#21  
Old 11-26-2022, 06:51 PM
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Kingbuzzo mentions Fabric Softener sheets. I completely agree. When I lived in Seattle, my neighborhood had a significant rat problem, but it wasn't because the neighborhood was a dump. On the contrary, it was a very nice area, but there were lots of homes going up and it distrubed the rodents, so they would look for new homes constantly. In Seattle, it never got hot or cold for long enough to kill off much of anything. I left my truck parked in the driveway every night and in the cooler months, rats would climb into the engine bay at night. My wife read about fabric softener sheets and tied them all over my engine bay. It kept the rats out of my truck.

Now living in Wisconsin, it's the usual ocassional mouse problem. I use a combination of things. I plug the high frequency noise makers into the garage outlets, regular old snap mouse traps that I bait with peanut butter or the tasty rat poison and have them covered with 2 x 4 shells with only a small hole for the mice to get in. My dogs can't get to the traps and bait, but you still have to be careful with poison as a pet could find a dead mouse that ate it and in turn make themselves sick or even die from it. I also use the black maze traps with bait and then of course the fabric softener sheets inside my cars. Sounds like overkill, but hey, I haven't had any of my cars chewed on in a long time. I also found that placement of mouse traps is crucial. Best to place them along a wall and of course close to where they come in if you have an idea of where that is.

Also, take the time to look for sources of food both in an outside of where you keep your car. I had a birdfeeder and squirrels would climb in and then drop seed on the ground, which in turn attracted rodents. I also had grass seed inside a bag on a shelf in my garage long ago. I must have fed the whole family with that.

Thanks for posting this question as I haven't done these preventative measures yet this year. Time to get er done!

Oh, by the way, I've used the commercially available cinnamon spray to get bats to stop hanging in my front porch eaves at night. Worked pretty good and it is really for mice and rats.

Old Joe

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  #22  
Old 11-26-2022, 08:15 PM
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Originally Posted by Greg Reid View Post
Sounds like the perfect environment for a Jack Russell or Rat Terrier....or a cat if you like them.
We won’t do cats feral or tame. Rat Terrior or any ratter dog but not a chihuahua (spell check turned on and really annoys me)

We did see a black snake slithering along the upper garage wall a couple weeks ago. And the loft had evidence of mouse and rat visits, and snake visit. Not much but enough for me to spray pest foamed and tape over to seal that loft today, for Clean storage again.

We have moth balls, and poison pellets, but no dryer sheets. Just set up the rat bucket trap again. We’ll see.

  #23  
Old 11-28-2022, 09:45 AM
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Rats eat the peanut smears on the ramps but never jump to the lid piles. 0/50 thus far.

  #24  
Old 11-28-2022, 05:51 PM
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Grabbed some of this the other day
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Old 11-28-2022, 07:13 PM
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I'd be curious to know if it has peppermint or something similar in it.

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  #26  
Old 11-28-2022, 07:54 PM
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I'd be curious to know if it has peppermint or something similar in it.
Idk yet just grabbed it when I was at the store but that’s typically how they do it sell you the same stuff everyone else has been using w a catchy label . We’ll see I’ll try and post a pirep on it when I test it.

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  #27  
Old 11-28-2022, 08:07 PM
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One thing I've done in the past is store the car/camper up as high as I can get it from the floor/ground on tall jack stands. It's not sure fire, but it seems to deter them when it's not right on the ground, and easy to jump up to.

Mice also don't like to be out in the open for predators to see them so keeping the car up high, lets cats etc. be able to see them, and get to them easily.

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Old 11-28-2022, 11:05 PM
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I used to use moth balls but the dryer sheets and detergent smell nicer...lol

The old man used to use the bucket trick lol

  #29  
Old 11-28-2022, 11:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud View Post
Rats eat the peanut smears on the ramps but never jump to the lid piles. 0/50 thus far.
Tried the bucket with a whirly-can, was excited to see one floater the next day. After that... nada for a week. Will try cleaning the bucket before I give up. In that same week, I eliminated 9 or 10 critters with the old-school wooden snap-traps.

The scented sawdust stuff worked in the camper last winter so I tossed a couple in the LeMans. There goes that new car smell...

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Old 01-16-2023, 09:55 PM
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Checked whirly bucket in shed and can now say it works to some degree. This last month the score is bucket: 5, snappers: 3.

Note to self: anti-freeze in the bucket is wise. Waste disposal and cost of anti-freeze have me leaning back to snappers.

  #31  
Old 01-18-2023, 03:27 PM
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They are in the rockers. I have a plan.

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  #32  
Old 01-18-2023, 06:24 PM
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We’re still at zero traces of mice this winter. Cheap led string of chasing lights on a short cycle timer and our usual urinal screens. We’re loaded with mice outside because of the woods around us and we make matters worse with our bird feeders.
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  #33  
Old 01-18-2023, 06:53 PM
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Vacuumed GTO today; only little evidence of a mouse. Small pile of Poison pellets in Trunk is effective.

  #34  
Old 01-18-2023, 06:58 PM
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I tried the 'sonic emitters' and numerous other methods- no good.

First time I set up the bucket trap, I caught 11 mice, so there were a lot. 4-bay steel building, concrete floor. They way it was built, they nailed a perimeter board around the 6x6 posts, then poured. But they left the boards when they put on the purlins & steel siding, and it rotted over the years, plus it really wasn't super tight in some spots. So I poured a concrete 'curb' around the inside perimeter, covering the board and all access holes.

In the meantime, caught 3 or 4 mimic in the ol' Victor traps... then the last trap caught one, I saw it dead but didn't clear the trap. Next day, the trap was.... GONE. I eventually found it 20 feet away, under my band saw, only 1 mouse leg left. WTF.

Set a larger trap, caught what I ID'd as a shrew (like a mouse but lots of teeth and carnivorous). Couple weeks later there were 2 snakes at the base of one wall. Obviously the doors were still allowing entry.

Then in 2018 : aluminum flat stock riveted to garage doors, spaced off the concrete by (1) 1/2-in washer. Replaced the bottom vertical 12" of door weatherseal with PVC flat stock. Since 2018- not a single sign of any type of intruder.
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  #35  
Old 01-18-2023, 06:59 PM
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As mentioned already, I have used moth balls as well. I put them under the hood, inside the interior and in the trunk. The vapor they release will kill them if they cannot find the way out!
The only draw back is, when spring time comes around you will have to open all the windows in the vehicle and let it air out for at least a week. I did find a couple of mummified mice as well.

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