Your RV provides you and your family with a warm and comfortable place to live while you’re traveling. Unfortunately, that warm and comforting environment is just as inviting to creepy-crawlies as it is to you and your loved ones. Mice, rats, insects and other pests can infest your RV if you let your guard down, especially while it’s in storage over the winter, so you have to be vigilant to prevent the potentially expensive damage that pests can cause over time.
Trailer Source, with three locations in Colorado, is your Rocky Mountain RV dealer. Below, you’ll find some helpful strategies for dealing with and preventing pests in your RV.
Mice & Rats
Rodents are a frequent RV pest and they’re nobody’s favorite thing to deal with because of how destructive they are. Mice and rats can chew through wiring, eat holes in your RV frame and leave droppings all over the place, which creates poor sanitary conditions for you and your family.
Remove all food from your RV when it’s in storage to prevent rodents from nosing their way in for a snack. Go around your RV and block up any holes or gaps you find that mice or rats could fit into, too. You can use mouse traps while you’re traveling, but exercise caution with children or pets in the RV.
Insects
Use an insect repellent spray on the doors, windows and any gaps or cracks in your RV. Be cautious with these, though, especially if you have children or pets. A strategy for reducing insects that is less toxic is the use of strong-smelling soap or fragranced dryer sheets placed in cupboards and drawers, as these smells put off spiders and other bugs.
Ants can be scared away with the use of a powder like baby or talc powder. Roaches and ants alike are deterred by borax, which they will carry back to their nests, thus destroying a full colony of pests all at once.
Bees
Never try to shoo bees, wasps or hornets away in your RV. Stinging insects like these are easily agitated and many people are very allergic to their venom. Copious amounts of soapy water are generally the easiest way to kill these pests, but you may want to call an exterminator if you have a nest so that they can safely deal with it.
Using Mothballs
One great strategy to deter pests is to use mothballs. While these pungent orbs are primarily designed to turn away silverfish and moths, they can work against all kinds of pests, including spiders, mice and even scorpions! However, it’s good to be aware that mothballs are extremely toxic if they’re ingested, so you shouldn’t use them within reach of children or pets. They also should not be used for anything other than as a pest deterrent. Also, be aware that the smell can linger for a while and it isn’t everyone’s favorite odor.
General Prevention Strategies
- Clean up any sticky spills or crumbs as soon as they happen to prevent the odors getting outside and attracting pests.
- Store dry foods in airtight plastic containers that pests can’t invade.
- Sweep and mop floors frequently to remove residues.
- Wash linens and towels in hot water after every trip.
We hope these tips help you to keep your RV pest-free this winter. Think it’s time to invest in a new RV? Now is a great time to buy one! Visit our website to see the selection of new and used RVs for sale at our three Colorado dealership locations. Talk to our friendly staff about our financing options if you’d like to make use of them. Trailer Source proudly serves the cities of Colorado Springs and Denver, CO.
