Topic: Mice advice

[8D3TOY]

Hey all, I have a problem with mice getting into my trucks (Peterbilts not yotas) they are wreaking havoc on the electrical already had one small fire don't want another. How do I keep them out?  Traps work but I can't kill every mouse there are just too many where I park.  Mothballs, nope, and driver complaints poured in after mothballs.  We got a couple of stray cats and fed them so they would stick around but then discovered we also had a coyote, higher on the food chain.  Baits and traps are becoming too costly I need to repell them from a pretty big area and my next plan is to save the clumping cat litter from my two cats and sprinkle it around the trucks thinking that the cat urine will keep the varmints away. Any thoughts?

[BLACKDOG]

Grandpa's cheap, auto resetting trap

1)obtain 5 gal bucket
2) drill holes (1/4"-1/2") opposite each other about 3" below the top lip
3) drill holes (1/4"-1/2") through the lid and bottom of a 20 oz. soda bottle
3) run 1/4"-1/2" dowel through one side of the bucket, through the soda bottle, and then through the other side, so the soda bottle is suspended between the sides of the bucket.
4) coat soda bottle with PB, honey, or some other type of somewhat sticky substance.
5) give the mice something to climb up the side (piece of rope hanging to the ground over the bucket, etc.)
6) fill the bucket halfway with water, (gpa used antifreeze, but if you've got stray cats you want to keep alive, not a good idea)

Place the bucket under or near the trucks.  Mice will attempt to get the tasty treat on the soda bottle, and their weight will cause it to spin, dumping them into the water.  Bye bye mr. mouse

I believe it was SilverZuk that did a writeup on this same trap setup on PBB.  Its a fairly common farm trap technique.

[kneedownnate]

I forgot about that method jason    Wish I'd remembered when I first started noticing my mouse issues. 

Just a word of advice; if you hear mice in your clothes dryer, don't turn it on to scare them off.  I believe I'll be paying for that one for a while 

[BLACKDOG]

 

not good huh?

[Stocker]

Just a word of advice; if you hear mice in your clothes dryer, don't turn it on to scare them off.  I believe I'll be paying for that one for a while 

Takes more than a couple dryer sheets to freshen up the dryer?   

[kneedownnate]

It actually happened about 1 1/2 weeks ago and I just noticed a mild odor yesterday while grabbing a pair of socks, so I pulled out the rest of the load.  We'll see how it goes.

[junya92toy]

I worked at a honda dealership, a guy with a 3 month old accord had mice in the frame. We had to cut it open and clean it out. THe car still smelled no matter what was done to clean the inside.

[WHITE_TRASH]

We just put a wedge of de-con in each trucks jockey box.  No mice problems sitting on the farm around here.

[Plekto]

http://www.ratzapper.com/

High tech and effective.

What?  Can't solutions sometimes be high tech and complicated? 

[8D3TOY [OP]]

We bought a huge box of traps and used almost all of them, seems for every kill 10 more are born. I may try the 5 gal. bucket deal at least it works more than once.  I told the owner of the property i wanted to rent some space out in the middle away from the hill and brush.  Checked everything today for Monday and now I have ants eating the dead mice, this just aint fun.

[Hawk Thor]

How about putting up some high-frequency emitting mouse repellers? They´re little boxes that connect to a wall socket and put out frequencies that humans cant hear but drives the mice and rats away.

My dad works for a fuel distributor, their base is down by the docks and I´ve never noticed mice there. They have around 10 trucks in at any given time, alot of houses and sheds and big piles of hoses, oil traps and other places were mice could find shelter.

I´ve worked on my truck in their shop and never saw them running around. I got to keep my parts truck there for a year and it was mouse free when I stripped it down. They have these repellers and they don´t even bother with poison anymore.

[Rocksurfer]

100% pure spearmint and peppermint oils will make the little rodents scat, they and rats hate it. Have used it in the motorhome and it really works.

[abnormaltoy]

Grandpa's cheap, auto resetting trap

1)obtain 5 gal bucket
2) drill holes (1/4"-1/2") opposite each other about 3" below the top lip
3) drill holes (1/4"-1/2") through the lid and bottom of a 20 oz. soda bottle
3) run 1/4"-1/2" dowel through one side of the bucket, through the soda bottle, and then through the other side, so the soda bottle is suspended between the sides of the bucket.
4) coat soda bottle with PB, honey, or some other type of somewhat sticky substance.
5) give the mice something to climb up the side (piece of rope hanging to the ground over the bucket, etc.)
6) fill the bucket halfway with water, (gpa used antifreeze, but if you've got stray cats you want to keep alive, not a good idea)

Place the bucket under or near the trucks.  Mice will attempt to get the tasty treat on the soda bottle, and their weight will cause it to spin, dumping them into the water.  Bye bye mr. mouse

That's rather Rube Goldbergian...I like it!

http://www.ratzapper.com/

High tech and effective.

What?  Can't solutions sometimes be high tech and complicated? 

I'd go for the Ultimate model! 

[BLACKDOG]

That's rather Rube Goldbergian...I like it!

  indeed. Very effective too. I remember having to empty the bucket every few days (his neighbor didn't maintain his yard, had grass growing 3 ft high, so lots of rodents)  and dumping 5-10 mice back over the neighbors fence every time.