I HATE mice

[Petrol & Powder]

I can’t remember all the times that mice have damaged some of my property. Those things are destructive!

It’s not as if I’m overrun with the creatures, in fact, I rarely see evidence of them. I keep the house clean, have poison and traps set out and rarely have a problem. But every now and then one of those annoying creatures makes itself known. Today, it was in my truck.

Started it up, turned on the AC and the blower motor sounded like my case tumbler. Now the truck is over 15 years old, so my first thought was the blower motor is worn out – OK, no big deal.

Got back home and pulled the blower out. It was packed with acorns, insulation, and sound proofing. Arrggggggh !

I cleaned it out and it runs a little better now, but I think the bushings are shot. Likely due to it being unbalanced with all of that crud inside the squirrel cage. I guess it finally got so out of balance that it made some noise. If I catch that mouse there will be a public execution.

 

[Dusty Bannister]

Acorns seem pretty big for a mouse.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I didn't put them in there.....

 

[Jeff H]

Acorns seem pretty big for a mouse.

Yeah, they'll drag those things from across the yard, work them through holes you wouldn't think a bug could get through and pack any void they can find with them. If they can find chestnuts they'll do it with them too! Dirty buggers! There were chestnut shells, acorns and mouse skeletons in all the walls when I moved into this house and not a chestnut tree for half a mile, and the nearest oak was a quarter mile away.

Hey, @Petrol & Powder , I'm going to look something up for you - get you a link. The mice are onto me and avoid every kind of trap I've been using, but my wife found some to try to catch the ___________ CHIPMUNKS who've taken up residence in my BASEMENT! Two hours after I set the new traps, I have a MOUSE!

These are "humane," catch and release traps. I'm thinking "release" the tripped TRAP into a bucket of water?

Here's the link:

Amazon.com

I have the larger ones, but this at least provides a lead on what to look for. Dead-simple operation too.

I'm betting @Ian has a story or two about the expensive repairs they've caused to vehicles too.

 

[Edward R Southgate]

Squirrel .

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I haven't ruled out a squirrel but it's a small space, so it would have to be a small squirrel.
Either way, whatever it is, it needs to die.

 

[Paul Gauthier]

I recently went out to use my truck after not doing so for a few weeks, It was a hot day so I turned the ac on high, I was instantly inundated with a blizzard of white stuff coming from the defroster and heater vents. it was the remains of tissues. I had a box of tissue in the truck and now half of it was in the blower motor housing. it took several days to get all of it out using dental pics with the blower running to get it out of the windshield vents. On top of that I have to take the blower out two or three times a year to remove the acorns. There must be a way to keep the little bastards out of there but I have yet to discover it.

 

[smokeywolf]

Had a mouse invasion about 4 months ago. One in Mom's Suburban, caught one on a glue board in the elevator, three in the pantries. Used glue boards with walnut pieces to catch them. Haven't seen hide, nor hair, nor droppings in a bit over 3 months.

 

[Ian]

Black squirrels are the worst around here for eating wires. Mice eat everything and build nests in vehicles and equipment wherever they get a fancy to. Not a pleasant job typically to fix the problem, but it pays like any other mechanical work.

Funny story (to me): had a customer bring his brand-new 2020 4x4 diesel Ram crewcab into the shop last spring for a "blower vibrates on high" complaint. Nice, fat, ripe mouse stuck in the wheel and holes in the plastic housing, cabin air filter, and inlet screen where mouse had made his way through. Couple sacks of corn and some alfalfa pellets in the bed. Truck had like 3500 miles on the clock and the real kicker is the owner is the new local agent extension agent. Well, I replaced the blower and cabin filter, patched the holes with mastic tape, removed the mouse and sanitized his whole inlet and blower housing with Clorox wipes, then fogged the ductwork with a disinfectant made for the purpose. Guy hit the roof when presented with the bill (service advisor may have failed to call with estimate and assumed the guy would know rident intrusion isn't covered under warranty to bait your truck and park it in a pasture). He bitched and moaned and couldn't understand how a truck could be designed so a mouse could get into it. I asked him if he was familiar with the capabilities of mice and he said oh yes if course, I'm the extension agent with a degree from A&M. I said "Well.......???" Real jerk he was. I don't know if service cut him a deal or not but I got paid and the truck got fixed....until next time. I never saw him a gain.

 

[CZ93X62]

I asked him if he was familiar with the capabilities of mice and he said oh yes if course, I'm the extension agent with a degree from A&M. I said "Well.......???" Real jerk he was. I don't know if service cut him a deal or not but I got paid and the truck got fixed....until next time. I never saw him a gain.

Says volumes about ag education in this day and age.

 

[Edward R Southgate]

Mice don't like peppermint or moth balls . Try spraying with some peppermint oil in alcohol . If that don' work better drag out the net .

 

[Jeff H]

Had a mouse invasion about 4 months ago. One in Mom's Suburban, caught one on a glue board in the elevator, three in the pantries. Used glue boards with walnut pieces to catch them. Haven't seen hide, nor hair, nor droppings in a bit over 3 months.

I sat here typing to ask how "walnut pieces" would attract a mouse, but was open to the idea and willing to try it. Shoot, I have lots of "walnut pieces" in my shop - plenty enough to spare for the purposes of eradicating one of the crafty buggers haunting me and ignoring all my trapping efforts, embarrassing the crap out of me because I ran a pretty successful gig on my trapline as a kid. I have a big hunk of crotch-wood thick enough and wide enough for a couple, three REALLY nice stocks and I'd even consider sacrificing THAT "walnut piece" to get rid of these dirty little......

OK, I could have just shut up and deleted my post, but as I started typing to ask how the heck does "walnut pieces" attract mice"?, it hit me - PIECES OF WALNUTS.

They're onto me,those rodents. Peanut butter is a BAD smell to them now. I even tried the heads of Q-tips in traditional traps and they'll steal the head from one with 2-cycle oil off my casting bench and ignore the nice, clean one in the trap.

Glue traps worked for a while, now I only get bugs. Bait stations? No takers.

I'm going to try some "walnut pieces" (pieces of the meat of the nut, not wood) in my traps/on my glue boards.

Thanks, @smokeywolf

 

[RicinYakima]

When I grew up in Ohio, black snakes were our friends on the farm.

 

[Ian]

I have NO mice in my house or shop. Dedicated shop cat, three indoor cats, and recently a chummy outdoor feral adopted us. No snakes, very few centipedes or scorpions, and still we have geckos and desert lizards of several kinds. The indoor cats will stalk and kill any scorpion or centipede they find. Mice have moved out completely since shop kitty showed up, not even any in the attic spaces now.

 

[BBerguson]

I think mice are the nastiest creature in the world…

 

[fiver]

try a couple of voles if you wanna find mice easy.
they are just like mice but can dig tunnels in frozen ground so they don't need to really 'squeeze' into anything, but can easily go through a hole that would make a mouse think twice even though they are some bigger.
I swear they ain't got any bones sometimes.

trapping them?
sure,,, they don't eat nuts or sweet stuff, not even beeswax.
boxes, wood, plastic, green plants and their roots, seeds,, all fair game.