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Help with rats and mice!


Freestone

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In August, I bought a 1986 Sunrader Shorty. While I love it, apparently so do the mice and now rats. The invasions have happened at campgrounds, not at home. I have spent a small fortune on traps of all kinds (snap, sticky, bucket, plus stinky repellent sachets). Each time, I got rid of them before returning home but then I had to spend hours cleaning and bleaching. Luckily, none of them got into the living space, just inside the lower cabinets and settee (and I keep all food in the upper cabinets and leave no food in the camper between trips).

I bought steel wool and spray foam to seal points of entry. However, I cannot figure out how they are getting in! I know that they can fit through tiny tiny spaces. So, I spent two evenings after dark crawling around underneath. I removed all the settee’s wood covers, the under-stove cabinet box, the access panel by the gas and vent lines - basically tore it apart. Then, foot by foot, I moved a 500 lumen lantern around in the cupboards and settee and crawled underneath looking for light. NADA. The mouse invasion sounded like they were getting in somewhere near the back passenger side rear corner near the water heater. But I can find no access point there, although I haven’t removed the cardboard cover from around the water heater yet as I don’t want to ruin it. Is there any way they could get in under the water heater? 

The pack rat sounded as if it were getting in near/under the shower. Is this possible? There is a gap where the shower plumbing comes through. Does anyone foresee a problem with spray foaming the heck out of that area? I also discovered that the gas and vent line’s cover (like a dryer vent cover) has detached from the floor. I want to replace it anyway as it is in bad shape. For now, I’ll put a little spray foam down where the lines come through the floor.

 Any other suggestions for how the critters are getting in? Any known source of entry in your Sunrader? In 10 years of owning a Bandit, I never had a single rodent as there aren’t as many holes through the fiberglass. Luckily, I still have it and may go back to it if I get rodents in the Sunrader every time I use it! 
 

Thanks!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Freestone...I would strongly suggest NOT using foam insulation due to flammability and off-gassing issues. I had considered foam spray for my insulation replacement but after researching the product decided against using it in the Myrrkat. As for the steel wool pack it in anywhere there is access into your camper, ie all plumbing and propane lines, black and grey tank flooring points, all electrical runs from the engine compartment all the way to the tail lights, etc...mice and rats can compress their bodies down to the size of their skull to wriggle through the tiniest spaces and steel wool is one thing they can not chew through. My Dad used this trick in an old house we lived in when I was a kid. I have also heard of and use the bath soap Irish Spring Regular in Myrrkat while she is parked for restorations---even though the garage kitties are catching mice and moles, I have not had one single mouse or rat in the camper the 2 years she has sat in my backyard while restoring her. Hope this helps and I'm sure there are other members here who can suggest options as well, Good luck 😎 

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The only thing I have ever seen that really works is the bucket of death. A 5 gallon bucket with about 4" of water in the bottom a roller of some sort (or commercial one made for the bucket) bated with peanut butter. Current top score 8 in one night. Even if it freezes they can't get out so just throw in a cat.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/14/2019 at 6:53 PM, Meandering Myrrkat said:

Hi Freestone...I would strongly suggest NOT using foam insulation due to flammability and off-gassing issues. 

Just to offer an alternative point of view, steel wool is extremely flammable (plus it rusts); as a Boy Scout I used to carry a wad of steel wool and a 9V battery, it's a fool-proof fire starter. The high-expansion foam intended for home insulation is fire retardant and, well, designed for living spaces. Once it has cured there is no more off-gassing. I just had my house insulation replaced and they used gallons of it to seal all the air leaks.

Now onto the mice. My RV has served as home to many. I have had to go fairly nuts with the foam. There are dozens of places they can get in, mostly around the joint between sides and floor; the shower drain trap holes, gas plumbing holes, etc. For the most part access is from below, just roll around on a mechanic's scooter and plug everything you see. Then add window screen over the engine air intake and cabin air intake, because they love to build cozy nests in the cabin and engine air filters. I've finally got them banned from the interior, but they still love to sit atop the engine and eat seeds, I find piles of empty shells on the engine every time I lift the hood.    

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I had to screen and foam ours too around black water tank and gas hose inlet  and a few places where the rear light wires came out in the rear section.Don't think I took pictures of the wires.  Also put cotton balls in medicine bottles with 2 or 3  one fourth inch holes  . Then place 3 or 4 drops of peppermint oil on the cotton and place one under cabinets, one in bathroom, one under the couch and two bottles under the hood on top of each fender. Haven't had any problems with them since 😀.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I wish this thread had come a few years earlier... mice destroyed my recently remodeled sunrader and I took the “try To kill the intruders” approach.. which lead to more cannibal intruders and dead mice in inaccessible wall locations. This fall they gained access into the headliner/ceiling and once that happens you are screwed. They burrow into the cardboard honey comb of the roof glass and then tunnel into the top cabinets and drop down into them like tom cruise in mission impossible. They got into all top cabinets. Chewed through the beautiful burlap headliner And savaged everything. I put two tomcat multi kill mouse boxes and had 26 mice alive in them when i checked it today all little more than the size of gumballs each. 
the pictures in this thread lead me to discover the entry points- exactly where the pictures showed them to be. Excellent post! This should be a sticky

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Moth balls are very unpleasant for meeces & rats, if you can get to the hidden places, put 2-3 in various spots - the smell & chemical makes it unpleasant enough & you remove them from your living areas when you're using the rig.  Mice can go past moth balls, so you need to salt them throughout - the chemical is strong enough you don't need to saturate every area, just enough smell that they can't easily find "enclaves" free of smell where they can lurk & nest.  Renew every year or so. 

Freestone - mice smell where they've gone before - so unless you find & block every spot, they'll follow that trail.  Moth balls, even further up the trail, will interfere big time with their little noses as well as make things unpleasant, so you don't need to ID each entrance.

Kamaloha - set a few mothballs in a couple spots under the hood in the fall, including on top of that engine block.

Mice are often able to detect open space behind your foam job & can chew thru foam - copper scrub pads instead of steel wool stuffed into openings keeps them from chewing thru & doesn't rust.  As far as I know scrub pads don't have the flammability problems of steel wool - and you can foam or use sealant over the pads, they stop chewing when they hit the copper.

Homer - great job & great photos!  Thanks, I'll learn from that too.

Totem, your problem in particular sounds like a real nightmare!  Yuck.

Sheesh - good luck on this one. 

Edited by tstockma
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The dash outside air vent damper is indeed an entry point. They popped out my headliner after crawling up the a pillar! Ugh. A little known gem thats better than great stuff foam is the foam that orkin sells, its black foam containing small bits of carbide shavings that cut vermin’s mouth they will not chew it. I will be sealing the rig with it after the remodel.

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