my car is a mouse magnet

i haven't had to put any peanut butter in the traps that i've set inside the car for the past six months, but i've still been catching a few mice every month. right when i think i've finally gotten them all the new gang shows up and the traps get them soon after.

this is after finding and plugging any gap that they might be using to get in, so i still haven't found their path. grr!

p.s. duct tape doesn't stick to much when it's cold outside...

p.p.s. the stinky dead mouse eventually stopped stinking. i never found it.

p.p.p.s. bounce laundry stinko sheets don't keep mice out.

songbird

Reply to
songbird
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I've had to put screen on air intakes...one car had 1+ lb of kibble from the garage stored bag, in the air box! Now I only see a tiny shrew that visits...it lives under the sidewalk.

Reply to
bob_villain

Try cleaning you car.

Reply to
burfordTjustice

bob_villain wrote: ...

i've also had a nest in the air filter and have put wire mesh over that so they can't get through. luckily i found that nest before they actually got through the air filter. i now check under the hood for any new nests or changes once every few months.

can't find any more nests in any places i can get to without removing body panels and the rest of the carpeting. i did take out the rear seats and clean up under those to make sure no scent trails were left behind. i hope i've plugged their holes they were using to get down there and while i was doing that i stuck some of the bounce sheets under there.

and as far as the other comment, the car contains absolutely nothing that should not be in there. i don't eat junk food or leave trash in it. only the mouse traps are in there and they all have so little peanut butter left on them that you have to look very closely to see any crumbs.

the mechanic didn't find any holes they could be using when he put it up on the lift. he suggested the bounce stinko sheets. said they worked. no they don't. others have suggested moth balls, but those make me sick.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

I leave the plastic cover off the engine (on the Buick) because they will build a nest under it!

Reply to
bob_villain

The answer is Decon. Pack in the trunk, one under the seat and one in the engine compartment. Mice that die from Decon don't stink, slight musty smell for a day or two is all. Both my car and truck are baited.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Can you borrow a heated garage? (Although I can understand why someone doesn't want to pay to heat up your 2000 pound car. I brought in a 5 pound battery and regretted not bringing it in when it was warmer out, even in the day rather than the coldest part of the night.)

They do stop. We had a whole dead cat in the basement of where I lived in college, and it stopped smelling too.

Maybe something that smelled like cats. How about mountain lion urine?

Reply to
Micky

You coudl try mothballs. They're meant to repel moths, but I hear carpenter bees don't like them either. Of course you'll smell like you just got the winter coat out of the closet when you get to work, but it won't be a strong smell.

Reply to
Micky

Good point. Either they want warmth or they smell food or both. I don't know how warm a car parked outside can be.

Reply to
Micky

Trade it in.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Now, there is a wonderful idea. Just follow mountain lions, and stick a urinal under them when they lift a leg. Sell the urine to people with mouse problems.

What could possibly go wrong?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Near me, Dollar Tree has the old style moth balls with paradichlorobenzene. One old guy I know has a couple old cars, and he likes the old moth balls to keep mousies out of his old cars. Puts a couple on the ground under the vehicle.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Hadn't thought of that. Then no chance of smelling like moth balls at work.

Reply to
Micky

Had some of the critters get into the Corvette over the winter (even though I don't lay it up and take it out every couple weeks when the roads are clear).

Checked around and went with the moth balls. As was explained to me, get an old pair of your wife's panty hose and put half a box of mothballs in each leg and then tie the leg off in the thigh area. Drape this over a cold engine and there's enough smell there to chase the little bastards away. Wanting to be on the safe side I put some moth balls in the car itself. Smell is not pleasant to me.

Still use the mothballs in the engine compartment but I learned of a mouse/rodent chaser that is comprised of some sort of flower. Next time I'm out in the garage I'll get the name and kick it into this thread. Works as far as I can tell. No problem last year with mice and the smell is not at all unpleasant and once you take the bag out - it's like your grandmother's sache (sp?) that she kept in her dresser drawer or closet. You can find this at most hardware stores along with the D-Con and the other crap.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

I found out I had an invader in my pickup after it munched on one of those convenience store rolls. The mama mouse was there before the roll. Rural King had something called Fresh Cab Rodent Repellent. Mama decided to move after I put that in the cab. A couple little ones were next to the pickup the next morning. It might've been that mama didn't like the big city motel parking lot. There haven't been any signs of mouse since I put that in the cab. The other thing I did was leave the hood open after I got back home. There was corn in a lot of places under there. The pickup is normally in the shed so that might be an issue. Rural King takes credit cards and PayPal. Amazon has some repellents as does Ebay.

Reply to
Dean Hoffman

This stuff is pine oil in a sawdust packet...they sell it for camper storage.

Reply to
bob_villain

I bet your wife will have a hard time walking like that !!!! :)

Reply to
Paintedcow

Checked this morning and confirmed the stuff I'm using is "Fresh Cab" a botanical with 2% pine oil as the active ingredient. It seems to work well and won't drive you out of the car.

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

Since she's recovering from surgery for a broken ankle (she now has more spare metal parts there than I typically have after a major RTA project from Ikea) she's having a hard time walking PERIOD! ;)

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

+1. I had a mouse infestation in my motor home, which was parked next to the house for the winter (western NC). The heat was not on. Their urine stunk up the place. Plus they got into the overhead ducts, lined with foam sheets and dug though it, putting little foam pellets everywhere when the AC was tuned on. They also chewed through the video lines for the rear camera. I put several pack of Fresh Cab in the house part and even under the hood. I think it's been ok for the last few years. Fresh Cab smell is quite pleasant, kinda piney. I've been able to get it at Tractor Supply, but it does fly off the shelves quickly. A friend had a similar problem with his infrequently used car. They made a total mess of it ... needs to be detailed, in a bad way. However, the Cab has seemingly prevented more infestations.
Reply to
Art Todesco

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