RV Design Invites Mouse Problems

Above, the RV garage protects the motorhome from the elements and mice. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Three years ago, I dropped off my Winnebago Minnie Winnie at an Albuquerque Ford dealership to check on a problem I was having with the dash air conditioning. They told me that they would need a week to diagnose the problem.

As I was going on a cruise that week to Key West and Havana, this would be a good time to get the problem fixed.

So, I dropped off the RV and headed to Florida.

No sooner than I got to Florida (or maybe while I was at the Albuquerque Sunport waiting for my flight), they called me and said they found the problem: mice. So they fixed it and I picked up the RV when I returned after the cruise. 

Thankfully, I no longer have a mouse problem as I now store the RV in its own garage, the GOCO Beast Barn, and the stray cats I feed have eliminated the mice. I haven't seen any for three years since I started feeding the cats.

Above, the stray cats I feed have also been a big help in
eliminating rodent problems. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

RV Travel has an article on how poor RV designs invite mouse trouble.

It begins with:

Sometimes you shake your head and wonder at something so outrageous that you marvel how it came to be. Here’s an example.

Emily and I attended a Seattle-area RV show a couple of weeks ago. One of our advertisers, Tom Sharp, had a booth and we wanted to meet him. Tom invented and sells a product called BoxKat. It’s for RVers and motorists who have problems with mice entering their vehicles and chewing wires. It’s a huge, costly problem, which you know if it’s happened to you (60% of our readers report it has).

Emily and I visited with Tom, a very enthusiastic and talkative man. We discussed mice and mice prevention. The most important way to keep them away, we all agreed, is to prevent them from entering our RVs or other vehicles to begin with. That’s where Tom’s product comes in.  

Later, we explored some of the RVs on display. And, oh, my goodness, were we befuddled when we came upon a travel trailer with a ridiculous design flaw that begs rodents to come in, chew, and end up costing the RV’s owner a bundle to fix. I took photos. Everyone I have shown them to so far has marveled at how the design is one of the stupidest they have seen on an RV.

To read more, go here.