I’m starting to build up my 2/3yr supply of wood and I was wondering what everyone does to limit mice in their wood. This year I had my wood on three pallets, and placed a bait station at one end where I could refill it when needed. Is there a better way? I don’t want my yard to be a mouse sanctuary.
Mice in wood
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kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Single rows off the ground. No poison. The snakes, local cats, hawks, and fox will manage your vermin issues. Unless you kill the all with the poison.
Around here garter snakes have a taste for wood piles. Which isnt so bad because I'm sure they keep the mice numbers a bit lower
JamesGuido
Feeling the Heat
...don't always work.
i've been storing firewood for 35 years and farm/barn cats frequent my yard and wood pile yet i still find nests two to three feet up deep inside the cords.
i'll see cats fight over "camp" spots atop the wood piles, on the nearby fence, all jockeying for the ultimate mouse position...
i have given up... lost my will to combat them.
I don't have a problem with mice, I find nests in my wood piles but the mice are usually long gone by the time I'm bringing the wood in
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Seal your home so they don't come in, and leave nature outside be nature.
The problem I have with mice in the piles is the urine smell. It does not matter if off the ground in single rows or pallets they are there. Along with that there were snake skins I found in November. I usually get rid of the nest when I see them. Problem with poison you don’t know where they are going to die and when a predator eats the poisoned mice you can kill the predator such as an owl, Hawk, fox etc. This was a news story this week in my area where an American Bald Eagle was killed that ingested rat poison. I have a Red-tailed Hawk family on my property along with an awesome Barred Owl so don’t want to harm them. Also have seen a Red fox cutting through behind my shed. I have a stream and small pond where a nesting pair of Mallards nest every year so lots of wildlife. Not to mention the deer run 50 yards next to the house.
Glad we have Garter snakes and not the ones that can kill you like other parts of the country 😂
Glad we have Garter snakes and not the ones that can kill you like other parts of the country 😂
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Prof
Minister of Fire
For every mouse nest in my holz hausens, I find at least 3 snake skins. Growing snake means less mice! My cat kills some too--mostly just brings them in the house to watch us chase them!
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
This really isn't an issue.. I see mice nest, bugs, snakes.. snake skin.. By the time im ready to burn it in the fall .. theres nothing.. no snakes.. no mice.. nothing to worry about.. For all the years I've been burning not 1 mouse or snake made it into the house.. just leave them alone..
redyute
Feeling the Heat
I get roaches in my wood but not any mice, thats why i dont leave no wood in the house and my shed is a nice distance away from the house
If you are really that concerned, build a mouse friendly shelter (Mouse House). If that is a better spot for them to nest they might gravitate to it and leave the woodpile alone.. If you are going to put anything out on the pile I would lean towards moth balls in a canister that allows the vapors out.
I have fox den next to the woodpile and two young cats that intercept the mice in the yard. Mice are not a problem.
The brown stink bugs that overwinter in the wood pile trigger me. I mash them like crazy.
The brown stink bugs that overwinter in the wood pile trigger me. I mash them like crazy.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I understood that the OP is more concerned about the smell that the urine of mice imparts on the wood. I understand that is not nice to bring in the home.
I have had a few splits that had a mouse nest on them, and were actually wet on the surface - as in wet spots appeared but only near that surface that had the nest. Not in the middle of the (otherwise dry) splits. Oak, and all was 14-15 pct. Except For the few surface layers on the few splits that had nests on them.
However, I never had a smell in my basement, where the wood sits next to my stove for at least two days. I would not know how to get rid of such a smell other than bringing the wood in and directly into the stove.
I have had a few splits that had a mouse nest on them, and were actually wet on the surface - as in wet spots appeared but only near that surface that had the nest. Not in the middle of the (otherwise dry) splits. Oak, and all was 14-15 pct. Except For the few surface layers on the few splits that had nests on them.
However, I never had a smell in my basement, where the wood sits next to my stove for at least two days. I would not know how to get rid of such a smell other than bringing the wood in and directly into the stove.
It’s a combination of things. I don’t want a smell, and in the spring I move the wood to where it is stored for the winter which is maybe 30yards from the house and I do not want mice using that as a staging area before moving into the house.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
I don't think you would be free of mice near your home if there are mice anywhere on your property. I.e. there are mice on your property and they will be near your home. I read that (field mice) females have a territory of a quarter acre, and male about an acre.
The wood isnot going to make a difference, I think, for your home. They don't plan "base camps" for conquering property...
The wood isnot going to make a difference, I think, for your home. They don't plan "base camps" for conquering property...
I have mice and vols (vols are like little mice sized beavers). Last year conditions were right and the little beasts' population exploded. I didn't do much. They destroyed most of my garden, the vols somehow chewed threw and shorted my well cable (the cable was inside pvc), and the mice got into an RV and shorted out the main wiring.
The vols also chew around the base of small fruit trees in the winter - killing them. And I have 2 feral cats on my 1.4 acre property. The cats can only eat so much.
I changed my tactics - the war was on. I made 4 of those 'T' shaped pvc pipe poison traps. I used them last fall, and will use them in the coming spring, too. The 10 inches of poison bait disappears within a week or two. I didn't know these little beasts could do so much damage.
The vols also chew around the base of small fruit trees in the winter - killing them. And I have 2 feral cats on my 1.4 acre property. The cats can only eat so much.
I changed my tactics - the war was on. I made 4 of those 'T' shaped pvc pipe poison traps. I used them last fall, and will use them in the coming spring, too. The 10 inches of poison bait disappears within a week or two. I didn't know these little beasts could do so much damage.
Mice/rats chewed a big hole in my windshield washer line, my injector wires in my CRV, and the fog light wire. They chewed up the wire harness in my brother-in-law's big Kubota tractor and various vehicles of the neighbors. They are a pain. One neighbor said the ultrasonic emitter device keeps them out of the garage.
I'd really like to get a mink:
I'd really like to get a mink:
problems with poisons outside is that the mice that die end up getting eaten by other animals. These end up ingesting the poison. So there is collateral damage. As far as mice in the wood pile. I would prefer them in the wood pile than my garage or house.
I use snap traps in my shed now. No more poison. With poison if they die in the shed it smells bad. If they die outside a predator could ingest them now you poison that animal.
The other problem with poison it killed an American Bald Eagle in my State last week after ingesting a rat that was poisoned. There is many other ways to deal with these pest. The old Farmers bucket ramp water trap also comes to mind. You can get a dozen in one night!
The other problem with poison it killed an American Bald Eagle in my State last week after ingesting a rat that was poisoned. There is many other ways to deal with these pest. The old Farmers bucket ramp water trap also comes to mind. You can get a dozen in one night!
I did the water bucket. I got two mice and no more. Those YouTube videos are bogus. The have poison now that claims no secondary damage will occur. I'll stick to poison. It's the best thing that I've tried next to the cat, but the coyotes got the cat.
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