mice in our hi-lo

hdials

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Jun 27, 2010
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Can anyone please tell us how to get rid of mice in our camper? We would also like to know what we could use to cover the crevices all around the inside of our camper. We have property that buts up against farmers field, and the mice have become a problem. thank you to anyone that could give us some suggestions. hdials
 
Get in the trailer in the dark and shine a flashlight or a bright work light into all the corners of the cupboards, etc. and have someone outside underneath looking for the light coming through. Do the same from the outside in. One place we found on our 1705 was where the frame and the rear bumper met. There was a small opening between the frame and the interior just the right size for a mouse to enter, more specifically about a half dozen of them. They had a nest built in the rear bumper storage space and were running in and out from there. We placed traps and sticky traps in the cupboards and within a short time we had them all. There is a space that the plumbing runs in the length of the trailer and that was their main runway. Placing the traps near any openings seemed to be the best. DO NOT use poison unless you don't mind the smell of dead mice.

We got Chore Girl scouring pads and stuffed those into the openings, you could use steel wool also, mice will not chew on them, or so we think.

Supposedly dryer fabric softener sheets are supposed to repel mice and bugs. I don't know if it is proven but it doesn't hurt to stick some here and there.

Good Luck! :)
 
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I agree with RichR on the methods for locating and preventing mice. If tour camper is equiped with heat ducts, like or 2499T was, inspect them before turning on your furnance. We learned the hard way when we turned on our heater and it blew nest materal all through our camper and the smell was real bad.

We had an interisting experience on one camping trip where we would hear a mouse everytime we turned the lights out to go to sleep. My wife and 3 sons and I could not sleep with the thought of of a mouse running across our face. With a flash light we could see him come out of a gap where the plumbing for the tolet went under the shower. One of my sons decided to try and catch the mouse with a fishing pole and a piece of cheese, this was great entertainment but did not make up for the lost night of sleep. Next day went to the camp store and purchased a mouse trap, he did not come out again until we turn the lights out the next night.
 
I can tell you that mice also like to chew on the water lines.I had to replace a hot water line going to the bathroom and found the chew marks on the tubing where the leak was.Turned out only to be about a 20 min repair

1990 HiLo Classic
 
We picked up a trio of mice in our 1969 Bon Voyage during the winter of 2005. Two of them starved to death, as we found the corpses snuggled into the nests thay built. The 3rd mouse ended up running circles in our shop vacuum bucket. Little guy made a wrong turn when we were vacuuming up the all the mouse mess.

I finally determined the mice had crawled through the gap between the upper and lower halves. The original seal was pretty much gone... the foam core had rotted and collapsed from age. That summer we went to the National Rally in Monroe, MI, and afterward made a prearranged stop at J & R Repair in Butler, OH. They replaced the seal and we've not had a mouse inside since.

Hope this helps,
Jim
 
Looking through some photos taken in 2006, I found these taken when the top/bottom seal, of our 1969 Hi-Lo Bon Voyage, was being replaced by J & R, in Butler, Oh.

Thought you might find it interesting to see a Hi-Lo with its halves separated!

Jim
 

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i have had good luck putting moth balls in pot pie tin trays under the cabnets,beds and several othere places then take them out long before you are ready to camp to air it out good.
 
We tried the chore boys which worked well caulked in. Also put upside down funnels around the pipes going into bathroom. We were unfortunately able to watch our mouse run around the whole rim of the camper, and jump from the bathroom sink, down to floor, and out by shower. We also put expandable foam everywhere we could see lights from inside. Have to be careful about the foam expanding, too much! Also put a bar of Irish Spring soap, still in box, on each tire and axle. No mice and we store outside in a field at our camping place. Cheri
 
Mice, rats...

I just had some mice in my HiLo that must have traveled all the way to Tenn. and back to Florida. I was hoping that they would get off in Tenn, but they must like the sunshine down here. I bought some of those sticky pads that have that goo on them and it took two days, but I caught the varmits. I still have to find out how they got in. I have been plugging up my wiring trays with the expanding foam insulating material; also some holes under the sink and a hole between the shower area and the sink cabinet. I am plugging up every hole that runs between the cabinets and I am leaving these goo traps in the HiLo and checking them daily until I'm sure that I have captured all of these critters. So far, none were wearing their bikinis when caught.
 
I made sure that the cabinets were completely sealed including the access holes from the stove. Our exterior has flexed enough that a determined mouse can get in between the sides but removing every dish and sterilizing it was not a great way to start a camping trip.
 
Mice!!

We found that these ideas really worked for our camper. We also used the idea of putting the solid mouse poison blocks on the wheels/axles to prevent mice from getting in camper.
Get in the trailer in the dark and shine a flashlight or a bright work light into all the corners of the cupboards, etc. and have someone outside underneath looking for the light coming through. Do the same from the outside in. One place we found on our 1705 was where the frame and the rear bumper met. There was a small opening between the frame and the interior just the right size for a mouse to enter, more specifically about a half dozen of them. They had a nest built in the rear bumper storage space and were running in and out from there. We placed traps and sticky traps in the cupboards and within a short time we had them all. There is a space that the plumbing runs in the length of the trailer and that was their main runway. Placing the traps near any openings seemed to be the best. DO NOT use poison unless you don't mind the smell of dead mice.

We got Chore Girl scouring pads and stuffed those into the openings, you could use steel wool also, mice will not chew on them, or so we think.

Supposedly dryer fabric softener sheets are supposed to repel mice and bugs. I don't know if it is proven but it doesn't hurt to stick some here and there.

Good Luck! :)
 
Get some of those large sticky pads at Home Depot or Lowes; put them every where and check daily. They do work!
 
The glue traps are a good idea. The poison is too slow to get them out. We were taking care of a freinds and I had put poison in his trailer, It's a blood thinner and it makes the mice thirsty. One of them climbed into the sink to drink from the goose neck and died.
 
Mice

I am the co-kitchen manager at our daughters therapeutic horseback riding program. One of my jobs is to clean up the kitchen weekly. I was greeted by a dead mouse in the kitchen sink. Positioned as if it was looking at me. Dead for sure. We have three barn cats and last year it wasn't a problem. Some years are worse than others.
 
EEK a mouse...

buy you some of the large "sticky" traps that they sell at Lowe's or Home Depot. Put them in every cabinet, drawer, sink and water pump access area, etc. Check these spaces every day until you see no more rat droppings. I guarantee you that these traps will catch the critters. The mouse will step in the goo on this trap and he is stuck--can't move. You just pick up the trap and throw it away. I have just gone through this. We scrubbed every inch of our HiLo with alcohol, vinegar and soap and water; then bought us a steam cleaner and steamed the couch and cushions. I sprayed the expansive foam into all of the openings where the cables run behind and under the cabinets. I have closed all visable openings between the cabinets, and where the pipes come into the sink cabinets (kitchen and bath).
Someone needs to invent a giant zip-lock bag to pull the Hilo into..
Good luck!
 

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