Mice!

[MFortie]

So, a question for some of our more 'rural' folks:

Any tricks to keep mice out of the cars, etc. in a rural environment?

My wife and I are fixing up a place (5.5 acres) and moved out of the 'city' and are finding new challenges!

Just today we found a mouse nest made of insulation in her glove box and the other day I found one in our motorhome when I went to get some tools.

The obvious answer is cats, but I'm quite sure the coyotes would be happy if we brought them dinner also. Any other tips would be appreciated!

 

[mattlago]

Have no idea if this works! But I was at my fathers and came across dryer sheets in his boat, car, lawnmower etc in the outer garage. He said "mice hate them and wont go near them". I didnt inquire further, but if they work, that would be cheap and keep your garage spring fresh...

 

[54earl]

I have a radio tuned to NPR in the barn. I don't know if this, or the cat is what keeps the mice at bay.

 

[ZRX61]

Mothballs, get a few boxes & scatter them all over the place. Start at/in the vehicles, then a day or so later expand the pattern. Just one or two inside a vehicle will keep it critter free.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Moth balls can do good work, but you have to be careful where you deploy them. You really don't want them in the car at all, they'll make it smell like your Grandma's closet.

I have had luck by putting shallow containers out near the doorways of my garage and in the far corners the greatest-distance from the doors, and kept the rodents mostly at bay. It also keeps the insects away somewhat, which the rodents will also be attracted to, so it's all good. You have to keep the containers from running out of the stuff (it'll evaporate away), and distributed in this manner isn't too intrusive smell-wise.

One guy on the Cadillac Club forum swears by a product called 'Fresh Cab'. Fresh Cab has a tolerable potpouri smell but the vermin do not like it.

Here's the link to Fresh Cab http://www.earth-kind.com/

I have not tried it, but I may try it, but it looks like it'll be kind of expensive to keep the stuff fresh in our 60X80 shop every three months. Of course, wire and upholstery damage can be expensive, too.

I also keep rat bait out, as I have no pets that frequent our shop. I keep a box on each side of each garage door opening. I do, on occasion, though, still find dead mice on our cars. Luckily, I've discovered nothing, live, or dead, inside our car.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[IONH]

Rat Zapper Ultra has caught maybe a dozen mice for me in my garage.

There is a smaller one for about $15 less, but I suggest you go big or go home.

 

[skyking]

Grandmas closet That is a fact.I put them in my hunting truck one year and couldn't hardly stand it.

 

[Racer_X]

Bounce dryer sheets do not work.
Irish Spring soap does not work.
Both of these are old wive's tales that get spread around a lot.

I will second the vote for the Rat Zapper. Buy the larger one that takes D-cell batteries so you don't have to replace them often. Buy several of them. You will not be sorry. I believe the price is cheaper directly from the manufacturer:
http://www.ratmousezapper.com/_inv/ultra.html

 

[mmhouse]

Rat Zapper Ultra has caught maybe a dozen mice for me in my garage.

There is a smaller one for about $15 less, but I suggest you go big or go home.

I also keep a Rat Zapper in my garage at all times. There are times (usually late fall/early winter) when I will catch as many as one mouse per day or more and other times (typically summer) when I may only get one per month. It keeps the population down considerably.

Another key is to keep food sources like bird feeders away from the house and any stored feed in mouse-proof containers. I like to use small garbage cans.

 

[buildmyown]

I use moth balls in my enclosed snowmobile trailer. tried dryer sheets one year and all they did was use it to insulate the condo they built in the air box of one of my sleds.

 

[Thunderbird SC]

Get a cat !!!! They keep my yard nice and clean. My cat brings at least 3 or 4 mice/rats home a week !!!

 

[Ray-CA]

One other thing that might work is snake skin (not the whole snake, just the shed skin.) If you know anyone with a pet snake or a pet shop, ask them for the shed skin(s) and place them around the shop. Most rodents won't go anywhere near a snake (or the smell of a snake.)

Of course, you could always turn a gopher snake loose in the shop like I used to do. That works much better than just the skin.

Ray

 

[James E]

One other thing that might work is snake skin (not the whole snake, just the shed skin.) If you know anyone with a pet snake or a pet shop, ask them for the shed skin(s) and place them around the shop. Most rodents won't go anywhere near a snake (or the smell of a snake.)

Of course, you could always turn a gopher snake loose in the shop like I used to do. That works much better than just the skin.

Someone on one of the recent snake topic threads talked about a guy who bought a few corn or rat snakes every year from the pet shop and just set them loose in his yard. I thought that was a pretty good idea.

 

[Fenton]

Bounce fabric softener sheets worked very well for me in both of my vehicles. The mice were filling up the air box on my old Camry just about as fast as I could clean it out. One mouse was in the defrost fan when the vehicle started and got crushed into the fins on the fan, which threw it out of balance and I had to take it apart. On my GMC, the mice were chewing up the insulation on the engine firewall and using that to build nests on top of the engine block--nothing like a mouse nest with a high R value.

I asked around and was told by a mechanic to try the Bounce sheets. Haven't had any trouble in either vehicle for two years now.

 

[Bull]

The latest issue of Auto Restorer has a product that a number of guys say works really well. I will get the info for you.

A good mouser cat is worth its weight in gold. Of my two barn cats, which spend the days roaming my property, one is a beast. She has caught around forty mice by now, since the spring, with a few moles thrown in.

 

[losttechnician]

Cat for the mice
.243 for the coyotes.

You will have more mice than coyotes, until the cat learns how to catch mice. Then you still probably won't have many coyotes, but if you do, the .243 is a great way to get rid of them.

 

[redrunner]

Just helped my dad move after 20 years in the same place. He had three boxes of packing blankets packed in wardrobe boxes covered with ceder chips. He found mouse damage about 3 months after moving to his house repacked them with the chips and they have sat in the boxes, in a basement, The packing blankets remained in the boxes for over 19 years with no damage to the box or blankets.

On a side note he always ran a trap line in the basement all the time and caught mice all the time but never near the boxes with the ceder chips. He use a LARGE amount of the chips not just a few!

 

[bimmerZ5]

build a large bird house and adopt a barn owl. they will keep most rodents under control. it worked for us and they are gorgeous birds.

 

[wanted01]

Cats ... I had a problem with mice when I moved to my farm, finally caved and got three kittens for the kids, within three months they were catching mice like crazy and the kids lived the cats. Coyotes keep their distance from the house here ... And three cats have lots of trees for protection. Cats are free from your rural neighbors if they go missing. We now have one cat, and no mouse issues after one year. We gave the other two away after we had a litter of kittens, and have them away to other rural homes.

 

[Bull]

build a large bird house and adopt a barn owl. they will keep most rodents under control. it worked for us and they are gorgeous birds.

How does one adopt an owl? I'd love to have one around here.

 

[mmhouse]

How does one adopt an owl? I'd love to have one around here.

Beats me but I hear it's a real hoot!

 

[Outlawmws]

How does one adopt an owl? I'd love to have one around here.

Neighbors used to have palm trees and we had 3 or 4 around here. When the trees went, so did the owls...

We used to find owl pellets around those palms all the time. great when the kids were in scouts and for elementary school class dissections...

Not sure how palm trees would do around your parts!

 

[Wadd2]

The one and only thing that I've found to work almost 100% is a pain in the **** but works. Get some 18" or 24" wide galvanized flashing. Build a little tin wall all the way around the car and clamp at the back where it splits. Only mice that will get in the car are the ones that snuck in while the tin is open and you have the car out. Otherwise they can't get in. It's too tall and slick for them to climb. My 64 Nova has had bad mouse problems and that's how I fixed it. A trick I saw a seed corn dealer using on his stacks of seed corn bags to keep them out. I still put one trap in the car and once in a while catch a renegade after the tin has been open but then after that no more mice until next time tin has been opened.

 

[MFortie]

I like the flashing idea; I thought about installing a lift and keeping my Jeep up on it!

My wife says she'd prefer the car to smell like Grandma's closet than have mice in it, so mothballs will do for hers. I'll put some in the motorhome compartments too.

We have two cats back at the 'city' house who mostly live indoors; we plan to bring them out and hope they survive. We've got quite a few trees so that might help.

My GSD has become a mouser too; she brought me one last weekend she snagged. Unfortunately, she'll go after the cats too...

 

[fergus]

I have a radio tuned to NPR in the barn. I don't know if this, or the cat is what keeps the mice at bay.

 

[fergus]

Mouser cats. Or a mouser dog...my folks had a Dalmation that killed major mice. My dogs are useless when it comes to killing rodents.

As an alternative, don't be afraid to use some mouse poison inside your rig...it makes them go look for water...and they typically die outside once they drink the water...which makes the poison work. I use it in the attic, and find many dead ones outside on the driveway, side yard,etc. But usually no deadones in the walls/attic stinking the place up.

Also, the outdoor "bucket" mouse trap is purported to work well. Its a five gallon bucket with a piece of wood leaned up against the side for a ramp for the mice to climb up. a 20oz soda bottle with a piece of wire through the middle so it spins. Smear peanut butter on the bottle. Mice run up the ramp, jump on the bottle/bait, fall down and can't climb out. Put water in the bottom so they can't jump...and so you don't have to kill em later.

I'll report back...they're gonna harvest tomatoes in the back field soon...and the field mouse exodus will commence!

 

[mmhouse]

...don't be afraid to use some mouse poison inside your rig...it makes them go look for water...and they typically die outside once they drink the water...which makes the poison work. I use it in the attic, and find many dead ones outside on the driveway, side yard,etc. But usually no deadones in the walls/attic stinking the place up.

This hasn't been my experience but I'm glad it's worked for you. Believe me, once you get a dead one in the wall or in the insulation under the floor you'll want to avoid repeating the situation at all costs.

 

[wb2vsj]

This hasn't been my experience but I'm glad it's worked for you. Believe me, once you get a dead one in the wall or in the insulation under the floor you'll want to avoid repeating the situation at all costs.

I've had the same experience as you with mouse bait/poison. The poison does 2 things - stops their blood from coagulating (Main ingredient is Brodifacoum) so they bleed to death internally and two (and this is debated) makes them thirsty so they try and leave the house looking for water.

So, if they croak before getting out of your house....

We D-con'd when I was a kid and we always had a few every dying in the walls of the old farm house every few years. Gwad, what a stench....

Some info from D-Con
http://www.d-conproducts.com/faq.html

 

[Mmfh]

Around here I have a problem with the mice, especially cars that sit around that I'm going to get to some day. Also the motorhome over the winter used to get its share of them.

Went to the local feed store and bought some "Fox Urine". They sell it for just this reason, keeping mice away. You put it on the ground around the vehicle and the theory is when they smell it they are scared away and won't come back.

It has worked well for me, In the last few years I did see a little poop once in the RV but that was it, used to be stuff tore up all over and of coarse the padding under the seat in the cars always ended up around the engine or in the glove box.

Its always good to use traps too with Peanut butter and frito's chips stuck in the peanut butter.

Mm

 

[NUTTSGT]

Victor traps with Twizzlers.

Many times, I have seen (and been told by others too) PB licked right off a trap. The Twizzler they can lick at but not lick it away. They will bite and pull at it setting the trap off.

 

[fergus]

I use sliced almonds on my traps...they're hard and they slide right under the lip of the trigger so the mouse has to work on it to get it loose. BANG!

 

[Tech Guy]

Posion works well for making sure they leave but anti freeze works just as well. Put little shallow containers on the floor of the vehicle with anti freeze in it. They love the stuff and once they start drinking it, it starts burning from the inside out so they leave to go look for water and die outside. Just make sure you dont have kids or cats around when you do it.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I use sliced almonds on my traps...they're hard and they slide right under the lip of the trigger so the mouse has to work on it to get it loose. BANG!

Twizzler 3/4" long, make one slice along it's length. Take needlenose and open up the bait holder (trigger), slide in the Twizzler and squeeze it back down.

Wait for the snap !

 

[premierplayer]

I've had good luck with bucket traps baited with PB in the shed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=NxwCp7Iskvs&NR=1

 

[CitadelBlue]

http://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/703711-mice/page__hl__mice

OR .... the short answer.....
You can buy it on-line, or maybe find it at a local natural food store or something like a GNC or vitamin store
You want to get yourself a little bottle of peppermint oil
A bottle of about an ounce will be under $10
This is not peppermint extract, it is pure peppermint oil, the oil is so potent you do not want to get it on your hands without washing ASAP
Don't save money and buy some cheap ****, because, well, it will be cheap ****...
Take a few cotton balls, put a few drops on each ball and place them in the car, and for sure get at least one in the area where they had nested
You do not want the peppermint oil balls laying on the carpet, I put them on little trays I form out of aluminum foil
Mice cannot tolerate the intensity of this smell, and you too may find it hard to handle for a second or two when you open the door after the car has sat in the sun on a humid day, but the smell is nice, it ain't the smell of old people like moth balls
Believe me or not, but this stuff works, I store 2 cars all winter in a garage I know has mice in it from time to time, but they do not get into my cars or anyplace where I have the peppermint oil

 

[jjjrmx5]

Bounce fabric softener sheets keeps them away. BIG time. They can;t stand the smell due to it overwhelming their ability to smell food thus locate a food source = death.

Snap traps done with peanut butter and peanuts or glue boards kills them./
Don't get all OMG they are so cute.
Never . ever.

They are pests.
Cats work too.
Iradicate the pest.
Done.
Win.

 

[Mastermind]

agreed, cat (s), spayed or nuetered so they dont infest, i prefer the .17 hmr for coyotes, and a good flashlight/spotlight. not too loud, aim for the reflection

 

[Cadillac STS]

The one and only thing that I've found to work almost 100% is a pain in the **** but works. Get some 18" or 24" wide galvanized flashing. Build a little tin wall all the way around the car and clamp at the back where it splits. Only mice that will get in the car are the ones that snuck in while the tin is open and you have the car out. Otherwise they can't get in. It's too tall and slick for them to climb. My 64 Nova has had bad mouse problems and that's how I fixed it. A trick I saw a seed corn dealer using on his stacks of seed corn bags to keep them out. I still put one trap in the car and once in a while catch a renegade after the tin has been open but then after that no more mice until next time tin has been opened.

I do this. I have a roll of flashing 24 inches high and put it around the car. Just serpentine it around and it stands on its own. Haven't had mice or anything else in while in storage. The flashing rolls up to a nice small roll to store in the off season too.

 

[Ray-CA]

Cats ... I had a problem with mice when I moved to my farm, finally caved and got three kittens for the kids, within three months they were catching mice like crazy and the kids lived the cats. Coyotes keep their distance from the house here ... And three cats have lots of trees for protection. Cats are free from your rural neighbors if they go missing. We now have one cat, and no mouse issues after one year. We gave the other two away after we had a litter of kittens, and have them away to other rural homes.

The key to this solution is to not feed the cats (or just feed them a little bit.) Hungry cats hunt much better and more often.

Ray

 

[kert]

The key to this solution is to not feed the cats (or just feed them a little bit.) Hungry cats hunt much better and more often.

Ray

My cats have plenty of food available and are still avid mousers. Mind you if you had an obese cat, he might not be so good, but it is instinct for a cat to chase and attack little things that move.

Also, the smell of a cat will help keep the mice away. Cats have scent glands on their faces, paws, and at the bases of their tales. When a cat scratches or rubs against something it is claiming it by depositing its scent.