Mice....

[YellowHammer]

Great info, I'll be buying some of this stuff.  Is it like a gel? All out war on these little monsters!

I remember a couple years ago, I had them get under the cowl of my outboard motor, destroyed some stuff including the high dollar ECU.  The boat was parked in a closed shed.  After paying to get it fixed, I refrained from putting the green blocks in the motor cowl, and sure enough the very next year, the little beasties nested in the exact same place, and ruined the exact same ECU.  I about came unglued!!  I assume once they nest somewhere, they pee everywhere, and other mice recognize that this is a good nesting place.  So now, I slipped a green block up under the engine cover and no more mice.

However, I am always looking for more firepower.  

[boonesyard]

It's a blue/green soft cake substance. 

Last year, after winterizing his motor home (a real nice one), my brother had to park the rig inside a different building over the winter. He's never had mouse issues, so he kind of ignored my suggestions to stay ahead of it and not let them get a foot hold, ever. When he picked it up this spring, they had just about destroyed the place. The stench was so bad, he could barely drive it home. Both air conditioners were packed full, they had chewed off the thermostat and power wires for the AC and heat, the duct work was packed full through out the coach. He was just sick. He caught 29 with conventional traps, but couldn't get the urine and poop out of the ducting, or the smell. Ended up taking it to a professional cleaning service that did the best they could and ran ozone in it for days to get the smell under control. He got the wiring redone, replaced one AC unit and was able to clean and salvage the other. It's taken all spring/summer to get it to this point. We have a big labor day trip planned, but he doesn't know if he'll ever get his wife in it again. He just bought a large bucket of First Strike.

Filthy beasts

[beenthere]

I assume once they nest somewhere, they pee everywhere, and other mice recognize that this is a good nesting place.

What has worked for me when trying to prevent re-occurrence of mice re-nesting (and raccoon dumping on the deck) is to spray/rinse with bleach solution. Seems to destroy the critters' "homing-in" on the previous latrine location. 

[farmfromkansas]

We have had the best luck with cats, were lucky enough to find some that really enjoy hunting.  Thing is, we have to lock them up at night, to keep the coyotes and bobcats etc from eating our cats. We have 6 now, and Kathy has had them all neutered, so no kittens, but our granddaughter's cat had 7 kittens so will probably have to take one or 2 of those. When the mice get thinned out, they hunt birds.  Kathy has bird feeders, but now no birds are visiting, suppose because the cats are working hard at catching them.  She finds piles of feathers when she mows.

[boonesyard]

We have had the best luck with cats, were lucky enough to find some that really enjoy hunting.  Thing is, we have to lock them up at night, to keep the coyotes and bobcats etc from eating our cats. We have 6 now, and Kathy has had them all neutered, so no kittens, but our granddaughter's cat had 7 kittens so will probably have to take one or 2 of those. When the mice get thinned out, they hunt birds.  Kathy has bird feeders, but now no birds are visiting, suppose because the cats are working hard at catching them.  She finds piles of feathers when she mows.

Cats work great, but we had the same issues with coyotes, eagles and owls, can't keep them around long. Just lost another real good cat to coyotes. They love my wife's bird feeders as well.

[YellowHammer]

We had 5 cats, they killed a bunch but about once every few days, they would bring a live one into the house and let it loose.  They are getting older now anyway, and about the only thing they hunt now are bowls of Purina Cat Show.

[stanwelch]

I started using Talon weatherBlox XT Rodenticide two years ago. Very effective !  Previous years I've had multiple vehicles, sawmill engine damage from mice. Tried the mothballs, DeCon, 5 gal water traps etc with limited success. I'm placing blocks in my tractor around the sawmill in the wood shop and in the tree house. Finally winning the war!

[farmfromkansas]

Hooked up my new to me H&S manure spreader, was giving it a trial run empty when I saw a rat run out of the thing this morning.  Guess I better get my rat bait out again.  Made one of those walk the plank U tube traps last winter, and caught no rats but was tough on possums. Neighbor caught more than 100 rats in a tiny little box trap last winter, under his fire wood pile.

[goose63]

We use fresh cab get it at the hardware store been working good so far

[YellowHammer]

At 6:00 this morning I'm driving the boat across the water, perfect day.  Catching bass on top waters.

9:00 the sun is out, it's getting hot. I'm starting to smell something from under the drivers console.  

12:00 its really hot.  Alabama August hot. Fish aren't hitting.  I'm sweating.  There is a real stench coming from under the console.  I can almost taste the air.  I'm headed back to the ramp.  Something is dead in the boat and it isn't me.    

12:30 I'm in the parking lot, on the hot asphalt, baking, and "Eureka!" Or more like "Oh No!" Because under the gas pedal, there is an exploded rat the size of a kangaroo.  It apparently tried to hide under the pedal, but it definitely died under the pedal.  For all I know I killed it first thing this morning when I stepped on the gas pedal, or it died in there a couple days ago.  Either way, it was still juicy. Then it started melting in the sun and heat. Oh what a squashed, exploded, stinky mess.

2:00 I'm home pressure washing the mess out.  Gloves on, digging melted and crushed woolly mammoth from the hot foot pedal mechanism. I'm not a happy camper.  

3:00 All done. Here's the boat drying out in the sun, all clean and mostly clean smelling.  I had to park it on a steep bank so I could flush all the dead elephant fur out of the drain plug hole.  The pieces and parts kept clogging up the drain and screens.  So more water, more flushing, reach in there, scoop out the mess, and flush some more.  Gag.  What a fun day.

I hate mice and rats. I think I may have mentioned that.

[boonesyard]

They're such loving passengers, YUCH!

2015 I bought a new Sitka Gear rain coat for an elk trip that year. Everything went well, got home and did some fall walleye fishing, used the new rain jacket. Winterized and stored the boat for the winter (this was pre First Strike), also left my coat in a compartment. Next spring, pulled it out, getting everything ready for the season, the winter guests had chewed one shoulder out of it and made a weather-proof nest in it. Not a rodent fan

[handhewn]

The wood rats filled one of my old WWII trucks from floor to bottom of steering wheel with sticks/leaves etc. Also chewed radiator hoses such that all that was left were the clamps at each end. They were drinking the anti-freeze I guess ;D. They filled the radiator and engine block with acorns :(. After several radiator and block flushes it will now run without overheating. It was my fault for parking the truck in heavy foliage. I do not have this problem if I park my equip. in very open places. Wood rats will build large stick mounds that look like beaver lodges. They will do this for many generations until they have enough stuff piled that it would easily fill a pick-up truck.

[YellowHammer]

My boat still stinks this morning....I may have missed something.... :'(

[HemlockKing]

My boat still stinks 

The thing probably pithed just about everywhere lol 

[maple flats]

I also use a product called "Fresh Cab". It works, but it's not cheap. I have 2 in the cab of my tractor  and had them there for 2 years, no mice. That is far longer than Fresh Cab says. In higher traffic areas I add a new one every 2 mos, but I leave the old until it's about a year old.

[YellowHammer]

I may try the Fish Cab stuff.  It's supposed to rain here for several days, I may just pull the boat out in the rain and let it sit for a week.  Of course, if I leave it outside that long, and it gets clean, some more of the little beasties will probably get back in it.  

[doc henderson]

@YellowHammer I think I see your problem.  He is recommending a product called "fresh cab", and you are getting "fish cab"!  

[maple flats]

Yea, with fish cab the boat may be full of cats, and they'll rid it of mice.

[YellowHammer]

That's hilarious.  A Freudian slip for sure.  Maybe I do need to throw some dead fish in there.  I don't know which stinks more, dead fish or dead mice.  

[caveman]

Maybe y'all can convince @JMoore to share his rat (s) in the truck saga with the group.  He found a product to mitigate the odor.

[customsawyer]

One of the worst smelling little rascals I ever came across was when one went skipping through the control box full of 480 volts. It only cost me a new 25 hp motor on the planer, and a few days down time.

[Magicman]

When I first got my sawmill I kept it set up at my farm property so that I could 'practice' sawing.  Also during that time I had not learned the value of removing the blade at the end of each sawing day. 

So one morning I went through my normal routine of cranking the engine and tightened the blade.  When I engaged the clutch, bang !!!, blade off and I was immediately met with mangled rat and rat guts everywhere.

I guess some lessons are better learned.  :

[miro]

I had many of the same problems until a pal told me about the Wheel Of Death.

A 5 gal pail with about 2 in of old antifreeze in the bottom.
An empty tin can on a coat hanger axle across the top of the pail.
Bait the outside of the can with peanut butter and a bit along the axle.
A piece of wood that's a ramp up to one end of the axle, also baited.

Mouse smells dinner, crawls up the ramp, smells even more dinner crawls out on the axle to the tin can, mouse tries to balance, but rolls off into the drink.
the antifreeze drowns the mouse, and keeps the smell down.

I got 15 this past spring, 23 the year before.

I sprinkle cayenne pepper in my tools drawers to keep them away - I get the cheap stuff at the Bulk Barn store.

miro

[farmfromkansas]

I built a larger version of that in a 35 gallon drum to catch rats.  Caught 7 possums instead. Guess the possums were what was eating my rat bait.  Possums seem to be immune to poison.

[doc henderson]

we had an old shed with our pallets of chicken feed.  had 50 mice come from everywhere, when you went to get feed.  our lab would crazy and kill 5 in a row.  we made a trap over the 5 gallon bucket.  more like a teeter totter.