mice that are inside your RV. Nut butter or seed butter topped with a dog or cat kibble seems to be irresistible to both mice and rats, so they make an effective bait.
Last October, when I put my coach in covered storage I set half a dozen snap traps around the outside of the coach as well as many inside and around the generator. For the first 2 months I would catch 1 to 3 mice a day. — Soppy, iRV2 Forum Member.
Final Thoughts About Dealing With Mice and Rats in Your RV
Mice and rats can multiply quickly, so if you store your RV for the winter, it’s a good idea check on it a few times over the off-season. That way you can get on top of any rodent problems while they’re still small. However, not leaving attractants around, using rodent repellents, and blocking access points will go a long way to keeping rodents out of your RV.