Mice on gravel verse grass????

gmccool

Well-known Member
I park our fifth wheel camper at our farm & spend the night quite often. (we live in town 4 miles away) I noticed indications of mice in the underbelly lately. I now just park it in a area where I have been keeping the grass mowed as if I were mowing my lawn. My question is would mice be not so apt to walk around on gravel verse grass. I have no problem putting gravel down if it will help detour the problem of mice trying to get in the camper.
 
You will have fewer mice on coarse gravel. They don't like it as they have not where to hide or burro. The grass is providing them a place to hide and burro through so they can move without being spotted. So gravel a parking spot and keep it totally free of vegetation. Then spray some type of repellant on the under side of the trailer.
 
Thanks JD. I was thinking the same thing. Any idea on repellant other than moth balls or drier sheets. I have a couple dogs so I don't want them getting into poison. Gerald
 
Whether it's true or not I was told mice don't like larger rocks because of possible snakes in the rocks having them for lunch. JD is right about gravel. They have nowhere to hide.
 
Mouse out and Mouse free are two that repel mice not poison them. So your dogs would be safe. The Mouse free is use by campers widely. I think you spray the wheels/tires and any other entry points.
 
I am not so sure about this My pole barn shop has a 3 foot wide very coarse rock "moat" all around the perimeter. I kill, trap poison, dog s catch, shoot with pellet gun about 100 mice a year. Seems like they have no problem crossing that barrier.
 
I would for sure keep two or three of those mouse poison trays in there year round. Look for dead ones with good light when you go up there. When you are gone and no pets around put the poison outside all around the camper.
 
Get you a cat to hang around. Dont feed them much store bought cat food and they will be great mousers. Awesome around barns. Weather you like cats or not they will help.
 
(quoted from post at 13:24:44 07/29/15) Get you a cat to hang around. Dont feed them much store bought cat food and they will be great mousers. Awesome around barns. Weather you like cats or not they will help.

I always kept a bunch of cats around here. Fed them just enough to keep them around. Would get a few mice in the house, but that wasn't too bad to deal with. Our last cat got hit on the road last winter. Now the yard is full of rabbits, the brush is full of chipmunks, and the house is full of mice. Spent most of the winter running a mousy trap line in the house. Maybe I better hunt up some more cats.
 
I know an old timer that had a small airplane he was extremely fussy about. When he parked his plane in his shed he put tin flashing around the wheels. (I wish I had a picture to explain it better) The flashing was probably 12" wide, he unrolled around the perimeter of the wheels and tipped it up on end to make a tin barrier,...to this day I haven't heard of him ever getting mice in his plane.

My wife's uncle did the same thing around his motorhome when he parked it in our shed for the winter and he had no problems either, though we have a guy come out and set out traps and bait in our sheds, it could be that was doing the trick but better to be safe than sorry.
 
Mint oil, extract, they hate it, dryer sheets work too. Gravel and any open clear area, they will avoid for the most part and you can tell by the way they act when it gets dark, as they cross or travel through areas like that, they are very quick about it, they know they are prey for sure. They'll cross a wide open area at night, not in the day time though from what I have seen. Grass, vegetation and clutter, or other habitat, or any kind of food sources has to be considered as par of the problem. Multiple barriers, such as the mint oil/extract, hardware cloth or flashing/tin to close off any access + cats if you can get some or have any. We had a bunch roaming this area, I only see one left this summer and I know whose it is, + one more that I know has a home somewhere, I'd see them taking mice daily at times and see them in the fields and woods at times. These are hunters for sure, that's the kind you want.

Wood chucks exhibit the same exact behavior, they will use cover anytime they can when on the move and they do not stay in the open very long, so if and when they want to go from den to den or like here, a den to this house, and under the porch, they are very tactful as to how they do it and they keep moving until close to known cover or an alternate den again. Interrupt that path or the destination, don't give them an opportunity to have that destination accessible, they won't linger around, they'll find cover elsewhere.

The thing is, they'll establish a safe route if the destination is accessible, they'll use it every time, they do not seem as smart as rats in that regard. If you don't allow them to establish that destination the first time, they won't linger in the open for long or at all for obvious reasons. SO whatever you can do to establish that barrier is what will work. Any place you have seen signs of them, droppings or paths, urine odor, clean and remove the odor, they are attracted to it. If there is a significant population, multi catch live traps, the 5 gallon bucket with a ramp, the dowel and beverage can with bait that rolls and drops them into the water are effective ways to go on the offense and knock down the population.
 
We use " Cab Fresh " in our 5th wheel, for the summer I have a bag in the basement in the Rv and the winter time, we put a bag on the counter in the back and on a dresser in the front. Haven't had any problems with mice. We do put everything in plastic containers with covers so there is no place for them to built nests.
 

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