Any updates from those using Fresh Cab Rodent Repellent, Mouse Magic, Irish Spring, or ultrasonic pest repellents for more than a couple seasons is appreciated. Your experience, where to place, how many, what happens with a dog around, etc. I'm willing to spend a little if it helps the odds. With the open channel down the middle with all the fuel, electric, and air lines I feel more concerned than before with my previous rvs. Should I be?
Jack,
1. That is like boxers or briefs but we like "Fresh Cab"
1a. We don 't have pets
2. If a mouse sets up house keeping and likes the taste of wire insulation then a little preventive $ will be a lot less than doing nothing.
3. There are several threads that cover preventive actions like using steel wool, brass wool, stainless wool, screen wire, spray foam to close up the tunnel. Some will say that this is a "waste of time" but we use stainless steel wool at every bulkhead. If a mouse does get in hopefully it will be trapped in just one compartment.
4. Refer to #2 If you camp out in remote campgrounds you are in these little critters domain.
As a side note without being to descriptive we also use SS wool on the H2O vent line for the same reason, and yes they can get in there.
Pamela & Mike
Peppermint oil on cotton balls wrapped in aluminum foil placed in the bays will keep the little buggers out. I also keep glue traps out as well.
Been using peppermint and cotton balls in cut down soda cans, per Scott's idea, we camp host in the desert and have had very good results ^.^d .
I have also sprayed foam in the cable runs at both ends of the bus, I have one can in each bay.good luck ^.^d
Years ago we had mice in the attic (could hear them scampering around). An exterminator said there was nothing he could do as long as I had a wood shake roof (since replaced). In desperation, I bought a pack of electronic emitters that were being sold at Costco. No more mice.
We have not had a problem with mice, but I will try the peppermint oil as a precaution.
I use Irish Spring, 3-4 in every bay. I also sealed up the cable run at both ends with spray foam. So far so good.
Whatever is used to drive the little dears back into the woods is fine. Something that kills them inside the coach should be be avoided, at all costs. Coaches that travel a lot seem to have less (or no) problems, mice and rats don't like vibrations. We have a friend with a SOB that was stored for a long period and he called me about a smell when he went to fire-up. Yup, he'd used some kind of poison in storage. I would not have given him $5.00 for the coach!
We use FreshCab, MouseMagic (buy in bulk) and the electronic emmitters. No mice. I am not sure which is better. We had chipmunks visiting our front steps and leaving calling cards. A plug in emmitter seemed encourage them to go elsewhere.
Do all that you want. At least your bays will smell better.
We typically use three different approaches at once, and that seems to handle it.
1) Multiple Yard Sentinel ultra-sonic devices pointing under the coach (including one at the small swing down wet-bay access)
2) Electronic mouse traps in various places
3) Cab Fresh packets in various places
Mice are all individual, and what bothers one mouse may be something another mouse isn't phased by. Our experience has been that relying on one single product or approach alone is not enough.
There are some years when the ultra-sonic units are enough to keep the mice out, and the traps don't catch anything. Then we've had some mice that have ignored the ultra-sonic units, ignored the Cab Fresh packets, and get killed by the electronic traps.
I am convinced that juvenile mice (weaned but not yet adults) are the worst. They seem to ignore everything, and are small enough that they can often steal the bait from a variety of traps. They grow quickly so eventually the traps get them.
Chris