DARN MICE!!!!!!!!

[RobSelina]

I'm really getting tired of these little buggers!

I had the MG sitting for a couple of weeks a few months back and a mouse/mice seem to have made their home in my drivers seat /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif After blocking off their entry way into the foam back with steel wool, they moved to the passenger side by the looks of it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif then back over to the drivers side.

I've tried to tell this little squatter(s) to leave politely but he's not getting it. I've completely vacuumed out the interior a couple of times, I blocked the hole in the firewall I think he was entering/exiting from (a few times when I've started the car he's jumped up into the dash and then I've seen him scurry off into the leaves. There was a torn gromet just to the right of the trans tunnel, probably his doing) and I've placed mothballs under the seats, in his mouse holes and also under the blocking plate where the heater used to reside.

Well, today I have the seats out, suspended over rubermaid containers full of water with floating bait (peanut butter), along with glue traps baited with peanut butter on top of the seats but I wan't getting any visitors.

After not seeing anything I start checking the carpet edges and sure enough, find a little field mouse. For some reason, I decide I'm going to be nice and try to chase him out of the vehicle (now that I'm pretty sure he can't get back in it) Anyway, I have him running back and forth from the passenger side to the drivers side. He forgets every time that the other seat is missing since he jumps the trans tunnel and then looks up for his mouse hole that's not there...all the while ignoring my open doors. After about 5 minutes of this, he wises up and climbes the carpet on the passenger footwell and enters an open heater duct (I didn't realize it was open). UGH! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

I should have just squashed him like a bug when I first found him since he was hiding under a little lip on the carpet, guess I'm a closet liberal hippy that doesn't want to harm God's creatures /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

I've turned off the shop lights and placed a baited glue trap on the floor of the passenger side floor. We'll see if I can coax him out. I'll check it again in another hour or so...

Anyway, thanks for hearing me rant /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Just so this thread isn't completely useless, any advice dealing with this litte bastard?

 

[Morris]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

This is a bit off topic, but my dad recently rebuilt an old Beechcraft Bonanza airplane. Mind you, he (and I) had been flying this thing around for a while before he decided to tear it down for a total rebuild. When he did tear it down, he discoverd that the wings were filled with rat's nests. And apparently these rats had a particular fondness for the taste of wire insulation.

I guess that explains the time that he and my little brother were flying and the gear would not go down.

Anyway, I AM a liberal hippy that doesn't want to harm God's creatures. But mice and rats scare the crap out of me. Bugs, snakes, terrorists: no fear at all. But if I see a rat I am grabbing my skirts, jumping on a chair and screaming.

 

[Bugeye58]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

Morris, on an old Bonanza, I'd be more concerned with termites than rats!
Jeff

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

*snork*

Rats, mice and wiring... oh, the stories. Kill the li'l bugger before it has offspring. "Rent-a-Cat"!!

 

[tdskip]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

How about duct taping the normal escape routes, placing a box on its side with torn up paper or other material that will look like a safe place to the mouse and then trying to heard it into a box. If that doesn't work, then kill the **** thing.

Only going to get worse, and the dropping etc are not healthy for you or passengers to be breathing if they dry out and work their way into the seat and carpet.

And if the stuff gets wet, forget it. The car will stink. Ask me how I know that.

The trick is to kill it outside of the car. There are effective bait pellets that will sent it off to me its maker, but they could also result in it simply passing away while in the car. They you'll have a rotting mouse in the works, and probably someplace that gets hot when the car runs...

 

[zimmy]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

my cat slept in my car while the shift hole was open for the tranny rebuid.....im critter free!...havent seen a live mouse in years!..meet kitty kitty the killer!..can u say meow? ; ) ...zzimmmmy

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

ummm, there are two cats there.

 

[tdskip]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

LOL Trevor...

 

[RobSelina]

LOL @ the cat. I don't have a top now though, so I can't really lock one in there. My 'garage' is just a poly-tarp temporary structure too, so no real way to seak it....

Agree about the wiring issues. He did something back behind the dash since I saw a spark the other day and my fuel gauge is reading rather eratically now. (that could just be my good friend lucas granted).

I *THINK* he ran out through the firewall last night during my last attempt to find him. I blocked off any remaining small holes with steel wool (temporary solution). Also checked my seats this morning and there were no takers on my baited traps.

I'm going to put the seats back in tonight and I'll check for any foam shavings in the morning. It should be pretty easy to see if he leaves (no more foam bits behind the seat). If that fails, I'll set standard baited steel traps behind the seats.

Thanks for the advice and hearing me vent guys!

 

[Morris]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
Morris, on an old Bonanza, I'd be more concerned with termites than rats!
Jeff

[/ QUOTE ]

My biggest concern was always drawing the short straw and riding in the back seat. [baaaarf!]

 

[RobSelina]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

you too Morris?

I've always had issues flying, or riding in a back seat. Curiously enough, I did find a cure though: Ginger root pills.

I generally think most of this herbal remedy stuff is baloney, but those ginger root pills really work! Last two times I flew (after I started taking the pills) not only did I not feel sick and barf, but I even felt well enough to read a book!

 

[jollyroger]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

I keep a couple o cats just for this concern. You can also throw a handful of moth balls in the car floor and the rodents will leave. OH and jellybeans are the best bait on a rodent trap. Stick um on the trigger and wait. HE HE!

 

[Morris]

Re: @#$^$#%$ MICE!!!!!!!!

On the Bonanza it is especially bad because the plane has no vertical stablizer and a butterfly flapping it's wings in Africa will make the butt "wag" around like it was on ice.

The wagging butt (along with a high price tag and a few other minor design flaws) lead the plane to be called the "Doctor's coffin" early in it's career.

 

[aeronca65t]

Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

Gee, I *have* to fly my plane from the back seat...the front seat is for the passenger. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif (really!)

Cats are the best "tool" for rodent control. Mine kept away mice, snakes, bats, racoons, birds, large dogs and even deer. But he's 21 now, so he's slowed down quite a bit.

When I got my present Spridget it had sat in an inner-city garage for almost 14 years and STANK from mouse dung. I gutted it and pressure washed it using bleach in the sprayer. Then let it sit outside and open for a few weeks. Phewwww!

 

[RobSelina]

Re: Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

Cats really aren't an option here. We used to have two, but the neighbor's dogs got 'em.

Our little jack russel has caught a couple of mice in his day, but he's easily distracted....

As for the mothballs, tried that, even stuffed them in their hole in the seats and he's not acting too bothered by it....

 

[zimmy]

Re: Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

uh, the black one is Footy Cat...he eats birds ; ) whole!..z

 

[Morris]

Re: Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

Yeah Nial, but the Aeronca has a nice big drag creating vertical stabilizer to keep it nice and smooth. I would take the Aeronca over a Bonanza anyday... the Bonanza is a boat.

Ummmm... I guess I should post at least something that has something to do with your original post Rob. In my house the giant roaches keep the rodents under control. If you want, I could box a few up and send them your way.

 

[Steve]

Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

They don't like moth balls.........a few of these scattered around might get him to leave.

 

[77_MG_Midget]

Re: Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

Well, closet liberal or not, I'd be on a seek and destroy mission. My midget had a family of mice that must have been living in there while the car sat in Yuma, AZ. They did A LOT of damage. Seems they were somehow getting into the interior from the hole in the frame rail under the hood on the passenger side of the car. Besides, you do need to be concerned with the droppings due to the potential for Hantavirus.

But, they weren't as bad as the multiple nests of mud dauber wasps that seemed to love my car.

I've been working on this car for 14 months now and just found ANOTHER nest (abandoned of course). I'm thinking about nicknaming my car the "Mud Dauber".

 

[mrstinson]

Re: Darn MICE!!!!!!!!

My mouse/mice problem is in my heater box. After taking off the air intake vent pipe I noticed a large nest (luckly deserted). So now, when I flush the cooent I need to remove the box and clean it our the best I can.

I think they are also responsible for a couple of now broken wires.