(Note: This is a recycled post. It has great information from Dave as well as lots of suggestions from our readers, so we are presenting it again for those who have issues with mice in their RVs.)
By Dave Solberg
Dear Dave,
I saw your response about keeping mice out by sealing up access points and using scent deterrents. I was wondering if you or any of your readers had experience with those ultrasonic devices that can go under the hood that are supposed to keep rodents and other critters away? Are they just a scam? Do they work in specific but limited instances? We haven’t had a problem yet but want to keep it that way. (We’ve only been full-time RVing for a year.) Thanks in advance! —Tim, 2024 Leisure Travel Vans Unity RL
Dear Tim,
I have not used them in any of my RVs as I have found them to not work in a residential setting. I bought three different versions many years ago as we had mice in the basement of a new build. My stepdaughter had some, as well, and they did not work!
However, I just did a search on Amazon and found a model that had a 3.9-star rating with more than 2,000 customers rating the unit, so maybe they have gotten better. 55% of those customers gave them a 5-star rating. You can find it on Amazon here.
I did not see any reviews that used it in an RV. It seemed to be a hit and miss if it actually worked, or they were going to keep trying. My concern would be how does the ultrasound penetrate through the various compartments, walls, and flooring.
That, in my opinion, is the issue with any type of rodent deterrent: There is no controlled testing method. That leaves the reviews just opinions that can have way too many variables.
Different types of mice deterrents
In my home, I tried almost every type of deterrent available at the time. That included the “live catch” little tiny house, as I called it, because my wife did not want dead mice or chemicals around—and most did not work.
The live trap did work. However, when we took the trap outside to graciously let the little guy free, I’m sure he beat me back to the house! We tried the dryer sheets, moth balls, and almost every stinky advertised deterrent. I finally convinced her to use a commercial trap system that we had used at the office from Ecolab, which eradicated the entire population.
We have been working on video content for the RV Lifestyle & Repair Club using a 20’ Forest River Salem and had it stored locally in the winter. The first year I did nothing as the inside was pretty much a shell, and we had a few traces of mice droppings in the spring. So this past winter I threw in several bags of Grandpa Gus’s mint packs and found nothing this spring. You can find them on Amazon here.
These are cinnamon- and peppermint-based products that mice do not like. They seem to last longer than traditional mint-based products. However, we had a very warm winter with little snow. Others I talked with that had a unit stored did not see any signs of mice even without using anything.
As I stated earlier, it is difficult to determine what works and what doesn’t as location, temperature, and abundance of rodents differs. I know owners that swear dryer sheets work, my folks used moth balls, and others say Irish Spring soap works. Why do some products work for some and not others?
Let’s hear from our readers what does and doesn’t work for them.
You might also enjoy this from Dave
How do I keep mice out of my RV?
Dear Dave,
What do you use to keep mice out of a camper, especially while storing it outside in the winter? —Kenneth, 2021 Keystone
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After an expensive repair, I have been using an 100% effective Rat Mat for 6 years. It’s an interlocking system of tiles that surrounds the RV on the flat pavement in my carport, plugs into an electrical outlet, and delivers a continuous stream of safe-for-humans current. If you step on it without shoes it will buzz you, but no harm. Thankfully, rodents don’t wear shoes.
I hear coyote urine works. I don’t want to know how you collect that
I have used Coyote urine and it has kept mice out of my garage, car, and RV. The only deterrent that has worked for me.
You can often find it in rural hardware stores.
Hi, Steven. They sell several brands of coyote urine on Amazon. I didn’t see any explanation of how it is collected, however.🙄 Have a good evening/night. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I have used the ultrasonic devices at home and in the RV for years and have had no mice. For storage, I found battery powered ones for the RV. Worked great!
Would you share brand of battery operated ones please? Thank you
I use Earthkind botanical rodent repellant (Fresh cab). It smells like balsam, which mice don’t like, & people like it. It works very well while the RV is stored. We have no problems with mice while we are on the road. Our two cats take care of any rodents then.
I bought them for under my truck hood, and inside my basement on my 5th wheel. When I was in certain parts of Arizona pack rats “apparently” do not like them and move on to RV’s and vehicles without them!
So far no issues for me, but this is hardly a scientific study, but I will keep them!
Victor snap traps baited with peanut butter have never failed to get the job done!
Even better than peanut butter is a piece of Hershey’s chocolate. Tie it to the trigger. The mouse has to really pull hard to get it off. I’ve used P butter and they just licked it off.
The best deterrent is a physical chew-proof barrier. And admittedly difficult to do with 5th wheel & motorhome utility pass through holes and open engine areas. Was at a neighbor’s 5th wheel yesterday helping him find his stored mechanical mouse traps. The saucy critter was chewing open those rodent deterrent pouches and scattering the contents! I saw those pouches myself.
Agreed. Most ultrasonic devices won’t detract a hungry rodent.
Shawn Woods of Mousetrap Monday You Tube tests all kinds of rodent traps and deterents. His test of ultrasonic devices shows that a rodent has to be within a few inches of it to be affected. Thus, not very useful in trying to cover an area. He did have some level of success with Grandpa Gus products.
It’s safe to say that most things do not work except blocking access and killing them.
To see the breadth of his real world testing (666 videos & 2.3M views), see his YouTube channel.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQv9MGcwQg4vvbdVw61mx-XMyhsq9EgmR
This is a great resource that provides real-world evidence of what works and what doesn’t. Unfortunately, his testing clearly shows that electronics, lights, noise, soaps, dryer sheets, and most chemicals/scents don’t work. They only thing that worked reliably was peppermint oil, but he used a really high concentrations in a small area. The bottom line is that the only strategy you can truly count on is:
Remove anything that will attract mice, i.e. foodBlock all points of access with materials they can’t easily chew through and won’t rust away, such as stainless steel/copper/bronze wool, or wire mesh. Combined with spray foam, they’ll also prevent most insect infestations.
We use electronic critter deterents in house and RV; no mice, so have to assume they’re working.
Your assumption is incorrect, as they don’t work, but you apparently don’t have a mouse problem, either. This is exactly what the companies selling this junk count on, people assuming that they work because they don’t see mice, then spreading the word.
Laugh at this if you like, but I put together 2x4s on the floor in a rectangular frame around our motorhome, then stapled Victor M309 glue strips to them. The first set lasted about 3 years before replacement. You’ll be amazed at the variety of things trapped on them! Since doing this, there have been no signs of any critters getting into the motorhome. The one thing it’s not effective against is the dreaded Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. I haven’t found anything that repels them.
We pack steel wool around pipe openings and any holes. Seems to help keep them out.
We use steel wool to block any found / obvious points of access. We have also used Grandpa Gus pouches and spray with mixed results. The pouches tend to only be effective for roughly 30 days before their potency wears off. Sadly, the spray lasts even less. That being said, we have begun to “rejuvenate” the pouches with their spray and that has allowed for a mostly happy medium. We would definitely be open to more effective means of eliminating them without having to smell dead mice…..just saying.
Get a cat…no issues
What Richard said! 🙂
Unfortunately I’m allergic to cats!
Thank you, Dave! We, too, have tried “everything (seemingly if not literally)” and nothing has worked when storing our RV. More recently we think we finally solved our problem. We got 4 “barn cats” from the local animal shelter. After a 3-week adjustment period during which the feral cats were crated with food, water, and a litter box, the cats were released. We feed and water them in the area where they were crated. They sleep in the surrounding out-buildings and stored hay rolls and roam the farm, ostensibly hunting mice. So far, so good, but temperatures have been warmish. Have a great day and safe travels!
Be Humane:The “Have-a-Heart mouse cage trap does work. Used them for 15 years. Care enough to take them over a mile away and let them out there.
Also humane and effective is Transonic brand “Bird-X” repeller works well –I used them for decades. Only $29 at Amazon. Mice stay out and are not harmed by it. But only use in RV in storage because harmful to human ears.
We had chipmunks get into the home basement and store seed in an empty coffee can near the paint supplies. I installed an ultrasonic repeller using the outlet in that area. Never have seen another rodent or signs within 5 feet of that location. LOL. Maybe if I plugged them in in every outlet in the house?
I never have found out exactly where they get in. Our best defense is our (now 8 years old) female cat. No more chipmunks, but she usually dispatches 1-2 shrews a year.
I have been using Tomcat Press and set mouse traps for some time now. I also bait it with their own bait instead of peanut butter. It is a thick blue gel. Just a small drop into the bait holder does the trick every time. My shop at my boat yard was invaded by field mice. I used poison (the green pellets), and I think they lived on that. The whole bag was used, and I never saw one dead mouse. They even ate a hole into the poison bag on the shelf and finished off the poison. No dead mice!
I set 6 of the press and set traps with the gel bait, and the next day, every trap had its prey.
Very effective. The trap is very effective at doing its job quickly. No-touch reset.
The Department of Agriculture in my state, which controls all of the pest control industry, tells us emphatically that the ultrasonic machines do not work. If they did, every pest control company would be selling them. None do. Exclusion, filling any cracks or holes with stainless or bronze pot scrubbers and foam – NOT steel wool, is the solution. World’s best bait for any snap trap, or sticky trap, is a piece of a Slim-Jim. For outdoors, Rat-X is the best. Eliminates rats & mice and nothing else. All natural, no chemicals, and dries out the rat, so no stink.