Losing the mice battle

[cygnusx1]

My Z has been spending more time in the shed since our boy was born and the mice are really taking advantage. They are leaving footprints, crap and urine stains all over the frame rails in the engine bay, around the rad support and down under the battery and the master cylinder. They also made a messy home in the glove box and scattered insulation from under the rugs around the floors. Who knows what else they are doing that I can't see like wires and hoses. It's really ticking me off because the car is really clean.

 

I have used moth balls in the past, all over the shed and inside the car, with success. This year the mice don't seem to care. The shed is a pretty new structure which I tought I built with no penetrations. It is about 150 feet from the house and has no utilities. It's just an empty 10'x18' closed shed with my Z in it. The shed is elevated off the ground and sits on two 10"x10" wood beams directly under the wheels that support the load of the car.

 

What to do? :icon5:

[Pop N Wood]

Poison them. dcon works.

 

An outdoor only cat is effective too.

 

When I built my shed I filled the base framing with pea gravel up to the flooring. I was told rodents won't burrow in anything that collapses back on the hole. Helps anchor the shed against high winds too.

[grumpyvette]

get a a couple pet ferrets, most ferrets gleefully kill every mouse and rat they see, if you don,t like that Idea glue traps work reasonably well, I don,t use poison, they run off and die in walls and other hard to find places and stink up the place horriably.

another effective trap can be made from a 5 gallon pail, put 12-16" of water mixed with dish soap in the pail,(the tablespoon of DAWN in the water,we use, makes it harder for them to stay afloat) (about 1/3rd full) run a 1/4" steel rod across the center in two holes drilled about 1/2" below the rim and glue a thin 1" wide strip of thin metal like a slat from the blinds to most of the width of the dia. so it freely swivels, place peanut butter in the center and lean a 1" X 2" board at an angle to the rim from the floor, the mice run up the board, try to reach the peanut butter and slip off and drown

we did that in several garages and its not uncomon to find several dead rats or mice in one a day

[mgood]

I read some where that mice don't like those disposable dryer sheets. They said just place them around in the car and they won't come back. I have not tried it.

[datsun79z]

Years ago I meant an "old timer" who lived in the mountains, out towards the Oregon Coast. Somehow our conversation came to the subject of "Rodent Proofing". His method incorporated spredding several inches of cedar chips, under his home.

[Forrest]

A cat is the obvious choice, as long as there's no reason you can't get one.

 

As a plan B, the "humane" traps (glass boxes with 1 way doors) actually work really really well. Feel free to torture the mice to death afterward, I'm only suggesting this because of effectiveness.

[phil280zxt]

Dave,

 

I purchased a car jacket bag for my Z several years ago for the 4 - 5 months it sits unused in the garage. The car is entirely enclosed by the bag. Supposedly it keeps the moisture out and even comes with a few pounds of moisture absorbant material. I'm not too sure about the moisture part of the sales pitch, but I feel better that the mice will not be sleeping in my baby over the winter.

 

 

http://www.autoanything.com/car-covers/69A1798A0A0.aspx?kc=G9077&&s_kwcid=car%20jacket|1038186908

 

BTW, I have friends who swear by the 5 gallon bucket trap.......

[ARiskyCvt]

I used to hate poison but my mind has changed. here is the key thing with poison. have a large bucket of water. when they eat that crap they are going to get thirsty as hell. and they will more likely going to die near the water. if you don't get a bucket of water, they will die with in the walls and IT SUCKS... happened a month ago and it still smells. good luck

[qwik240z]

Dave,

 

I purchased a car jacket bag for my Z several years ago for the 4 - 5 months it sits unused in the garage. The car is entirely enclosed by the bag. Supposedly it keeps the moisture out and even comes with a few pounds of moisture absorbant material. I'm not too sure about the moisture part of the sales pitch, but I feel better that the mice will not be sleeping in my baby over the winter.

 

 

http://www.autoanything.com/car-covers/69A1798A0A0.aspx?kc=G9077&&s_kwcid=car%20jacket|1038186908

 

BTW, I have friends who swear by the 5 gallon bucket trap.......

 

I 2nd the car bag. It will keep them out.

 

Or you can line up mouse traps end to end in a circle around the car.

[cygnusx1]

Thanks for all the good ideas. Here are some of the issues. I have a good cat that is indoor/outdoor. She is a great hunter because she was a stray in the woods for the first part of here life. The problem is that the shed is off limits to her, so the mice hide there. I thought about the car bag but I like to take the Z out on a whim, even on sunny Winter days. The only time it's out of order is when the salt hits the road or there is snow in the yard.

 

I might try the bucket idea, but also will approach the problem from all angles.

 

Bucket

Traps

Poison

Water

Sealing the shed as best as possible

Shovel some cedar chips under the shed

 

I already stuffed aluminum foil balls into the fresh air intake holes in the inner fender by the radiator support. I suspect that's where they get inside the car from. I need to make a screen for those ports.

[Chemicalblue]

Multi feed bait system is the way to go. I was a Orkin man for a good while and that is the best way to get rid of a issue. But you must also take in account your environment, If you live in the woods or by fields or have a neighbor that does not maintain the property you will always have an issue. Oh ya the water thing is a myth they don't get thirsty from eating the poison, the poison deprives their body from retaining vitamin K and thats how they die. They must eat 1/10th their body weight to have any effect, thats why poison its much safer than most would believe. If you have a 20 lb dog and it happens to get into it then it has to eat 2 lbs which is way more than you will ever need to put out for mice.

[Chemicalblue]

Oh I almost forgot "Exclusion" is the #1 technique in regards to all pest control.

[phil280zxt]

Dave, all you would have to do on the warm winter days is unzip the bag and you're off...

[datsun79z]

I read some where that mice don't like those disposable dryer sheets. They said just place them around in the car and they won't come back. I have not tried it.

 

 

You're partially correct. However it's not dryer sheets, it's USED disposable diapers they do not like.

 

Mike H

[cygnusx1]

OK I took the Z out of the shed today and washed it inside and outsied. I found two acorn-chip dumping grounds under the seats, a nest under a floor mat and their bathroom was in the glove box. I had stuffed the fresh air vents in the inner fenders with aluminum foil and I found that they shredded up part of the aluminum foil. I left the shed vacant and wide open and moved the Z temporarily to the main garage. I decided against the poison for now because I don't want our cat to eat tainted mice.

 

I am going to line all the seams in the shed with metal corner bead and roof flashing. The mice also live in our detached garage, so I set some peanut butter loaded traps tonight. I have been catching ONE MOUSE PER HOUR since I set the traps! Two of them were caught INSIDE the Z and three in a trap outside the Z.

 

I have declared war and I will win.

[randy 77zt]

leave you car running in the shed with the doors shut for awhile?just a suggestion-might not work

[datsun40146]

Now that is a good idea, that would really kill all the mice. However that has a similar problem to posin, you have no control where they die. However for the desperate man...that could work VERY WELL.

[cygnusx1]

That thought has crossed my mind. However, I don't want the mouse passing out in the duct work under the dash somewhere. Yuck, the smell and the fur that would come out of the vents! First I am going to trap as many as I can and them make sure that there are none left in the car. Then I am going to seal off the interior of the car buy putting steel screens on all the fresh air intakes and try to find any other penetrations to seal. Next I am going to seal all the joints in the shed with steel or aluminum flashing. Then I will run the car and choke them to death if there are any left. A continuing regimen of rotating peanut butter and cheese traps will keep any stragglers under control. Eventually I should be able to rest in peace for a while. I beat the carpenter ants by being persistant and I will beat the mice too. The ants didn't care about the Z, they just wanted my railroad tie retaining walls.

[qwik240z]

Keep in mind that a mouse can get through an opening as small as 1/4" in diameter.

 

I still think the Car Bag is the way to go. If you want to drive the Z, unzip the bag, remove the car cover and off you go. When you are ready to come back. drie the Z onto the carbag, cover the car and zip up the bag.

 

It's a no-brainer!

 

There will alway be more mice.

[cygnusx1]

These mice chewed through an aluminum foil ball. I can't see them not chewing through the car bag. In fact I had to throw out my expensive technalon car cover because they chewed huge chunks out of it.