How to deter mice/rodents from moving into your stored Camper VAn / RV?

[Doug-D]

Besides keeping your vehicles clean & not keeping food in cabinets when the vehicle is parked & stored for long periods of time, does anyone have good suggestions for products / methods to keep mice, squirrels, and other rodents from moving into your van?

I've read horror stories of mice eating thru electrical wires and causing very expensive damage.

Anyone have any experience with ultrasonic rodent deterrent products like this one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CV2Q15G...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Overall it gets fairly good customer ratings...nearly 1,500 people can't be wrong??

[Twoxentrix]

Info from a Homes guide article:

How Sound Repellents Work
According to their manufacturers, sound repellent devices emit high-frequency sound waves to frighten or repel rodents such as mice, rats, moles, squirrels and gophers. They claim that the high-frequency noise, which is above the range of human hearing, annoys or frightens rodents to drive them away from a particular area. Some of these repellents plug into a wall outlet while others are battery powered and most have a red indicator light.

Labeling and Legalities
Insecticides and other pest control products are monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, so consumers may believe that in order for manufacturers to legally market sound repellent products, they must be tested and proven to be effective. However, the EPA doesn’t register pest control devices, so manufacturers of sound repellent devices don’t have to submit proof that their product does what they claim.

Effectiveness by Rodent
While rats and mice are easily frightened by strange or unfamiliar noises, they adjust to repeated sounds. This means frightening devices that use high frequency and ultrasonic sounds will be ineffective at repelling these rodents from your home or garden. Tree squirrels and raccoons also become accustomed to repeated sounds and pay little attention to them after a couple of days. There is no evidence that these devices repel moles or gophers either.

[Pntyrmvr]

Park it over gravel and seal up every little hole.

I leave the hood up and block the air intake to the engine filter housing.

That did not stop a robin from nesting on my transfer case 2 years in a row.

[REF]

I had a friggin weasel make himself at home under my warm hood while camped up in BC, fired up in the morning just to have that thing get spun around and spit out on the ground, but not before jumping my belt and as I later found out, seized the fan clutch.
I make it a habit to pop the hood when parked out in critter land and place an LED flashing road flare in the engine bay to keep them out, any light especially intermittent flashing works best.

[AndrewInSeattle]

Previous extended discussion here:
https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...smb-27283.html

The fact that there is so much disagreement online about what works and what doesn't makes me think the various strategies must be very localized to the species of critters in your area, the time of year, the weather, etc.

[Dearranged]

Cat or a black snake. Black snake is a lot less maintenance.

[Twoxentrix]

I've just banked on the fact the 'jell' residue left from spraying a rust inhibitor throughout the undercarriage would help deter rodents - cant imagine they enjoy walking through this stuff but once; smell, tracking it to their nest, and having to clean it off their feet. I could be very wrong in that assumption, but then also haven't had any issues.
Even though I've not come across any evidence of them setting up house, I've also made it a point to leave my windows cracked a little for a day or two in Winter to allow the really cold air to consume the interior (when weather gets down in the 20's) in hopes it would freeze them.

[Steve C]

TwoXentrix may very well be onto something here!

I've been fighting against rodent infiltration for decades now, on various vehicles. I think I've tried all the normal techniques; dryer sheets, packages of spice, peppermint sprays, electronic devices (noise and light), poisons, traps and plugging holes. So far I've not been 100% effective...(or even close)

However, getting back to TwoXentrix's post above, this past Fall I got all three of our vehicles sprayed with Fluid Film and so far I've yet to see any sign of rodents entering our rigs. The Fluid Film was applied to protect against road salt in the winter and stays "wet" like oil. I never considered the lack of rodent activity might be due to the fluid barrier on the undercarriage - until now. Another side benefit to the Fluid Film is when using the black tinted version the undercarriage looks all black and shiny. If curious, you can purchase the product and DIY or have it professionally applied (cost me $300 including steam cleaning first).

Anyone else here have similar observations?

-steve-

[WRK VAN]

A Cat might work! lol

I have heard peppermint scent works to keep those nasty thing away.


WRK VAN

[photographix]

Originally Posted by Doug-D

Anyone have any experience with ultrasonic rodent deterrent products like this one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08CV2Q15G...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Overall it gets fairly good customer ratings...nearly 1,500 people can't be wrong??

I got two of these by the same company: https://www.amazon.com/Loraffe-Repellent-Ultrasonic-Deterrent-Protection/. Instead of batteries, it runs on the vehicle battery. You should start the vehicle periodically to keep the battery up, though.

I had a pack rat problem in the engine bay. They used the firewall insulation to build a nest, and were bringing pieces of cholla under the intake manifold. I killed two rats with traps, and also used peppermint oil for a few days. The problem with peppermint oil is that it evaporated in a day or so.

So far, they seem to be staying away now. We have a large population of kangaroo rats and field mice around here as well, and they haven't been a problem so far.