Rodent Combat!!

[flagmanruss]

There is some type of (mostly intact) stiff treated cloth under the trailer. There is one torn up area behind a wheel (blow out according to previous owner) so the underneath is impossible to "seal". This underneath is probably great mouse habitat! The tanks are below it or push it up in those areas. The water fill on & heater in/out fittings may have similar generous holes in the inner wall... but these fitting are straight through, sealed on the outer skin. Since the camper construction should be wall on floor (deck) like a house, these should not connect to the outside (unless there are huge wiring holes.) It's helpful to realize that you can't keep the critters from everywhere. My castle wall is the camper floor. Pull up the drawbridge. I don't see any more holes... I'm going to finish the re-assembly of the bathtub. Oh, yeaah, put the bathroom door back on. Sheila will like that Clean the rig up & watch for mouse sign.

[flagmanruss]

Resuming Mouse Combat after the hurricane! In the hurricane preparations, Sheila noted fresh mouse sign in the electrical compartment under the kitchen... then a few mouse poo next to a heater duct outlet in the bathroom (furness adjacent to the electrical). Since I was confident in the work we'd done... as far as we could see... I focused on where I could not see. Behind the furnace & under the stove. I can not really get to them from inside. My ex-ray vision is on the blink so I measured to the edge of the rear windows & then forward again on the outside. I was surprized! The oven is actually over the front axle of the tandem axles. Reaching into the wheel well I found the plastic inner liner patched with duct tape & reinforced tarp... but the remaining plastic liner pulls away by hand to show shinny furnace duct. As a stop gap, I stuffed behind the edge of the inner fender with steel wool. I remember the seller telling me they'd had a blow out on the highway which is why the tires are mis-matched... yup, same on both sides but passender's side, does not connect to the interior.My trip to the RV dealership was unproductive on this score. They said there are no generic parts for this. Have to know make model ect, order from manufacturer. On a 10 year old unit? Not likely. I'll figure out how to adapt or form my own from fiberglass. Other projects ahead of this.

[Mopar1973Man]

Dang... I thought you about had it figured out there...

[flagmanruss]

I have been busy with other projects so have not attempted a permant repair to the camper inner fender... but there is no mouse sign since I packed the damaged area with steel wool. Seems like this is the last entrance. Now how to repair... Not sure what it'll look like when I get the outter fender removed.

[Mopar1973Man]

Is there a way to sandwich some material together? Aluminum or such using a screw, bolts, or pop rivets?

[flagmanruss]

I have not got the outter fender off yet... but my thinking is to find a plastic object that I can sacrific to get the needed material all shaped. I have my eye on a masons cement mixing trough... I think the repair needs to overlap, be caulked & screwed or pop-rivited to what remains of the original wheel well liner.

[flagmanruss]

Wife caught a mouse in the camper bathroom... blood all over the floor. I got the outter fender off. I cut a new liner from the shaped corner of that mortar tray I mentioned. It's not installed yet, just wedged in place, but the hole is now closed. She caught another mouse in the bathroom. I hope they are not still getting in. I was headed out there to work on the today, had to U turn to get a rifle... d@mn woodchuck headed for the garden. I took a stand behind the backhoe... I didn't get a shot. This house s*cks. The porch railing is in the way. By the time I get out there, Mr Woodchuck is gone. I think he has burrowed under the old horse shed. {At my ex's place... the slider looked right up the center aisle of the barn. After I had the horses out for the day, I was at the kitchen table, could see the barn rats in the barn center aisle. I piled books on the dining table for a rest, opened the sliding door (checked the glass twice), sat there with my cup of tea and Savage .22 Hornet & hand loads. No more rat problem.}

[Mopar1973Man]

Well I've got a set of ultrasonic boxes and mothballs tuck in the frame and covered tanks... So far absolutely no sign... Even the 2 cars under the spurce tree have Ultrasonic boxes and mothballs and there is no sign there really...

[dripley]

i like it. snipers nest in the kitchen. more tea please and pass the ammo.

[flagmanruss]

I thought I was pretty restrained. My ex's father, was laying asphaut with his sons... came home for lunch. John Sr leans back in his recliner & proceeds to Zzzz. The & Sons go back to work.John Sr wakes up & looks out the window & notices a woodchuck sunning his self on the cord wood out back. Said woodchuck kept digging holes in John's pasture & had learned to stay out of range of the young'un's .22LRs. (John Jr was selling firewood on the side.) John Sr gets out his deer rifle... he won in a card game in deer camp... doesn't look like much, well worn used but not abused... pre-64 Winchester M70 in 30-06. A freekin tack driver. John opens the kitchen window, sets the rifle on the ledge & blows Mr Woodchuck all over the place. John Jr said he couldn't sell the top layer of wood with all the blood & guts. John Sr was pretty deaf from running dump trucks & heavy equipment all his life... I suppose he would have been after this anyway. John & I always got along, even after the divorce. My kind of guy.

[flagmanruss]

I have the section of plastic box wedged into the wheel well. I'm still trying to jack the trailer up enough to get the wheel off so I can complete screwing it into place. Sheila has been sweeping up mouse sign & checking / removing mice from the trap line, daily. It's been several days since she found either. Maybe I am nearing the end with this sieve!

[Mopar1973Man]

:cheerleader:Go Russ & Sheila

[clutch]

We are in a campground in Az and are currently at war with mice. We bought more traps and some Decon and hopefully we well keep them outside of the trailer.

[flagmanruss]

Traps will catch mice that get in. If they have an open route, they will keep coming. In my experience, decon works in a limited area... but have seen mice recognize the decon as food... take it, but not consume it. The problem is if they have easy routes in/out, the mice just keep feeding outdoors, never get around to eatting the decon. A friend had some machinery in a shed out back... as tight as we could get it but clearly not mouse proof... we found the base of a machine several inches deep with the decon.Steel wool. Stainless pot scrubbers. To keep the mice out you need to check every opening through the floor (and walls). Read back on my journey... Newer trailers & RVs may be better than older models. I don't know what my trailer was like when it was new... I bought it very well used & has a salvage title. (ie: been f*cked with before!) Others had silicone caulked around the propane lines. I found such large openings under the tub that I fitted wood to narrow the openings before stuffing with steel wool. I found openings under the kitchen around the drains & water supply lines, again I used wood before steel wool. I've wrapped the electical inlet cord with a pot scrubber. The present work is to close some damage in the wheel wells from blowouts. Hopefully you won't have any of that. I've used old ultrasonic repellers in the house... unsuccessfully... perhaps they were not working or NG? I'd really like them as a second line of defense. Good luck!Russ