Helpful hints for ants in rv?

[goofyrabbit]

Last time we were down in Disney we rented an RV however after 2 days our RV was crawling with ants. Someone said we should spray the tires with spray. We are going back in our own motorhome and we are trying not to have this happen again.
Anyone with suggestions to help keep the ants/bugs from getting into our RV.

Thank you

 

[lovethattink]

Bring freezer bags to place all opened food, ie. bread, cookies, etc. We do this at home and it really helps. We've even had ants in our peanut butter, so we even place the jar of pb in a freezer bag. Don't allow any water to sit in the RV. Dry all sinks etc. Since the ants are seeking water. Also, you can place an ant trap on the toilet when not in use.

 

[dtsaos]

Is this a normal occurance in RV's? Have been thinking about renting one, but I definetly wouldn't want to have to deal with ant aggrevation on vacation!

 

[goofyrabbit]

I am not to sure since we only stayed in the campground once. There must be good remedies out there because the park is always filled. Thats why I want to be more prepared this time.

 

[dtsaos]

Perhaps it was the RV you rented. My sister once bought a brand new car that was infested with ants.

 

[Nickimouse]

Here you go! http://www.mmmtravel.com/hints_&_tips.htm

I plan to try these tips on our next trip!

 

[rapriebe]

In all the 20+ years of camping, we have only had one time where we had an ant problem. We happened to park our RV on top of a red ant hill and needless to say they crawled up the tires and right into my DH bed. He wasn't to pleased when they started to bite in the middle of the night.

It is not the norm to have to deal with ants in an RV.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

Hello to all!

We did have a problem last Sept. at FW w/ the tiny black ants. I know we had them occasionally in the RV before we left....so we also could have brought them with us and I just did not know it. We did not put everything in ziplock bags or keep sinks dry so that might have been the problem. I will do that next time!

There is a thread on this forum about bounty dryer sheets that keep ants and bugs away. Some people just stuck one in there pockets and never got bit. I am going to try it for ants too. Stick a couple under the sink and such

 

[John VN]

It's not only the tires you have to worry about. Anything that makes contact with the ground and then the RV is an expressway to your RV's insides. You should spray or sprinkle powders around the power cord, the hoses for the fresh water and the sewer hook-up, the cable wire, the jacks, the awning uprights if you extend the arms, the awning tie down straps and anything else that comes off the RV and contacts the ground.

Sorry to sound so alarming but we have been there and now take care of it before it happens. We also do this at home with the RV when it is parked next to our house.

They can also come down from a tree that might be touching your roof.

John

 

[LMC]

I'm with John VN, just spray everything down....sssshhh!!! don't tell the CM's at FW!

 

[becky7953]

I am with John too! We had a camper that we had permanently parked at a campground. We used ant poison all around the camper (looked like sawdust). Also we sprayed it down. That kept the ants away.

 

[goofyrabbit]

Thanks everybody for all your ideas, I know the freezer bags/tupperware is now on my list

 

[terri01p]

Doesn't the campground spray the sites between each uses ? Whenever we go to the beach, I happened to notice that they spray the sites between each visit. I always keep water out for my dog in our travel trailer, and even though I keep my food closed it's still on the counter or by the sink, and so far I have never had a problem with ants, gosh, talking about spoiling a trip, I would hate that, and who wants to keep the kitchen spotless when on vacation, my goodness. I will tell you this though, last time we were at the beach all our outside camper lights were on and when we carried groceries in every mosquito in town was in our camper it was like a bad movie, my DH had to run down to the store and buy mosquito spray, fast, I spent the next two hours cleaning, never do that again, that door stays closed until we RUN in, and trust me when you weight as much as we do that's not an easy task

 

[John VN]

After a site is vacated a CM will come to the site and blow away fallen pine needles and leaves and hose the pad off and the grill will be cleaned of ashes.

As far as the ants......there might be some form of control measures being taken, however, this is FL. and they pretty much rule without a major form of continual attack and in a campground as huge as FW it is virtually impossible to rid the place of the little pests.

John

 

[Carrie Ellis]

Now that someone has mentioned mosquitoes...that was our biggest problem. Of course FL had already had two hurricanes so their was a lot of standing water but mosquitoes were bad! The first night we arrived, we were busy hooking everything up and had the door open quiet a few times. When I finally went in and started getting everything ready for bed, oh my!, there were a million mosquitoes in the RV. I spent 1/2 an hour squishing mosquitoes and wiping the black spot off! After that we made sure that we shut the door quickly. I did not notice them biting us much, though.