Tuesday, October 4, 2011

War News

Several friends have sent me the URL to Howards trial of a product called Mouse Free that he is testing . It is sprayed onto the underside of the RV.  It should be interesting to read about his evaluation after a month of having the fiver parked on a ranch lot while he and Linda are gone.


It did not look very easy to apply. He  also mentioned that he had sealed any entry cracks and holes he could find with steel wool. So if he has no mice when they come back he really won't know if it was his steel wool work or the Mouse Free. (if he had wanted to do a real test he would not have put the steel wool in, but his main concern is to discourage the mice from getting in any way he can!)


 I wonder how long it would be effective and how often you would need to reapply it. 


So I've done some reading on The Mouse Free web site and found their warranty.  "The product is guaranteed only if applied by an authorized dealer"  (estimated cost is $10 per foot which would come to $360 for our rig.)  And it must be reapplied by a dealer within 12 months to keep the warranty in effect. 


There are a number of exclusions in the warranty and can be read here.  Including not applicable if you park within 48" of an overhanging tree or leave a door open.  (for how long?)


You can apply it yourself, for what looks like about $130 plus shipping. That's for one gallon and a sprayer.  They also have a free shipping and free sprayer deal with two gallons for $199.  




For now I'm going to stay on a very vigorous bait and trap program.


At this point the RV is very clean.  
No food is in it, and there is no water. 


I am not dealing with  a BIG infestation.  Only a few droppings were spotted, and one mouse was quickly caught. 


Yesterday I added six traps in the RV and bays, and bait under it.  


 I also put three blocks of bait, each on a white paper in two of the largest bays. 


This morning I checked them,  and the three blocks in the bays were GONE!  The traps were undisturbed.  I got down and checked the blocks I had put on plastic lids and slid under the rig. From what I could see, none of them looked disturbed.


I replaced the three in the bays and anchored them with string.   We shall see if they are disturbed tonight. Sometimes it takes a second feeding.


The good thing is it  rained last night,  for the first time in months, and the information on the bait package said that after eating it, the rodents will seek water. 


 The only water is outside.  I hope that is where they will go to die!


We shall see.  


So thanks for the advice. 


 For my followers who are not into RVs this may all seem a bit disgusting.  Mice are not talked about in "polite" society, but they are a fact of life in the RV world.  


Close to nature and all of that.





14 comments:

  1. That mouse free stuff is what Harry sprayed on our fiver a couple weeks ago. He said it wasn't too hard to apply, except that he was somewhat sore from crawling around on the ground for a two or three hours.

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  2. Do you not even keep a little water in the toilet bowl?

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  3. Merikay,
    I hope you win this "Rodent war" you may have to call in some heavy hitters, like a monster mouser.......or two... they clean the area pretty quickly.....:)

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  4. OK, we now have our Tom Cats! We will see. I did find a spot to stuff some steel wool.

    I thought the same thing about the experiment. Now good when trying 2 remedies at the same time...

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  5. This is the second time I have seen this product.
    I hope it does good. Travelers need all the help we can get.

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  6. Lol--people in stix and brix also have mouse issues depending on the season and where they live.

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  7. We just cleaned out under our kitchen sink yesterday (stix and brix). Had some mouse droppings and we had placed bait before our trip. Bait was half gone and no more droppings so far. Plugged up a couple small opening with steel wool.

    Too bad mice are so dirty and destructive as they really have cute little faces!! I try not to think about that!

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  8. I'm bringing snap traps, peanut butter, dryer sheets and emptying out the rig. All food is in plastic bins but you can never be too careful.

    Good luck!

    Erik

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  9. We closed off all the holes and set traps for our mouse/rat problem. It seems to have worked. We'll do the same thing again if they should reappear.

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  10. Golly! I guess there is at least one good thing about living in town: We've never seen a mouse or evidence of one, either in the stix and brix or in the RV. For you guys, I hope they stay away from Alfa!

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  11. Good luck, I hope you can get rid of the little vermin!

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  12. We had an infestation at Ghost Ranch. The steel wool really seemed to do the trick, but we also kept rope lights on at night, under the rig and in the engine compatment. So far no more mice in the last 2 years.

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