I lived in a rustic cabin for a summer and it was IMPOSSIBLE to keep squirrels and rodents out. Now that I have my own cabin I want to make sure that the only family living there is mine, not a huge rodent family. Once you get into the cabin lifestyle you are forced to become very in tune with your cabins needs and with the culture of the cabin life. So, I decided to write down the tricks that I found helpful when I was living in a squirrel infested cabin and some other information that I research and found to be pretty credible. 

So, how do you keep rodents out of a rustic cabin? Find the holes and the cracks that could lead inside your cabin and seal them. Getting rid of rodents is a complicated process that has quite a few steps, but your biggest goal should be to seal up holes and cracks so that heat can’t get out of your house and rodents can’t get in. 

Throughout this article I am going to share the things that I have found useful when caring for my cabin, and also share some other common practices that could help even more. Before we get into how to keep rodents out of your cabin it is important to know how they are getting in, why they are getting in, and what you can do to make your home less of a target.

Why do Rodents Keep Trying to get into My Cabin?

All rodents, especially mice, like to find warm safe places to live. As they scurry around at night they are always searching for a new source of warmth. If a mouse is walking around near your cabin and suddenly starts to feel some heat coming from it that little mouse will instantly switch what it is doing and start to follow this new heat source. Mice will keep searching until they find a hole or crack that leads inside your cabin. Once they make it inside they can make a home out of your insulation and pretty soon your walls can become a rodent motel. That is why it is very important to look at what mice are looking for in a nice home and make your cabin seem like the opposite.

 How to Plug up Holes and Cracks in Cabins that Mice can get Through

After living for a while with squirrels as surprise guests I soon found that I couldn’t take it anymore. So I did some research and found a way to fill the holes and cracks that were in my home. One night we went outside with a flashlight and looked for all of the tiny cracks and gaps that we could see. It is important to remember that mice can fit through holes the size of dimes and if there isn’t enough room the little buggers will make room. I really enjoyed a particular filler that seemed to work well. It is called Great Stuff Big Gap Filler and can be found in a lot of stores. For me personally, I prefer using Amazon because they have competitive prices, quick shipping, and they deliver right to my door. I really like this because I am a busy man and the time that I have with my family I like to reserve for my family and not out running errands for our cabin or home. If you’re interested in buying Great Stuff Big Gap Filler or even just looking into it I provided the link at the bottom of this section. 

Another great tool that I found that helped plug up cracks and keep the rodents out was using a rubber threshold under our doors. This sealed the crack under our doors that led to the outside and made our cabin that much more fortified against the sneaky attacks of the outdoor rodents. We tried using those plug-in rodent deterrent things and found them to be utterly useless. There isn’t a lot of data out there that either supports or negates using electronic rodent deterrents, but with the research that has been done it is clear that mice quickly adapt to frequent sounds. Mice then aren’t really deterred by these devices.

These are the two ways that I found to be most helpful in my personal battle with rodents, but there are a lot of other ways that can really help. When sealing up holes and cracks there are a few other ways to tackle them that can be useful. Like I said my favorite is the Great Stuff Big Gap Filler but you can always use a copper pad or a metal patch to seal up the hole. Using either of these two things can be nice because the mice can’t chew through them. If you are going to use an expanding foam or the Great Stuff Big Gap Filler it is always smart to remember to sand them down afterward so there’s a smooth surface that mice can’t chew through. If you leave any of that stuff unsanded it gives mice and other rodents a great chewing starting point and makes your house more vulnerable.

Tips on how to Keep Rodents From Wanting to Come into Your Cabin

There are a lot of simple things that you can do to keep rodents out of your house that are not time-consuming and are pretty effective. The most important one is obviously to block up your home so that rodent can’t get in but if we turn our focus into the house there are 4 things my wife and I have learned that make our cabin seem less like a rodent hotel.

1. Controlling your garbage. Little mice and other larger rodents are often very attracted to garbage and unfortunately as humans we tend to make a lot of it. Because garbage is normal and can be rather gross to us we normally don’t want to keep it with us inside our cabins so we normally put it out back or down by the curb. Unlike humans, rodents find trash to be an irresistible treat and will do almost anything to get into it. Because of this normal outdoor trashcans rarely serve as a deterrent for raccoons and other rodents. A great way to ensure that your garbage doesn’t end up strewn across the yard is to buy an outdoor garbage can with a lid that locks. They are great investments and they work incredibly well.
2. Keep your food safe and sealed. Every mouse that enters a cabin will need food eventually and where there is unsealed food there tends to be fat and happy mice. I can be a pain to buy thick resealable containers but these become extremely helpful when you leave your cabin unattended for long periods of time. That way your staple foods that you don’t want to drag back and forth with you every trip can remain fresh and untouched by unwelcome mouths.
3. Trim those pesky trees. I have a lot of experience with squirrels inside cabins and I can attest that it is not fun. One of the easiest ways for squirrels to enter into your cabin is via the trees that hang over your roof. So if you are tired of being kept awake by the scurrying of little feet running to and fro at night take some time and trim all the trees around your property so that none of the branches are hanging near or over your roof.
4. Fruit trees. If you have fruit trees near your property it would be wise to pick up any wayward apple or nuts that fall close to your cabin and throw them away. Manny rodents will find them as irresistible food and then noticing your nice warm cabin will try to make it their home. So be careful to not only pick up after yourselves but also to pick up after nature.

Related Questions

What Scents Keep Mice Away? Mice do not like the smell of peppermint so if you start cleaning with it and spraying it around your house it can help act as a deterrent for any mice that might want to make your cabin their home.

Can Mice Climb into Your Bed? Mice are very smart and very efficient climbers they can easily climb walls and easily climb into someone’s bed. On the plus side unless you have a very very serious mouse infestation it is very unlikely that a mouse will ever actually climb into your bed.