Mice

[Joe in Canada]

I came across a 1987 Cadillac Allante where the owner had lost storage. The car had been sitting for 6 years unattended with the hard top on but the windows down collecting a lot of dust and dirt. The engine fired right up with no noise but the exhaust sure smells bad from the stale gas but everything seems to operate properly. The big problem is mice droppings everywhere. The mice were into the insulation in the back end and hoping they did not chew any of the wire harness. Right now it is cold and I think when the summer hits I might be in for a fowl smell with the heat and mouse urine. Does anyone have any experience in this type of cleanup?

[Guest]

What's that great looking machine lurking in the garage ?

[cahartley]

I could suggest all kinds of home remedies including the use of Febreze.........which I have used with great success.

However in your case I think a call to a local ServiceMaster might be a good move >>> http://www.servicemaster.ca/en/brands/servicemaster-clean/ontario/

[vermontboy]

Ditto on the ServiceMaster and please read up on hantavirus. I had a co-worker die from cleaning out an old barn. .... Scarce in Canada but still as deadly.

[Joe in Canada]

1930 Cadillac Victoria sat in the corner of my barn for over 25 years when we dragged it out and finished it off after I retired. You could not tell the colour of the car as you can still see by the roof until I washed it off and yes I washed it before any one was allowed to touch it so not to mark the paint. It was one of those projects that gets sidetracked.

[Joe in Canada]

Thanks for the heads up on the hantavirus.

[Joe in Canada]

Another thing what is good to keep mice out as I hear mice are attracted to the odor if not cleaned real well.? I hear all kinds of remedies but what really works?

[JACK M]

Moth Balls or dryer sheets. Lots of them.

If you use dryer sheets they need to be replaced often.

[CarlLaFong]

I found a box of dryer sheets in my laundry room that mice had shredded up and made a nest out of. Moth balls are just as effective. If you can sit next to a box of them, do you think it bothers a mouse? Sealing all entry points is the omly way to keep mice out.

[kings32]

I found a good demicer ! called Botanical Rodent Repellent .All natural ingredients www. earthkind.comm I use it in my buildings and my cars.. kings32

[GARY F]

i havent tried it but it is called Fresh Cab

[Curti]

I try to kill mice before they get a chance to enter the car. There are 8 traps Victor traps on the out side of my buildings and twice that many traps and sticky pads on the inside of the buildings. I alter the traps so they have a seriously hair trigger.

The most amount of mice I have found in one sticky pad is five and they were all still alive. All trying to get to the untouched peanut butter in the middle. I get 100's a year. And yes, I dispatch the live ones, A tap on the head with a hammer does it every time. We feed the hawks and eagles, they have learned where to get an appetizer. NO sticky pads though.

[bhambulldog]

Another thing what is good to keep mice out as I hear mice are attracted to the odor if not cleaned real well.? I hear all kinds of remedies but what really works?

hungry cats

[huptoy]

I don't remember where I copied the following but it is interesting reading.

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<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> [h=1]Wacky Ways to Keep Mice Away[/h] Lisa Kaplan GordonSep 30th 2014 4:33AM

As cool and wet weather rolls in, mice invite themselves into your home,That patter of little footsteps may be mice. Mice like to stay warm and dry, just like you. So as cool and wet weather rolls in, mice invite themselves into your home, chewing through electrical wires and making nests in your attic insulation. And since the gestation period for mice is about 20 days, once mice get in, they're birthing machines that will produce an infestation before you can say "cheese!"

The best way get rid of a mouse problem is to prevent one. Keep counters clean of food and crumbs, and throw out old newspapers and boxes of clothes that provide nesting material.

Also, keep mice from getting into your home in the first place. Seal up holes and cracks around your house, especially where cable lines and plumbing enter. Also, make sure your chimney caps and vent covers are secure.

But mice, like water, will find a way in, and then you've got to get rid of them.

You can call an exterminator, and spend $300 to $500 to wipe out the mice in your home. Or, you can get creative and try some of these "wacky" repellents that will chase the rodents away.

Warning: Anything that can kill mice, can probably hurt you and your pets, too. So make sure you put toxic repellents out of reach by kids, Fido and Mr. Fluffy. Safety first; getting rid of mice, second.

Peppermint: Mice don't like mint, so start cleaning with mint-scented solutions, or add a few drops of mint essential oil to your all-purpose cleaner. You also can pulverize peppermint Altoids, and sprinkle around mice nesting areas. To keep mice away from your house, plant mint around your foundation. But be warned, mint spreads quickly. So unless you want mint fields forever, plant the herb in pots with saucers, and place them around the outside of your house.

Soda Pop: Mice can't burb, so when they drink soda pop that makes them gassy, they eventually perish. Pour any sugary soda (not diet) into a shallow dish, and place where you think mice are nesting. They'll drink, and die.

Tabasco Sauce: This hot sauce keeps mice away in droves. Sprinkle the sauce around your home's foundation to deter mice from entering. Or add 2 tsp. Tabasco and 1 tsp. dish detergent to 2 cups hot water. Pour into a spray bottle, and spritz where you think mice are hiding.

Dryer Sheets: You may love their fragrance on pillowcases, but mice hate their strong smell. Stuff dryer sheets beneath attic doors, or press them into the baseboards around rooms where mice are living.

Ammonia: When animal urine decomposes, it produces ammonia, a smell mice avoid because they fear it's from large animals that could eat them for supper. To repel rodents, clean with an ammonia-based solution, or sprinkle drops of ammonia where mice are nesting. But don't go crazy and slop ammonia around the house. It can be harmful to the heath of humans and pets, too.

Strange Noises: Several companies sell gizmos that emit high-frequency sounds that mice supposedly find irritating, kinda like how you feel about your kids' rap music. But mice naturally communicate with each other at high frequencies that humans can't hear, and little evidence exists that mice truly are repelled by sonic or ultrasonic noises. These devices may be more whacky than effective.

Cayenne Pepper: This stinging seasoning repels mice. Sprinkle some on areas where mice enter your house. A horseradish and water solution will work, too.

Cloves: The strong scent of cloves is known to repel mice. Wrap whole cloves in cheesecloth, and place in attics, basements, and in front of walls where you've heard mice scampering about.

Toilet Bowl Freshener: You buy them to make your toilet bowl smell sweet, but mice hate the strong aroma of toilet bowl fresheners. Place fresheners on a tin plate, or hang clip-ons from a hook on walls to prevent leaking on or staining wood floors.

Antifreeze: As a last resort, place a dish of antifreeze in mice nesting areas. The sweet smell attracts the rodents, who then drown in or drink the poison. Antifreeze, of course, is toxic to other living creatures. So be careful when using this whacky method to get rid of mice.

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[R W Burgess]

................ And yes, I dispatch the live ones, A tap on the head with a hammer does it every time. We feed the hawks and eagles, they have learned where to get an appetizer.

PETA, nothing to see here, move along........ :cool:

[Graham Man]

I put out a lot of "mouse food" this year. I keep it in about 8 small containers around the inside of my shed, it is a lot less expensive than the damage. The trick is to have it out the first cold night, when they head inside, the containers normally stay full all winter after the first cold. I check them weekly just in case.

[whtbaron]

All good advice. Mice apparently have weak bladders and "leak" as they run. This leaves a trail for the next horny little mouse to follow. A lot of the deodorizing techniques are to cover that odor, but it won't prevent an infestation that is already under way. Get lots of traps and bait stations out there and inspect them frequently. We have public insurance and I have seen them write off a lot of expensive motor homes due to mouse damage. People are not allowed back in them to remove personal items or even tires due to the threat of hanta virus. I'm in a colder climate than you, but that doesn't discourage mice either. Be very careful and diligent about cleaning where they have been.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

As has been suggested, one of these units works well - but if you don't want scratches on your car another way to leverage this deterrant is cat urine. If you have a cat you may try putting some of the (used) litter near entry points as well. A roamer will help you on the outskirts of the building if you "seed" the area with a bit of used litter. A housecat not so much but you can still use this technique. Somewhat unpleasant to handle, yeah but it does work.

[JohnD1956]

I don't want to discourage you but I had to clean an infested vehicle once, and it was very difficult. Rugs, seats, headliner, discarded. Heater core and A/C unit was full of nesting materials and also discarded. Door panels off and discarded, but they cold have been saved. I happened to have another set on the shelf.

Trunk liner and underlayment, discarded. Shop vac filter after use, discarded.

After I got everything out of the car I also removed the cowl vent seals, then I mixed Clorox bleach with dish soap and scrubbed the floors and inside the doors, and flushed more of the solution through the cowl and down the vents. Then I left the car out in the sun for a few days to dry it all up.

I was lucky that they never attacked the wires.

[JohnD1956]

As for preventing entrance, if at all possible, I swear by stainless steel scrubbies. I buy them at the grocery store. They can be stretched and cut to fit any garage door openings or other building openings. But it would be hard to try and use them to plug up a car stored outdoors.

[Curti]

I agree, with the use of steel wool in the bottom corners of all doors. If you can see light, plug it with steel wool. It is the ounce of prevention. Check your traps daily! A mouse will almost always run next to a wall.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Joe, in case you don't already know, there are

one or two Allante clubs. I spoke to the president of one

(in New Jersey): He is a dedicated Allante mechanic and

has several parts cars if you need spares of anything.

I decided not to get an Allante. Some people have had no

problems; others have found them to be electrical nightmares.

Perhaps because of that, the typical #3 condition Allante may

sell for only $4000-$5000.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Joe, I understand that Allantes, when idle, consume batteries

fairly quickly--evidently due to all the electronics on board.

So whenever you are driving your Allante sparingly, or storing it

during the off-season, be sure to disconnect the battery!

Otherwise it will drain fast.

[Restorer32]

I hate those meeses to pieces! We bought a true "barn find" 1920 Overland years ago. The owner, still alive at the time, had rebuilt the engine in 1937 complete with new aluminum pistons. Sadly he stored the unfinished project with one spark plug not in place. Countless generations of mice had apparently called that cylinder home over the years to the point where their urine had eaten a hole the size of a fifty cent piece thru the piston. Destructive little bastids they are.