An unattended RV can provide shelter, nesting material, warmth, and hidden
access to wiring, ductwork, insulation, and stored belongings.
Within the first week, they can begin nesting inside the furnace,
chewing through the inexpensive plastic ductwork that runs under the
floor, and pulling insulation from the walls to build nests behind the
cabinetry.
They can also contaminate the surfaces they cross with urine and
droppings — including the kitchen counter, the bedding, and the inside
of cabinets where food is stored.
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By the time you open that door in spring, the damage is not a
nuisance. It is a project.
One RV owner described pulling and decontaminating the entire furnace
system and replacing the plastic ductwork after a single winter of
mouse access.
Another described finding a nest built directly inside the heating unit
— and a repair bill that started at $1,200 before they had discovered
everything the mice had reached.
AND HERE IS THE PART THAT MAKES IT WORSE
Most of It Is Completely Preventable.
Not with traps. Traps only catch what has already entered.
Not with poison. Poison can create a different problem when a mouse
dies inside a wall cavity, furnace, or heating unit.
The better approach is to make the RV itself communicate one clear
message to every mouse that approaches while you are gone:
This is not a safe place to be.