Keeping Mice Out Of My Drill Press....???

[Crow Horse]

Any ideas as how to keep mice out of my drill press? Apparently they believe that it's a great place to sore their seed cache which jams the drill press. Moving the drill press and getting cats (we have a metric boatload) is not an option. Are there any effective repellents?

Today I had to remove the quill assembly for the second time in app. 3-4 months to clean out seeds which jammed the quill. I believe they are entering from the motor side.

 

[bscman]

Any way to safely block the entrance they are using?
Copper mesh, steel wool, or 1/4" or finer welded wire usually works.

 

[Maxcustody]

100% peppermint oil, I buy it from Amazon. I live in the woods and was having problems with them getting in vehicle engine compartments. I have been using it for 3 years and no more issues.

 

[Jim greengo]

Maybe use it more often.

 

[Firebrick43]

5 gallon bucket mouse trap. Put a few inches of used antifreeze in the bottom so the mice don't stink or it doesn't freeze.

 

[gleman]

Is the drill press outside or inside?

All the suggestions sofar are solid.

I live in the woods and mice are a menace if not taken care of. Mice made a nest of the arm of my emergency Carhartt I keep in the back of my SUV one year!

I like the peppermint oil suggestion and my neighbor stuck a semi-feral cat in his shop.

I eyeball the **** out of the buildings before late fall every year looking for small openings too.

I quit using poisons but Tomcat makes a trapped block that other animals can't get into.

 

[loganb]

Had Mixed success with mothballs as well

 

[Wyoming09]

Had Mixed success with mothballs as well

I, too, had success using moth balls. When we still had a pop up camper I would put two trays of moth balls in it , one at each end, for the winter after the last trip of the season. Never once did I find mouse droppings in it in the spring.

 

[larry_g]

If said drill press has an easy open guard on top, leave it open. Mice want places to hide, leaving the door open removes the safe place.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Dagny]

12 gauge

 

[Skyman]

Surround the base with sticky traps. Make sure they can't climb up the power cord.

 

[Mick56]

I don't use poison, but mix up half flour and half plaster of paris in a little dish. The critters eat it and die. If an animal eats the dead mouse, it will cause no harm.

 

[Rusted Nut]

Connect the ground wire to 240v.

 

[Lwel9226]

Bright lights..... Get an LED work light.... Shine it on the area you don't want them to be....
LED's don't take much power to run and rodents want to be in the dark....

LynnW

 

[jonesg]

Any ideas as how to keep mice out of my drill press? Apparently they believe that it's a great place to sore their seed cache which jams the drill press. Moving the drill press and getting cats (we have a metric boatload) is not an option. Are there any effective repellents?

Today I had to remove the quill assembly for the second time in app. 3-4 months to clean out seeds which jammed the quill. I believe they are entering from the motor side.

barn cat.

 

[Rc_Guy]

getting cats (we have a metric boatload) is not an option.

barn cat.

 

[californiamilleghia]

Does that seem to work well ?

And where do the dead mice end up , my brother had them die in the walls and stink for a long time !

 

[AmericanMechanic]

Seems the root problem here is keeping rodents out of the building. Solve that and you solve the problem of rodents in the drill press

 

[kyrbz]

I read that RV and vintage car people put bars of Irish Spring soap in vehicles to drive mice away. I can confirm that this does NOT work. When I tried it, the mice ate the soap. I suspect the makers of Irish Spring started this rumor to boost sales

 

[gleman]

Does that seem to work well ?

And where do the dead mice end up , my brother had them die in the walls and stink for a long time !

Amen! That's why I don't use poison.

In the nineties we converted the family cabin into a house and the amount of poop, mummified mice and skeletons in the walls was disgusting.

 

[Firebrick43]

Seems the root problem here is keeping rodents out of the building. Solve that and you solve the problem of rodents in the drill press

Sometimes that is impossible. Around here after the crops get harvested the mice are trying to get in. I haven't seen a garage door seal yet that they cant get past. And even with solid concrete walls, no non sealed penetrations I had a half grone one get in the house. It took a while to figure where but they chewed the bottom seal of one of the entry doors and squeezed through the crack. An adult mouse can flex its body through a 1/4" gap.

Stinkin little devils.

 

[Crow Horse]

Impossible to seal the house in a practical sense. The house is 183 years old with a stacked stone foundation. Inside the house, rodents aren't an issue at all. If one does get in, they have a death wish. One of our 30 cats (we run a cat rescue/sanctuary) will take care of it in short order. The drill press is located in a screened in "porch" which the cats don't have access to. Unfortunately this safe zone for small critters becomes an annoyance. I'm going to give the peppermint oil a shot and hope for the best.

None of our cats are outside cats. Most were feral at one time but have rehabbed and made the transition into domestication quite well. Outside cats don't live very long here. Predation, vehicles, and disease take their toll....

I forgot to mention that I live in a rural,agricultural area. There's no shortage of both large & small critters....

 

[Crow Horse]

Around here after the crops get harvested the mice are trying to get in.

Very true, along with seasonal weather changes.......

 

[jonesg]

Impossible to seal the house in a practical sense. The house is 183 years old with a stacked stone foundation. Inside the house, rodents aren't an issue at all. If one does get in, they have a death wish. One of our 30 cats (we run a cat rescue/sanctuary) will take care of it in short order. The drill press is located in a screened in "porch" which the cats don't have access to. Unfortunately this safe zone for small critters becomes an annoyance. I'm going to give the peppermint oil a shot and hope for the best.

None of our cats are outside cats. Most were feral at one time but have rehabbed and made the transition into domestication quite well. Outside cats don't live very long here. Predation, vehicles, and disease take their toll....

I forgot to mention that I live in a rural,agricultural area. There's no shortage of both large & small critters....

Up in northern maine the farmers here leave a vent open at the peak of the roof for barn owls, they love mice.
Thats plus a barn cat will keep them in check.
Chickens kill mice too.

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

I read that RV and vintage car people put bars of Irish Spring soap in vehicles to drive mice away. I can confirm that this does NOT work. When I tried it, the mice ate the soap. I suspect the makers of Irish Spring started this rumor to boost sales

Same here.

 

[paulsomlo]

100% peppermint oil, I buy it from Amazon. I live in the woods and was having problems with them getting in vehicle engine compartments. I have been using it for 3 years and no more issues.

My significant other swears by peppermint - she uses Dr. Bronners pepperment liquid soap, just wipes it here and there, on countertops, etc..

 

[pooterguy]

A family of rat snakes guard my garage. No roadents or crawling bugs.

I dug a tunnel extending under the garage to allow them to hibernate in winter. The snakes seem to be well-fed and quite happy with their habitat. They are docile for most of the year and don't seem to spook out if I pick them up when they wander into the garage. I think some of the youngsters think that I'm their mama.

 

[65ranchero]

Bait traps outside perimeter of the area.

A lot of sticky traps around the indoor area in question seems to work well for me.

 

[cjarvis]

I wonder if a camphor block might work?