Critter Control

[DoubleB]

For those of you who stack on pallets to dry, then bring the whole pallet in the garage in the fall, do you have problems bringing mice/rats/squirrels/etc. that made a nest in there? I’m considering using that system, but I am not sure what kind of problems I might be inviting into my house. There are always mouse traps, and maybe it’s not a big problem to begin with, but just wondering what you do?

 

[Paulywalnut]

I would think whatever critter is nesting in a pallet will jump out when you bring it in. Most likely a mouse.

 

[Ashful]

I have the equipment to move full pallets of wood, and actually stack on pallets under my covered porch during the burn season, but I find too many mouse nests in my stacks to even want to think about moving them to the house whole. I'll take my time to unstack and restack, thank you very much. It gives me a chance to shake all the dirt off the wood, down in the woods, not at the house.

 

[Hills Hoard]

I had an issue with rabbits for a while (started a thread on it but cant find it). The rabbits here dig networks of holes which had me worried so i just sat on the deck with a sling shot till I had no more rabbits...

 

[bassJAM]

The first year I collected wood to burn I stacked it all in my shed, since that's how my dad did it. But I also had a couple buddies storing boats in there for the winter, so I had to keep critters down because a mouse can destroy a boat interior. I just put a few trays of d-con on top of the stacks. By the time I started using the stacks, I'd find the beginnings of mouse nests here and there, and stashes of d-con where they'd move it near their nests, but no live mice. I found plenty of dead mice though!

I've since started stacking outside and am not too worried about critters, but the d-con still stays in the shed to protect those boats!

 

[CenterTree]

For those of you who stack on pallets to dry, then bring the whole pallet in the garage in the fall, do you have problems bringing mice/rats/squirrels/etc. that made a nest in there? I’m considering using that system, but I am not sure what kind of problems I might be inviting into my house. There are always mouse traps, and maybe it’s not a big problem to begin with, but just wondering what you do?

Don't forget the other "Critters"....such as carpenter ants.

 

[DoubleB]

I’m not very smart on carpenter ants--so they are a problem with dry wood too? Or is it just that they are looking for a roof over their heads (like the rodents?)

People think I’m crazy because I'm busy processing 10 full cords and have no burning appliance (hopefully this summer). So this is mostly theoretical at this point, but as I’m stacking on pallets I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a way to avoid throwing it in the truck bed and restacking it all when I’m ready to burn. I have space in my garage but no other roof close to the house.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Carpenter ants Use this stuff (broken link removed to http://www.spectracide.com/Products-and-Solutions/Wood-Destroying-Insect-Killers/Spectracide-Carpenter-Ant-and-Termite-Killer-Insect-Spray-Concentrate.aspx)

I had a triaxle delivery recently. got through it but some had some carpenter ants in it. I split and stacked it thinking once i broke their home up they would be scattered. I was wrong. I have had an army of the damn things scurrying around my stack which is a 6'W X 5'H X 24'L crib and it sits in my driveway 5' from my garage. i sprayed the pile and the perimeter. havent see a single one since then two weeks ago.....

 

[Ashful]

I keep a pump sprayer with me at all times when splitting, with ant killer in it. I can't think of too many days of splitting where I haven't grabbed it at least once.

Bust open their home, spray them. Make sure you find and kill the queen.

 

[jdp1152]

Hit your stack with permithrin a few weeks before moving inside. You won't have any critters of the insect variety.

 

[mzadrick]

I cut and stacked 2 cords outside my house. I keep the majority of the wood to the rear of the property and keep about a weeks worth in the basement next to the stove, seems to work out pretty well. I went this morning to bring more wood in the basement and noticed a big mouse nest in the wood pile. I guess it really doesn't take long before they set up house. Hopefully a few rounds of coumadin pellets will keep them away for good!

 

[Poindexter]

Beware also of mosquito eggs. Up here they like to lay on spruces. More than one tenderfoot (Chee-cha'-ko is the Inuit word) has drug a fresh cut spruce into the heated cabin around Xmas time and been woken up by freshly hatched flies in short order.

If I have damp wood that isn't quite ready for the stove I leave it outdoors until its been -20dF for few days before I bring it into the garage to finish drying.

No trouble with mice. I am sure if I bring a vole indoors the cat will think she has died and gone to heaven.

 

[bobdog2o02]

I'm most concerned with lice and fleas in the nests migrating into the house. We had a flea outbreak last year and I believe the cat was the first and they came from the wood.

 

[xman23]

I'm in black ant country. There in any standing tree that's got a crack or opening that lets in water. When bucking I start the fire pit so I can burn the logs with ants. I top cover, so not much water getting into the splits, so my stacks are ant free. But this fall when moving the wood from the stacks to my burn stacks under my deck, I came across a split full of ants. I think there was a leek in the top cover that kept the wood wet. They will not move into all wood, but only wood that has hollows and is wet.

My stacks are full of mouse, chipmunk and snake's nest. Not that I know one nest from another. There not in there when I move the stacks. I am able to keep everything outside. I know some here move a lot of wood into the heated house, I wouldn't, but to each there own.

 

[blades]

my fuel supply tends to get moved a couple times before it is consumed as such most unwanteds are dispossessed prior.