Mouse problems in vehicles

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Bucket traps work but they are messy compared to poison. We have killed 10 or 12 with the simple 5 gallon bucket 2/3 full of water with sunflower seeds floating on top and a 2x4 board up against the lip for them to springboard off of into the "solid" surface of infinite seeds they see. It also isn't great in the winter and I don't want to leave a bucket of antifreeze out in the open.

The antifreeze is of course bad out in the open.

I would vote for poison, I nail the poison blocks (mine had a hole in them) to a board so the mouse won't run off with the block. The manufacturer sold 15 blocks of poison with 1 trap and I needed to put out all the poison at once.

Mice like in the video climb everywhere, and will eat soap or nearly anything in the winter when food is scarce.

Mice also will come out on warm winter days, they tunnel under the snow where it's warmer and run on top on nice warm days.

[LOL!]

I just kept a closed plastic bucket of poison cubes in the attic and would just bring out one or two at a time that would disappear. Well, until the vermin chewed through the plastic bucket to feast on the rest of the poison.

My dog does not sample nor eat dead animals.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 24601NoMore We had a mouse find it's way into the windshield wiper container in my wife's Jeep. It died after not being able to get out, and slowly decomposed until there was the most God-awful smell you could imagine coming from her car. We looked for quite a while and never found the source of the smell. Took it to her brother, who's a mechanic and he managed to track it down..it was literally not much more than a few pieces of decomposed flesh and bones by the time he pulled it out.

We had something similar happen - only the smell was coming from our water. Found a mouse floating in our 2,000 gallon storage tank - fortunately still in one piece.

Fished it out, drained the tank, washed the inside with bleach, & resealed around the lid.

This is one of the reasons we don't drink our well water...

[savory]

The first step in good pest elimination is to build out the problem. Do not allow access to the thing you want to protect (food, car, etc). I am not sure how much of an option this is for you but if you can, I would get creative on a build out strategy. And, if you can only do a partial build out job close as many openings as possible. And/or building something around your car that limits opportunity.

Assuming you know they are mice and not rats, you can try wind-up traps. These work for mice since mice are curious (rats are not) and they will investigate the trap. You wind-up the mechanism which is activated by the mouse. This 'kicks' the mouse into a section of the trap without an outlet. The mouse will die from lack of food/water. It does need to be emptied or you will be cleaning a decaying mouse mess. No matter it is still messy. It can be reused until the wind-up mechanism wears out.

Eaton has been making them for many years. You should buy enough and place them throughout your property so the mouse finds the trap before finding your car. https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-425-Gal...SIN=B00DLKKDLW

[GrayHare]

For mice the smell of cats produces an evolved fear reaction. If you don't have a house cat, but a friend does, ask for urine samples in the form of kitty litter clumps. Place a clump where you don't want mice. Will need refreshing a couple times per year.

[38Chevy454]

Peppermint Oil is a natural repellent for mice. Has to be peppermint oil, put some drops onto cotton balls. Dryer sheets, moth balls, irish spring soap, are all ineffective. Peppermint oil is good for vehicles since it also has a better smell for people than some of the other less effective means. Drawback to peppermint oil is you need to replenish it every few weeks. But for best control, poisons or cat are the remedy. Mice can be very destructive to vehicles.

[RobbieB]

How about you start all the vehicles and shut the doors and let the the CO kill them all?

[grasshopper]

I have a Barn Owl, but if I used poison I wouldn't. 14 years of leaving the hood open, pesky rattlesnakes and I never have had a problem.

[Alexi]

A friend who lives in the country had a similar problem with mice nesting under the hood of vehicles. He acquired a few "barn cats" [not pets] and I never heard him complain about mice again.

[Bamaman]

I think the "poison" being talked about is D-Con and their type products. They're ingested by the mouse, and they have coumadin as their active ingredient. The mouse's intestines get stopped up, and the poor little mouse bleeds out. No poison required.

[street]

A few things that you can do is leave the hood open on any vehicle mice like to live with a covering over them. I don't use poison for many reasons. Poison kills their nateral predator's, like bull & rattle snakes, weasels and fox just to mention a few. Mice that have eaten poison or D-Con dead and other animals eat them and they die. I have seen it many times.
I have weasels and bull snakes at the ranch and they literally do the best job! Weasels are a killing machine and will clean up on all mice in outbuilding.
I also have a couple 5 gallon bucket traps and these are the best trap that I have every found.
Goggle >> bucket mouse trap and you can make them in less then 30 minutes. You place them where you have a problem and walk away. I maybe check them once a month and may have to add some peanut butter but that is all. They are a 24/7/365 day trap no check or reset trap.
I don't have a mouse problem at all because of the methods I use.

[Alexi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by street A few things that you can do is leave the hood open on any vehicle mice like to live with a covering over them. I don't use poison for many reasons. Poison kills their nateral predator's, like bull & rattle snakes, weasels and fox just to mention a few. Mice that have eaten poison or D-Con dead and other animals eat them and they die. I have seen it many times. I have weasels and bull snakes at the ranch and they literally do the best job! Weasels are a killing machine and will clean up on all mice in outbuilding. I also have a couple 5 gallon bucket traps and these are the best trap that I have every found. Goggle >> bucket mouse trap and you can make them in less then 30 minutes. You place them where you have a problem and walk away. I maybe check them once a month and may have to add some peanut butter but that is all. They are a 24/7/365 day trap no check or reset trap. I don't have a mouse problem at all because of the methods I use.

Natural predators are the best defense. Bull snakes are okay. But I draw the line with rattlesnakes and other predators deadly to humans.

[foxfirev5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Making a nest and chewing the wiring in a brand new $40,000 excavator is pretty cruel too imo.

Exactly. I feel your pain. Take the nuclear option and solve the problem.

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexi Natural predators are the best defense. Bull snakes are okay. But I draw the line with rattlesnakes and other predators deadly to humans.

No doubt that snakes and cats are great at keeping down the mice population but the cost is to high for me. Hate all snakes, don't care much for cats either... I'll stick with the poison for the mice. I often carry a 410 shotgun in my pocket whenever I'm roaming the property. Great for mice, rats and especially snakes.

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo We had something similar happen - only the smell was coming from our water. Found a mouse floating in our 2,000 gallon storage tank - fortunately still in one piece. Fished it out, drained the tank, washed the inside with bleach, & resealed around the lid. This is one of the reasons we don't drink our well water...

Basil Fawlty had a problem with dead pigeons in the water tank...

https://youtu.be/tpQdqAKHDNc

[CaptTom]

I had a shed which USED to be full of mice. I'd kill lots of them with traps and poison, but never all. They chewed up wires, made nests inside my snowblower and generator, you name it.

I finally stumbled on a YouTube channel called "Mousetrap Monday." The guy tests mouse traps. I ordered one of his most highly rated traps, the "walk the plank" trap. I haven't had a mouse problem for almost a year now, although I'll still occasionally catch one or two.

This is basically an advanced bucket trap. You can use water or antifreeze (use the non-toxic pink RV/marine antifreeze if you prefer) or just an empty bucket for live-catch.

The trick is the "plank." You put bait on the end. It's suspended over the bucket, and won't trip until the mouse is too far out to recover. Then it swings back in place, ready for the next mouse. Use peanut butter for bait; the smell will attract them from all over. The plank never fails. You'll get every single mouse long before they have time to do any damage.

[street]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexi Natural predators are the best defense. Bull snakes are okay. But I draw the line with rattlesnakes and other predators deadly to humans.

You are so right, on natural predators, and I also understand the rattle snake concern. I forgot to mention owls, hawks, eagles and crows do their share of controlling mice as well. I don't see them very much if any, but I do see the bull snakes often and always glad to have them around. I have lived around rattlers all my life and never had an issue but yes I have had a few close calls. I do use snake gators when working/hunting etc. in the area of rattlers and always have my ears turned up as high as they go.

[Winemaker]

I bought a pickup from a guy who lived out in the country. When I opened the hood it was the most incredible stench ever; and both exhaust manifolds were severely rusted and looked like a shovel full of salt was put around them. When I asked about the manifolds, he told me his cats, who patrolled their yard, would sleep on/near the engine, which gave them a pretty good sized warm litter box. I did buy the truck, but it was going to be a complete rebuild anyway.

[Lsbcal]

I have had good luck with this kind of mouse trap from Victor:

https://smile.amazon.com/Victor-Powe...13&sr=8-4&th=1

I bait them with peanut butter. If your mice tend to drag the trap before expiring it is easy to attach the trap to a small board with a nail through the hole in the edge of the trap.

[travelover]

Check out Shawn Woods' videos on YouTube. He has found peppermint oil to be somewhat effective and has tested hundreds of traps. I'd go with bucket traps with a teeter-totter or roller at the top. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYb...1xjes4FVn61JUQ