Black widow spider
If you are plagued by creepy crawlers that have invaded your RV, or envision them scurrying across your floor when you’re trying to fall asleep, then it’s time to drive them out, and barricade your castle to prevent them from returning. Follow these tips and you could become bug free.
Anywhere that your RV comes in contact with the great outdoors can be a trouble spot. Windows, vents, pipes, tires, and branches touching the sides or roof are just some of the spots bugs will sneak through. Repair holes in screens or loose weather-stripping. If you find open spaces near pipes, vents, and outside water heater and reefer vents use caulk to fill small cracks or steel wool for larger gaps.
Spiders hate citrus – lemons, oranges, limes. Spread citrus throughout your RV, rub orange peels on any surface where spiders could creep around or fill a spray bottle with water and citrus juice for a natural-deterrent spray. Some swear lemon eucalyptus oil is just as effective as DEET in repelling mosquitoes and deer tick bites.
Essential oils in scents like eucalyptus and peppermint are basically insects’ worst enemy, because they find the intense smells overwhelming. Fill a spray bottle with water and several drops of the oil of your choice. Spray the solution in doorframes, floorboards, bookshelves and any other small crevices.
White vinegar is an insect-fighter, too. Spritz doorframes, windowsills, and under cabinets with a spray bottle of water and a dash of white vinegar.
Cedar – shavings or blocks – in closets and drawers not only repels moths but smells great and outdoorsy too.
Want an easy (and tasty!) way to keep the mosquitoes off of you? Eat lots of garlic! When your body secretes the garlic, bugs sense it and will steer clear. You can also get the same effect by sprinkling garlic powder around your RV.
If you like fresh basil for pesto, grow some in a pot and place outside your entry door. Insects do not like the fragrant herb smell.
Sprinkle about a light dusting of black pepper, cinnamon, mint, red chili powder, and turmeric – a few spices you likely already have in your spice shelf.
Sprinkle cinnamon in a line around the bugs’ point of entry and they will not cross it. You can also draw chalk lines or sprinkle cleaning powder around your tires to keep ants from entering that way.
Put a dryer sheet in your pocket while you are hiking and sitting outside to keep mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects out of your way. It sounds funny, but it’s way easier than slathering on the bug spray. Mosquito coils and citronella candles also keep mosquitos away from your campsite and picnic table.
Slice up some onions, toss ’em in a bowl of water, and the bugs will run far away
If you want an insect repellent that doesn’t smell like garlic or onions, mix vanilla extract with water for a smell good insect repellent. You can also add lemongrass extract, lavender, or mint extracts to the mixture too, and you will be smelling great while you fight off the critters!
Keep your RV neat. Spiders love to camp out and spin their webs in cozy crevices. To prevent this, dust often and keep clutter to a minimum, especially in small spaces like cabinets and drawers.
You can find Bob Difley’s RVing ebooks on Amazon Kindle.
Anonymous
Excellent Info to keep all these creepy crawlers away from an RV & think good for inside houses….Thanks So Very Much…M.
Anonymous
Put disposable trap in loose plastic bag for easy cleanup. Even in open drawers…
Barbara Sletmoe
For mice or rats: Put peppermint oil on a cotton ball. Place on a piece of aluminum foil (so the oil doesn’t soak into whatever you place the cotton ball on). Stick several in your RV basement, under the sink or any place you think mice or rats are getting in. They hate peppermint oil. We have used that very successfully.
Denise Lévesque
mint tea bag does the trick, mice hate mint.
Bob Difley
The best antidote for mice is to prevent them entry into your RV. Plug all holes from outside to inside with a spray expandable foam, steel wool, or narrow mesh screens. Look for holes to the inside in the firewall between the engine and the interior, anywhere where pipes or electrical wires enter your vehicle, etc. Place mothballs at entry points or on top of the engine. Once they get in, they breed prodigiously and produce many offspring. You can try live traps (like have-a-heart) and then transport them a LONG way away from your rig. You will need several. Traps with peanut butter on the trigger work, but you have to get out of a warm bed after you hear the “SNAP” and extract the rodent, then reset (make sure there is still bait on the trigger). If all else fails, a safe rodent poison will work but you may have to endure the smell of decaying rodent for a couple days. If anyone else has any “fool proof” methods, add your comments here.
TERRYCARROLL
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR MICE