mice in my boiler

Well I hope some veteran boiler users can help me out here. I have my EKO 25 in an outside boiler shed and last night while I was out there I just happen to see a mouse come out from under the boiler jacket and run away. Also saw that a bunch of paper I use for starting fires was all chewed up. Concerned about nests, stink when I fire it back up again next fall, chewing on wires, etc. After looking the jacket over there is gap all around on the bottom. How have other people dealt this this issue? Thanks.
Bob

I have had the same concern, so i put out D-con. My boiler is in a unattached garage, and I have always kept a few boxes of D-con out there. I have used this for storage and mice are a nuisance. In the fall, when its cooling off outside, mice come a running, migrate back into it. Seems to be the easiest way to deal with them.

Also in years past I have used a bucket 1/2 full of water. Plank up to it, peanut butter on the other side, splash

Metal tape over the holes, steel wool stuffed into the holes or sheet metal corner brackets held in place by magnets to stop further intrusion and d-con to control the population. Another thing would be to use a storage tank and heat your dhw during the summer. I use the latter method (minus the tank for now) and don't have a problem.

I have used dryer sheets( Bounce) when storing the snowmobiles for summer. Knock on wood no mice yet. Stick some in the holes and see what happens.

How about a cat in the boiler room

I was gonna say pet snake but just thinking it gave me the chills.

Try an electric-powered ultrasonic rodent repeller in the space you have your boiler in? I put one in the kitchen of my farmhouse, and it does seem to have made a difference in keeping the mice out.

Or- as long as you are sure no pets can or will get in there, put out a dish of automotive antifreeze for the mice to drink, and replenish it periodically. The ethylene glycol will taste sweet, so that they'll find it appealing to drink- but it's toxic. This is why it's imperative that it not be in a place pets could get to it.

We did that trick once in our trail groomers. The mice ate part of it up.

An ex girlfriend of mine had the idiot idea that I should welcome the mice into my home as fellow living creatures [excuse my lack of subtlety].

That'd be one thing if they didn't do so much damage; however, in the process of rewiring my old house, I found one spot where a mouse had eaten through the outer jacket of the wiring, and the insulation of both the hot and neutral, and the zorched carcass was right there to show for it; the only thing that kept the house from burning down was that once the critter toasted itself, the physical spacing between the wires prevented any arcing/ fire.

here's another technology one could deploy-

http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/M260

by the way, once you catch them, you can throw them in the gasifier once you have the bed of coals going- rodent crematorium...

I'll try the sealing off methods but from what I can see on the EKO 25 there are a lot of spots for mice to get in (all along the bottom edge of the boiler it is open, both sides and back). Our barn cat hasn't found the boiler shed as a good hunting spot yet, maybe I'll move her water/food dish in there so she'll spend more time in the vacinity (she didn't live there this winter so she doesn't know what a wonderful warm spot it is).
Has anyone ever used moth balls to keep mice out. My folks always did that in the attic, wasn't sure if the only thing it did was make everything smell.
Bob

I've always had good luck with mothballs (naptha-based) stuffed into crevices/tractors/whatever.

Friend of mine rebuilt a Chevy 327 engine in the fall then covered it on the engine stand while he focused on restoring the car. Went to install the engine a few months later only to find that mice had stuffed the manifold, cylinders, and water jackets with Purina Dog Chow.

Mouse poison. Lots and lots of poison. Different kinds too. Use several different brands. Poison, poison, poison.

Here mousy,mousy....take that...ha,ha,ha,ha. :coolgrin:


Okay, I'm back now.