SEALING AREA IN ENGINE COMPARTMENT TO KEEP OUT MICE!

[LEAH DRAPER]

I have been having a terrible time in prohibiting mice from entering underneath cavities of the body and then the living area of the coach.  I have found in the engine compartment's back wall, a black "paper type board" which initially was secured with just some screws.  Those have all torn lose and allows significant access for those damn mice.  The upper part of this "paper board" has been sealed with the black expanding foam sealant.  IMHO the mice just chew through it.  I have no idea what is behind this "paper type" board but I am suspicious of a mouse entry point.

Does anyone know what might be behind this area??

What can I seal this with that can be safe from the heat of the engine?

I am not in favor of the black expanding foam as it is easy for mice to chew it thru.
I am thinking some type of heat resistant silicone.   
What say you guys.   Would this be an application for high temp silicone?  Or is that over-kill?

My coach has four slides, this is the bedroom area with the closet and washer dryer combo in the rear of the coach.

[Fred Brooks]

          Hi Leah

      You may want to try Sikaflex-221 urathane. It is the same stuff they install windshields with. It is 10 times stronger than rtv silecone. Messy stuff, make sure you wear latex gloves
        Regards, Fred

[Edward Buker]

Leah,

It is so hard to figure out where they come in and in many cases due to access and coach configuration we have no real option to effectively seal things up. If you can find where they might have chewed through an area and know the path then perhaps you can seal up one opening. I think the likely location into the bays is along the frame rails. They run wires and hoses and that is nearly impossible to seal. I think around the slide seals when they are out is another possibility getting to the interior. If you go out at night and inspect and see any light anywhere around the seals they can get in.

I have a good solution when the coach is stored but other than baits and traps, while living in it, I have not come up with anything better. We have had mice get in once or twice in ours over the years.

Later Ed

[Jerry Emert]

Ed, whats your solution when coach is stored?
Thanks
Jerry

[Dave Atherton]

Leah, we have been full timer having owned several motorhome and mice in a several cases
Been a problem. Worn out three Cats and one kitten but still mice keep coming back. Talking
With other R.V. People and used there suggestion and cured our mice problem. Take steel wool and put into areas where you may think is there entry point. You will be very surprised because mice
like to visit the lower bays first than around water pipes, electrical openings.you will always find
behind sink cabinets, bathroom cabinets and in unused cabinets that are not used very much.
These little guys like to chew and remember most of your wiring is made with soy bean oil.and
Next thing funny thing happening with engine operations ( bare wires chewed by mice ). Again
Steel wool corrected our long history of mice. Dave Atherton Retired Cat Mechanic

[Edward Buker]

Jerry,

We did this in both our RV and a boat we stored over the winter and it worked great with no mice damage or nests whatsoever.

I would take a large pail like the large sheetrock compound bucket. We take a used a plastic soda bottle and cap and drill a hole in the center of the bottle bottom and the cap. Drill a hole on opposite sides of the rim of the bucket. Cut a piece of coat hanger to make an axle for the bottle, slide it through the bottle center, and the rim and bend the coat hanger ends into an L to lock them in place. The bottle should spin freely over the center of the bucket on the coat hanger once assembled. I fill the bucket with about 6 inches of propylene glycol (pink stuff) and cover the exterior of the bottle with a layer of peanut butter. I place a board as an easy ramp up to the rim from the floor with a clamp cleat board or a screw to keep it locked onto the rim.

This arrangement is set in the RV. Any mice that get in are quickly attracted, climb the ramp, go around the rim to the coat hanger and then onto the bottle. The bottle rotates and the mouse drops and drowns in the propylene glycol. They drown and sink in the glycol so there is no smell or mess, in the spring you dump out the glycol and the mice, rinse the trap and store it until next year. In an RV like ours I would put one in the main bay and one in the living area. What is nice is you do not have to even check it like you would a single trap. Set it up and forget it, worked perfectly every year...

Later Ed

[Jerry Emert]

Ed, that is a really cool trap.  I may set one up in the woods out back just to see it work!  Of course I'll let the mice out.
Thanks

[Edward Buker]

It worked particularly good in the fall and winter up north when food became a little less available then in the summer. Nice that it was self tending. Sometimes I would have 8 or 10 in the trap by spring. Let me know how it works out for you if you give it a try. If mice near you like peanut butter it will work.

Later Ed

[Joel Ashley]

Here in Western Oregon the mice prefer Filberts, thank you very much    .

[Edward Buker]

Joel,

You have those high class mice :-)

Later Ed

[Dan Murphy]

Ed
I used similar trap for chipmunks that were invading our patio area at our old house. It was just a five gal bucket with a ramp out to it from the patio retaining wall and I filled it with water about 3/4 and just put sunflower seeds on top the water. The chipmunks would actually jump in the water to get the seeds and drown. I was catching one or two everyday until i wiped out the whole bunch of invaders.
One day I came home from work [ouch I hate that word} and I had trapped 2 chipmunks and a cardinal bird had actually drowned in the bucket also so my wife made me put the "pool of death" away! LOL

[Edward Buker]

Dan,

I wonder if the "Pool Of Death" concept would work for squirrels. Those pests are at our squirrel proof feeders all the time. The feeders handles the squirrel issue pretty well so I can live with that. The issue is that they chew on any birdhouse we put up, chew on our wood frame screen room, damage the screening chasing each other around, and to top it off they go up on the house roof and chew the lead boots off of the vent pipes. I wonder if the "Pool Of Death" could become the "Alabama Squirrel Crypt of Doom"....

Later Ed