Mouse help

Fazer8

Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2021
Messages
22
Location
Green Bay
I have a mouse problem right now in my 2014 21’. I’m trying to figure out where they are getting in. The trailer has spray foam on bottom so it’s hard to see potential entry points. Is plumbing (1 fresh, 2 gray drains and 1 black drain) the only holes in the bottom or are there other spots mice could enter? I just can’t see them being able to get up the smoother sides to the fridge vent area. Thanks!
 
are there other spots mice could enter? I just can’t see them being able to get up the smoother sides to the fridge vent area. Thanks!

Very recently there was a post about mice and that was exactly the situation. Beats me how they get up there. They were squeezing though a very small opening in the wire mesh. :confused:

Ron
 
They can climb the side of your escape. They can go through a very small hole About
The diameter of a pencil . Snap traps
Baited with peanut butter are effective. Some people do not like glue boards. They are effective also. Some people put Fresh Cab in the trailer as a repellant. Some folks use moth balls in little open boxes about 2 inches square with about 10 mothballs in each on the outside of the trailer by the hitch, tires, electrical Cord etc. Some folks use dryer sheets lightly taped To the gasket on the door. Other methods are used too. I do not like the concept of “bait” inside the trailer. Outside ok but not inside. Put duct tape over the drain holes over rhe winter.

If you are inclined, get a bucket. Put a few inches of water in it. “Stretch” ia sheet of freezer paper over the top of the bucket and tape it on. Like a drum head. Put a little handful of birdseed on top of the paper. Make a wood ramp to the top of the bucket. In a few days you’ll see when the mice have been feeding and leaving a little present behind. Feed them for about a week. Then take the seed off and with.a razor blade make an x in the middle of the paler about an inch and a half or two inches across. They can only tread water so long.
Don’t forget the bucket like my friend Jerry. It really gets to stinkin’. If all fails get a rescue cat. Do not over feed the cat.
Iowa Dave
 
Helpful to know they actually can get up the side to the fridge vent. Lots of good ideas for keeping them out too. I need to add a few prevention measures. Thanks!

1 down but I know there is at least 1 more to go. The bait traps have not been very successful here or in the garage as of late. The bucket idea sounds great so ill put one in the garage. I've heard that hot gluing a hard bait like dog food makes it more difficult for them and more likely to spring the trap. We'll see if that works!
 
Helpful to know they actually can get up the side to the fridge vent. Lots of good ideas for keeping them out too. I need to add a few prevention measures. Thanks!

There are a lot of mice where we store our trailer so I went around and attached 1/4" steel mesh.

This is the fridge vent. The mesh is attached with zip ties.

b952Bit.jpg


For the mesh over the furnace exhaust I used stainless steel zip ties. The propane compartment vent, screws were used. I spread dryer sheets throughout all storage compartments just in case. Granted, I may have missed some spots but we've been lucky so far.
 
Helpful to know they actually can get up the side to the fridge vent. Lots of good ideas for keeping them out too.

There are a lot of mice where we store our trailer so I went around and attached 1/4" steel mesh.

This is the fridge vent. The mesh is attached with zip ties.

b952Bit.jpg

Just to clarify, in the mouse problem a few weeks ago, the mice actually climbed all the way onto the roof and gained entry by the roof fridge vent. Pretty amazing that they could squeeze under the plastic vent bottom and go through a small gap in the wire mesh made for the solar panel wires.

Ron
 
Just to clarify, in the mouse problem a few weeks ago, the mice actually climbed all the way onto the roof and gained entry by the roof fridge vent. Pretty amazing that they could squeeze under the plastic vent bottom and go through a small gap in the wire mesh made for the solar panel wires.

Ron

I’m glad you reminded me exactly where to check. Thanks.
 
Mouse prevention solution

We live in very rural northern NM where mice are everywhere. What we have found effective in keeping mice out of the trailer (or vehicles for that matter) is to encircle the trailer with a string of LED lights laid on the ground. This is the product we use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0794SDDP8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also, we do not leave anything that might smell like food to a mouse in the trailer when we park it for a whlte. For whatever reason, the string of LED lights seems to work to deter mice.
Chama (a river in northern NM)
2019 E21
 
For the mesh over the furnace exhaust I used stainless steel zip ties. The propane compartment vent, screws were used. I spread dryer sheets throughout all storage compartments just in case. Granted, I may have missed some spots but we've been lucky so far.

Where is the propane compartment vent?
 
Where is the propane compartment vent?

The OP has a 5.0 with the propane tanks up front in a compartment.

You don't have the same situation. In your case the propane tank cover, being open on the bottom, provides venting.

Ron
 
The mice were able to climb onto the roof because the trailer had a cover. If you don't cover your trailer I don't think they could get up the sides but maybe if you park close to shrubbery or something.

On an older trailer like yours one point of entry could be the pull out electrical cord. They can climb the cord and if the plastic cover is left open and or the cover is damaged, this can be an entry for ants and other insect as well.
 
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Thanks for all of the info. This has been helpful. I did have it covered in winter, but the cover has been off for months and there was no sign of mice after the cover came off. I did think about potentially jumping from shrubs or a tree, but there is nothing close enough. We also have the power cord upgrade, so no entry point there.

I'm adding screening over the furnace and fridge tonight. Hopefully the traps are successful. I hate the things.... they also took out the HVAC in one of our vehicles this spring (built a nest and the blend doors don't work anymore). As much as I've been trapping and sealing the garage they always find ways in. I suppose it's just part of living out of town in the woods. I need to get these things before they do any damage to the Escape!
 
If you are plugged in to shore power you might consider an electronic repeller, available online from Amazon. We started to use them in our garage about 6 years ago and have eliminated the mice problem in there.
 
Just to clarify, in the mouse problem a few weeks ago, the mice actually climbed all the way onto the roof and gained entry by the roof fridge vent. Pretty amazing that they could squeeze under the plastic vent bottom and go through a small gap in the wire mesh made for the solar panel wires.

Ron

As an update: I checked and, on our 5.0TA, the solar panel cables don't enter through the roof fridge vent. They have their own dedicated entry box. I don't know its official name.

j7lkLyo.jpg
 
If you're seeing/catching multiple mice then this doesn't likely apply however I unknowingly brought a mouse into my house in a box that I brought to the basement from the garage.
If you've had only one mouse don't rule out that you may have carried it into the trailer!
 
I finally found the spot they got in. This picture shows the hole for the fresh water intake hose as it goes from the outside fill, through the cabinet and through the floor to the tank. The hole from the factory is larger than the tube and was filled with expanding foam. The mice got through the foam over time. I had peeled away more of the foam in this picture.

The trailer has spray foam underneath that nearly seals off the top of the fresh tank, but there are two spots near the stabilizer jacks that were open. My best guess is they crawled up the stabilizer jacks outside and could get to the top of the water tank that way.

IMG_7630 edit.jpg

IMG_7615 edit.jpg

IMG_7602 edit.jpg

I filled the hole with expanding foam and added a couple layers of fiberglass over the edge of the hole that was larger than the filler tube. I think this will take care of the issue entirely. Hopefully this info helps if anyone else faces the problem. Here's a picture with it fiberglassed.

IMG_7629 edit.jpg

One frustrating bit of tracking this down has been how much Escape seals off the wheel well area. My experience with Scamps and Casitas, those areas are accessible. Not so with the Escape. The cabinet walls completely prohibit access and if there hadn’t been a 1” gap at the top of the cabinet wall where I could sneak my phone’s camera over the edge, I never would have found this. On the kitchen side of the trailer, there is no gap at all and no way to get a camera back to look for any potential issues. Peeling back the cabinet wall to do this fix, I could also see the amount of wasted space behind the cabinets. Escape definitely could have moved everything closer to the wheel wells and given us several more cubic feet of storage.
 
I

Peeling back the cabinet wall to do this fix, I could also see the amount of wasted space behind the cabinets. Escape definitely could have moved everything closer to the wheel wells and given us several more cubic feet of storage.

The f.g. should do the job and keep the critters out.

Several years ago there were some threads about the hidden spaces. Yes, there's lot's of hidden space and some folks have utilized it.

I removed the back of one area and increased the size of my tool storage cupboard. Another person removed all the backs and carpeted the wheel well areas greatly increasing the under counter storage capacity.

Ron
 
Several years ago there were some threads about the hidden spaces. Yes, there's lot's of hidden space and some folks have utilized it.

I removed the back of one area and increased the size of my tool storage cupboard. Another person removed all the backs and carpeted the wheel well areas greatly increasing the under counter storage capacity.


I think I've just added this to my list of off-season projects!
 
Wow, seems like the person who did your trailer was not very mindful of quality leaving such an opening at a crucial spot like a water pipe! They probably thought ho well, he bought the spray foam option so he'll never know we cut a whole too big for the pipe. I hate it when we buy expensive quality stuff like the Escape and employees are not careful to build it correctly. There should at least be some kind of rubber sleeve installed at the whole if they want to have such a big hole for a smaller tube to go through.
 
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