Well I put my trusty wood hauler away for the winter.this is the first winter I'm not driving it so if someone can chime in about keeping mice out please do.this is what I've done.ive vacumned the truck out and added mothballs,peppermint oil and bounce dryer sheets under the hood and also under the seats. I'm hoping this will do as a friend had his truck written off a few years back as those nasty rodents chewed all the wiring.
Mice
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tlc1976
Minister of Fire
I tried dryer sheets and air fresheners to no avail. Came back from my last surgery to find this.
![[Hearth.com] Mice](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/284/284691-5171dd1761e95fb884af4830afdf6020.jpg?hash=cjk3V1dkd- "[Hearth.com] Mice")
Also had them making nasty messes inside the cars. So I finally tried the Tomcat repellent granules. I put a cup in each car and shake it around every couple weeks. Never had another mouse inside the cars. That was last winter and the original stuff in the cups still smells strong when you shake it up.
I just put away my summer wagon so we will see how well it works with sprinkling a layer of it around the car and leaving the hood open. Of course I could try closing the hood with a cup or two of granules under there.
Also had them making nasty messes inside the cars. So I finally tried the Tomcat repellent granules. I put a cup in each car and shake it around every couple weeks. Never had another mouse inside the cars. That was last winter and the original stuff in the cups still smells strong when you shake it up.
I just put away my summer wagon so we will see how well it works with sprinkling a layer of it around the car and leaving the hood open. Of course I could try closing the hood with a cup or two of granules under there.
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
I keep ramik poison under the hood and I spray every week or so under the hood with peppermint oil. The rat poison under the hood sounds counter intuitive I know....but a local mechanic/friend said if they still come in the vehicle after spraying with peppermint oil the poison will be more appealing than the wires. I dont know but it seems to work for me for the last five years. I forgot to do my work car a couple of weeks ago though while I did the rest of the rigs. A wood rat got in it and chewed the plug wires. The peppermint oil works good imo....but you really have to stay on top of it. I've found you need to spray weekly cause it seems to wear off fast. I've heard vicks vaporub works which would last longer I would think.
i had to junk my last car because of mice. it made it's nest in the foam backing to the top of the rear seat. i could not get the smell out of that car and when one of them died i could not even sit in it. i could not figure out how it got into the car to begin with but sprayed rodent sheriff all over the car which is peppermint oil and that didn't seem to phase it. and had dryer sheets in it but nothing. i even chased the mouse around the car with a vacuum couldn't catch it so the car went to the junk yard.
The wires are insulated with soy now. It's better for the environment. Traps and bait. It's all you can really do. They have plastic bubbles you can zip around the car, but I imagine s motivated critter will still get in.
Solarguy3500
Feeling the Heat
My wife and I were hearing mice running around in the ceiling and walls of our bedroom, so my wife set a trap in her closet one night recently. Here's what she caught:
![[Hearth.com] Mice](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/286/286685-537bdeab7dd0a8cac3675a28c798d18e.jpg?hash=yrHYZLdHGH "[Hearth.com] Mice")
I've never seen that before. They would have had to both go in at exactly the same time.
I've never seen that before. They would have had to both go in at exactly the same time.
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
13 caught so far this year! Haven't had that many in years!
Most recently in a trap on top of the foundation by the water heater in the basement. Think I found a place where they may be getting in. Plugged with steel wool both outside and in the basement.
Paint guy in Home Depot that showed me where the steel wool was commented that they'll just find another way in. I said that I know that, but at least I feel like I'm doing something.
Most recently in a trap on top of the foundation by the water heater in the basement. Think I found a place where they may be getting in. Plugged with steel wool both outside and in the basement.
Paint guy in Home Depot that showed me where the steel wool was commented that they'll just find another way in. I said that I know that, but at least I feel like I'm doing something.
Yea he's right they will just find another way in but at least it plugs up the entry for now and I used steel wool in my garage where they came in but that's a impossible task because of the windows and things for the pigeons so I hire people to contend with that about once a month just to keep them in line and this way seems to be working at least for now but in the winter they all come into houses and garages and other places...they make a mess and ruin your insulation too..clancey
Was just talking with a friend from Fairfield University. She said that they have a "mouse house" in their yard. It has a poison in it that makes mice seek water, and they don't come in the house. Any idea what it is? Not finding things with a search. Need to ask her.
Most of the rodenticides are anticoagulants. Their body needs more water to make more blood.
The older anticoagulants are building up resistance. They have 3 generations of them now.
I am still using the old 5 gallon bucket filled with water and peanut butter on a spinning wheel trap in the shop. At certain times of the year it goes unused, and other times I find multiple mice per day.
i just read a all natural way to keep them at bay. of all things instant potatoes. they eat them get thirsty when they drink it blows up on them and they die. haven't tried it yet but sounds good with two cats and two dogs. the cats do ok but if they allow them to get away we know all about it in about a week. the smell is awful
What is the difference between the cat letting it go so it runs off and dies, and it eating instant potatoes and running off to die?
With a trap, it's at a location where you can easily get it and dispose of it.
With a trap, it's at a location where you can easily get it and dispose of it.
I hate mices to pieces.
Seriously, they are quite destructive. At the same time, when I'm driving down the road, if I see one crossing I avoid flattening the little bugger.
Seriously, they are quite destructive. At the same time, when I'm driving down the road, if I see one crossing I avoid flattening the little bugger.
Whiskers would proudly bring a mouse into the den and drop it before he recently started bringing them directly up to our bedroom. I'd be running around trying to catch it. If the mouse comes directly at me, it's hard to suppress the urge to jump out of the way. It's attacking!
We have a white Husky that was playing in the yard with a mouse. The mouse was trying to get away through his maze of tunnels in the snow but the dog kept moving the snow to expose the mouse. Eventually the mouse most have tired, and decided to stand up to the dog, literally. It stood on it's hind legs ad stretched it's front legs towards the sky, trying to look big and aggressive. 😅
My wife broke it up.
You saw that mouse posture, too? It's the funniest thing.
B.J., our previous male, cat recaptured a mouse after I took too long to get it. He took it back down to the basement to play with. The mouse stood on its hind legs and waved it's front legs at B.J. at one point. B.J. swatter it with a paw and sent it flying. 😀
B.J., our previous male, cat recaptured a mouse after I took too long to get it. He took it back down to the basement to play with. The mouse stood on its hind legs and waved it's front legs at B.J. at one point. B.J. swatter it with a paw and sent it flying. 😀
This what a friend in CT said she has outside.
Mouse house: Amazon product ASIN B07YL5BLK4
Bait: Amazon product ASIN B005BV0DD2
Mouse house: Amazon product ASIN B07YL5BLK4
Bait: Amazon product ASIN B005BV0DD2
I've seen those bait houses often around back doors of food joints and other commercial places, I plow a parking lot at a plumbig contractors place. I often forget it's there, for the first storm, and end up stuffing it in a snow bank.
Commercial pest control companies must either use a box that's anchored or is weighted. A very similar box that's weighted is the Protecta Evo Express made by Bell.
Grizzerbear
Minister of Fire
I feel like I had the best success with controlling mice when D-Con had the pellet style rat killer in bait trays. I read they don't meet the EPA's safety standards for children so they discontinued them. I also read that they caused the unintentional death of wildlife. I can see that and the ban is a good thing all in all but It does seem like now it takes more rodenticide to kill the buggers.
