BUGS?

xpatico

HI All,
Has anyone experienced any unwanted bug intrusion into the cabin area of their camper. Ants? Mosquitos? Heaven forbid termites? Have you found them to be pretty much bug-proof? If they have gotten in, how have you managed to seal the living area? Asking for a friend.
Camp on!
Rob

Verna

I had itty bitty ants on the kitchen counter last summer. A liberal application of drops of Oil of Peppermint got rid of them. Source—no idea. 

Spiders—occasionally put drops of Oil of Peppermint in the cargo areas and the spiders will disappear.

Other bugs—only those who get in as I’m opening the door. Turn the roof fan on high on exhaust and then take the screen off the fan the next day and sweep the bugs off. I also use a small bug zapper to kill the flies and mosquitos. (The screen will seem like it can’t be removed, but be patient and pry around the outer edge with a plastic scraper and it will come off.)

I did have a short visit from a mouse, but it left before I even knew it was there. I had been camping in some remote Forest Service Areas for a week or so. Austin and his repair guys could not find any openings on the passenger side for one to enter. (An even stranger occurrence was a rodent nest on top of the cabin air filter of my previous Tacoma in the same time period. Routine service found it and cleaned it out for me—yeah!)

And, in case you didn’t realize it reading the above, I don’t use bug sprays inside the 400. I will reluctantly use Repel on me outside if I cannot stand the bugs. The Oil of Peppermint is my go-to bug deterrent.

Oil of Peppermint can be found on Amazon, in health food stores and in some pharmacies. 

AirBoss

@Verna
Back in the day when I kept my boat moored in a large marina I used a similar spray. Spiders and birds are problem with boat owners and keeping them under control is full time job.

The thing about usig essential oils is that you have a choice as to how you want your boat or trailer to smell! One mixure I used was a blend of 10 drops of Texas Cedarwood, 10 drops of Orange or Peppermint extract, and 10 drops of Lavender oil in a spray bottle with a little bit of bio-degradeable soap. Spriders sensors for taste and smell are located on their legs and near their "feet" so when they run across this mixture, they flee. 

Worked like a champ and the boat had an aroma of a 4-star Spa! 

Bayliss

@xpatico, it's a bit off topic, but @Verna's mention of a mouse reminded me of an experience I had last year.  If you are camping in an area with a lot of chipmunks/squirrels (just about everywhere I camp, it seems), you may want to keep your door closed.  One morning we were relaxing at our site when the camp host stopped by to visit.  She had her very inquisitive dog with her (always on the job!).  The dog immediately alerted to something inside our trailer, so we let him enter the trailer to take a look around.  Within seconds, a very scared squirrel made a hasty escape from the area under our bed.  We figured out that the squirrel easily entered the trailer by slipping under the door screen.  Lesson learned.  As far as mice, there are a few holes in the metal frame under the trailer.  I plugged those with steel wool.

This thread is worth reviewing:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/8095/are-mice-an-issue/p1