When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My car winters in my unsheathed garage in northern, rural Wisconsin. Mice have been a problem, but never as bad as this year. I have an ultrasound mice repeller device that marginally worked in the past. Not any longer.
I found mouseturds on the fenders under the car cover. I found mouse turds on the valve covers and intake manifold. There is mouse crap on my seats and on my carpeting. I bought some repellent pellets that smell like mint. Mice supposedly don’t like mint. apparently Mickey and his pals never read That brochure as they dumped in the tray holding the pellets and spread acorns all around it.
I replaced my radiator. In doing so, I un fastened the upper radiator hose and bent it back, out of the way. Yesterday I replaced the radiator and when I went to replace the upper hose, I heard and felt rattling inside it. Acorns ran out when I lowered it. I’m glad the thermostat was in, elsewise id have acorns in the cylinders.
I have seven traps set with peanut butter. So far I dispatched a dozen of the creatures. I also placed bait around the garage.
I fear the wiring will be gnawed into oblivion by these rats in mouse clothing. Anyone think of something else I can do?
My brother-in-law had problem with mice/rats eating his interior dash wires in his Toyota pickup. He read somewhere that newer insulation made in China is a soy mix and those pests love it.. He also read somewhere that bars of Irish Spring soap strategically placed repelled them. Might be coincidence but once he did this along with rat/mice poison (not in his truck), he has not had anymore problems. Few bars of soap are cheap if it works.
Last edited by tgtexas02; Oct 5, 2020 at 04:45 PM.
Try Moth *****, and place them everywhere in the Garage, in an open Margarine container and in the Car....
Some people say that the Odor is awefull, but it will "air-out" after you take the Vette for a Spin in the Spring.
Worked for me, in the Garage & the Shed..
FYI ....
Buy a car bag. Pretty much a ziplock container that keeps everything out. Throw in a couple of desiccant packs to absorb any moisture. I have used these for years in areas where there is exposure to vermin. The car comes out of the bag in the spring as clean as when it went into the bag in the fall. $250.00 or so. Those mice can do a number on wiring. My daily drivers have suffered that fate, not mention the problem with them getting into your HVAC system. Just had a dead mouse pulled out of the wife's Highlander the other day. Cost me $300.00. Can't keep that car in a car bag, unfortunately. https://www.carbag.com/carjacket/
Last edited by Dan Hampton; Oct 5, 2020 at 04:39 PM.
I use to work overseas and kept the vette in one of those Public storage units. What I used is a few of those desiccant bags in the front and back. A few pie plates with moth ***** in them placed on the intake manifold and also in the car and around the garage. Mouse/rat poison placed in various places in the garage, especially near the door. Car was covered with a quality cover. I came home once a year and never had a problem with those little buggars. It was stored there over ten years. One year I did find a mouse near the door way, dead. It was a cement block garage with the only entry being the roll-up door.
Buy a car bag. Pretty much a ziplock container that keeps everything out. Throw in a couple of desiccant packs to absorb any moisture. I have used these for years in areas where there is exposure to vermin. The car comes out of the bag in the spring as clean as when it went into the bag in the fall. $250.00 or so. Those mice can do a number on wiring. My daily drivers have suffered that fate, not mention the problem with them getting into your HVAC system. Just had a dead mouse pulled out of the wife's Highlander the other day. Cost me $300.00. Can't keep that car in a car bag, unfortunately. https://www.carbag.com/carjacket/
This is probably going to be your most effective solution.
I keep a couple sticky traps along the walls and a box of Mouse poison under the tool box. I don’t typically have mouse problems but with the Wuhan Red Death we have been feeding the birds for entertainment and I think that has attracted a few outside. I think one got into our pantry wall somehow and died. Figure we have a couple more weeks of the stench to weather until it fades away.
Well, it is worse than I thought. I went and got mothballs. Before using them, I wanted to vacuum the crap and garbage they trailed inside. I opened the lid on the rear storage compartment and found one side completely full of what looked like stained pouring wool. A nest! After putting on gloves, I proceeded to remove it. When I got to the bottom, it was soaking wet, and not from champagne. It was so bad, I removed the form fitting felt liner and pitched it. The fiberglass floor underneath was soaked. Paper towels has it dry, but still stinky.
FOR TOMORROW: figure out what to clean the floor with. Identify the molded felt floor liner and get a replacement. Look into buying a car bag.
One bad *** cat. Auto refill water bowl. No cat food. You won't see a mouse or rat ever again. Guaranteed and completely natural. I keep 3 cats around. They will kill snakes, birds, rats, moles, voles, gophers and mice. No problem. It's their job. And no ***** shelter cats. Get some killer feral cats. They're the best.
You can buy fox urine, it's supposed to be a natural repellent. It stinks though. I used to have mouse issues when I stored my RV near a wooded area and I've tried everything: dryer sheets, Irish Spring, herb repellents.... nothing ever seem to work 100%.
Buy a Mazda Miata. I have one and there is something about the wiring in that car that will attract mice from miles away. I have five cars and a bunch of old motorcycles and the mice ignore everything except the Miata. If I park it next to a Corvette, it works like a charm. The Corvette is spotless and the wires in the Miata are all chewed up. The Miata is a 2000 R Model with the trick suspension set-up and it is a blast to drive. However, the real value of the car comes from using it as a sacrifice to the mice. It is so bad that I have started buying plug wire sets by the case. Try it, you get the fun of driving an amazing little car and you solve the mice problem.
Irish Spring, moth *****, and dryer sheets don't work. Surf youtube and you will see.
I did see one of a peppermint oil repellent that seemed to work.
Acura makes an electrical tape that they won't chew. It is $40 a roll.
They also don't like light, so maybe some led drop lights in and under the car.
Pack rats are a big problem in my area. They do not like light people here that have there cars stored outside raise the hood a little and put a light under it may also work for mice. The pack rats LOVE wiring and can do some expensive damage.
Decon is good also. It is a descant so when they die they dry up and don’t stink.
Car Capsule. Cures mice, condensation, dust, etc. Terrific for winter hibernation. Not much more than a good car cover. I’m ordering another cause my side pipe caught a zipper last March. Great for prolonged storage.
Buy a Mazda Miata. I have one and there is something about the wiring in that car that will attract mice from miles away. I have five cars and a bunch of old motorcycles and the mice ignore everything except the Miata. If I park it next to a Corvette, it works like a charm. The Corvette is spotless and the wires in the Miata are all chewed up. The Miata is a 2000 R Model with the trick suspension set-up and it is a blast to drive. However, the real value of the car comes from using it as a sacrifice to the mice. It is so bad that I have started buying plug wire sets by the case. Try it, you get the fun of driving an amazing little car and you solve the mice problem.
Doc
A great idea, Watson. The OP probably can't afford to buy A $7,500 mousetrap, though. Given that those cars are about the size of a large rodent, that might be the reason they are attracted to it. The Mazda Miata in all seriousness is a great Auto X car. Co-drove with a guy who won FTD at our Ocktoberfest Auto X last weekend. $2,500 car and kicked butt on the entire field of drivers (including me). Great little car and you can thrash the hell out of them with impunity.
Last edited by Dan Hampton; Oct 5, 2020 at 08:11 PM.
Lots of Tomcat glue traps and no poison, peanut butter or other snacks. Went through 15-20 traps last summer/fall and now all they catch is bugs. Had the same problem with my boat years ago and the result of the above was the same. Crazy amount of acorns in the Mid-Atlantic this year so I have already stocked up.
Lots of Tomcat glue traps and no poison, peanut butter or other snacks. Went through 15-20 traps last summer/fall and now all they catch is bugs. Had the same problem with my boat years ago and the result of the above was the same. Crazy amount of acorns in the Mid-Atlantic this year so I have already stocked up.
Mice!
This is probably going to be your most effective solution.
