VERMIN - what is the best way to keep mice/rats from damaging

[31 LaSalle]

what is the best way to keep mice/rats from damaging my long term stored cars uk

any suggestions more than welcome

[yachtflame]

The worst damage I’ve had from critters was them crawling up the exhaust and making nests in the carb or intake, sometimes making nests in the cylinders. I now put an aluminum can over the exhaust pipe end. That has stopped it.

 I also put small dishes of antifreeze on the floor around my cars and boxes of moth baa as Las inside. 
Nock wood, no problems since.

[pkhammer]

Yes, cover the exhaust pipe opening and put peppermint oil or moth balls inside. A few strategically placed glue traps wouldn't hurt either. Some people claim Irish Spring soap or dryer sheets work but I've seen evidence to the contrary.

[jp1gt]

I live out in the country and have mouse traps set all over the place. When I was stupid and used decon I started up my Z28 and heard this strange noise. the mice stored the decon in the exhaust system. Mouse traps work but it takes some monitoring. I throw the mice on the roof of the tool shed and the ravens love it!!!

[30DodgePanel]

41 minutes ago, jp1gt said:

 I throw the mice on the roof of the tool shed and the ravens love it!!!

I laugh at the visual because it was the last thing I expected to read this morning while waking on the coast, but what a great idea...

Circle of life

Edited September 8, 2022 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[StylishOne]

They say pure peppermint oil sends them running 

[leomara]

I have a 1991 Ford Bronco that unfortunately sits outside.  I've used cage wire with 3/8 squares to go over the end of my exhaust pipe and under the hood over the air intake opening.  I also took the small plastic containers used for bars of soap when traveling, drilled holes in them and filled them with moth balls then put one on each side of the engine held in place with a zip tie.  The moth balls need to be replaced as they evaporate.  So far nothing appears to have tried to invade any of these places. 

[StylishOne]

Yeah Irish Spring soap chopped up

[1937hd45]

The 5 gallon bucket & peanut butter covered beer/soda can treadmill trap works well. Some antifreeze in the water  also kills the smell if you only check things one a week or so. 

[Mark Shaw]

How to Build the Best 5-Gallon Bucket Mouse Trap [*2022 Edition*] (pestkill.org)

 

[Buick35]

I've never thought of mice going in the exhaust pipe.I wonder if a flapper type cover like semis use would work.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Buick35
Spell (see edit history)

[PFitz]

14 minutes ago, Buick35 said:

I've never thought of mice going in the exhaust pipe. I wonder if a flapper type cover like semis use would work.

Worked on a 31 car that was pulled out of a dirt-floored barn. It had been there a few decades. The entire bottom half of the exhaust system, right up the cast iron exhaust manifold was gone. The mice made a nest, pissed in it until it rusted away the lower half of the pipe and then built a nest further into the exhaust. Took years but they pissed (rusted) the bottom half away, including the muffler. Looked like one of those cutaway demonstrations to show the inside. 

 

Not liking old cars that smell like stinky chemicals or perfumed soaps, we got a better mouse trap. He's 14 pounds of hungry cat that loves to hunt small rodents. 😁  

 

 

[kgreen]

Anyone with experience using this device?

 

https://www.calcarcover.com/product/mouseblocker-1000-mb51599/8121

[The 55er]

Just for the record peppermint oil has not worked for me.

[pont35cpe]

I park my daily drivers close to a Pecan tree. Mice moved in under the hood. I`ve been using the Peppermint now for 2yr, apply at the season changes(4times a year). No mice.

[60FlatTop]

I am active around my cars all winter in my detached garage. I put two or three of the Tomcat mouse killed stations around the garage.  Very few days go by when I am not out there for at least half an hour. I maintain the heat at a minimum of 40 degrees so the furnace fan comes on and make noise during the day. I have not experienced any inhabitants so I figure I am good at home.

 

Last year I got a deal of $50 per month on storage that gave me a little extra room. That was in an unused barn. No food was around and my friend who lined up the location gave me a few dryer sheets. That also worked out fine. But I missed my car at home.

 

At the barn my friend had a project stored for nearly 30 years without being inhabited. Sometimes it may just be luck. Or the lack of food.

 

[pkhammer]

2 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:

The 5 gallon bucket & peanut butter covered beer/soda can treadmill trap works well. Some antifreeze in the water  also kills the smell if you only check things one a week or so. 

Yes, best mouse trap ever! Tried it in our crawlspace and got six mice in a short amount of time.

[greenie]

Or this!
 

The brew washes the mouse taste out of his mouth. 

[SC38dls]

Yes, the above suggestion is very good. Get a good barn cat or two, domestic cats get bored to fast. Feed them a treat when ever they bring a mouse to the door and you won’t have any mice after a while. Then you have to feed the cats. In twenty years plus of having horses, grain and then cars in our barn I never saw a live mouse. 
dave s 

[PAV8427]

My H/O was stored outsideish for ten years. 
Vanilla scented x-mas tree inside. 
Not one sign of critters inside or in the trunk. 
I bought it in 2013 and have had a x-mas tree in it since. 
No signs of critters. AT ALL. 

My wifes Jeep sits 5 feet from it and the most I have trapped from INSIDE that has been 8. 

[Angelfish]

54 minutes ago, greenie said:

Or this!
 

The brew washes the mouse taste out of his mouth. 

 

I have a cat that's a good hunter (a little too good sometimes, we don't seem to have any chickadees around anymore) but he also went though a phase where he sharpened his claws on the fender seal of my old truck.   Still haven't torn the front end off to replace it but it is better than the mice.

[PAV8427]

Side note to Decon and your pets. 
Keep some Hydrogen Peroxide handy. 
If at all you suspect they ate some, get some down their throat. However you have to. 
It WILL empty their stomach. 
That from my Vet. 

Edited September 8, 2022 by PAV8427 (see edit history)

[wayne sheldon]

My "mini-barn" (a Tuff Shed) was built pretty tight, and remained rodent free for many years. I also kept Irish Spring, mothballs, and trays of antifreeze inside. I also have a storage shed that is not tight at all, things of lesser value are kept in there. I used a roller-bucket and antifreeze trap in there with some success. We also had a barn cat, that I know kept the rodent population down. But, she became too old, and none of the other neighborhood cats wanted to take over the job.

So, eventually, and believe it or not? The rats decided to invade my mini barn, and chewed through an aluminum vent cover! Once inside, they began doing significant damage to a lot of things. Not only did the moth balls and Irish Spring not keep them out, they ATE the Irish Spring!

I had to take almost everything out of the mini barn. Clean things, throw out a few things, repair some damage. I sealed it up extra tight. Two years now, and no new signs of activity inside the mini barn.

 

The barn cat eventually left us (after fifteen years!), and none of the other feral or neighborhood cats seem to want to take over the job. 

[CHuDWah]

When we lived in the country, a couple kittens took up residence under our tool shed.  They disappeared after a while but one reappeared a couple years later.  Of course by then it was a full-grown cat, actually a mini-panther.  We lived in prime mouse country, corn field on one side, pasture on the other and woods behind.  The cat lived in the woods but occasionally would sleep on our porch in winter, and we'd leave scraps out for it then when game was scarce.  Anyway, we never saw a mouse anywhere on the place, much less having a problem with them.

[Brass is Best]

[mcdarrunt]

Had mice chew the injector wires off my newer Buick. Found out the insulation is a soy based plastic. Was told to spread dryer sheets (like Bounce) around engine compartment. Worked so far but would like to hear from others that did the same.

[Studemax]

1 hour ago, mcdarrunt said:

Had mice chew the injector wires off my newer Buick. Found out the insulation is a soy based plastic. Was told to spread dryer sheets (like Bounce) around engine compartment. Worked so far but would like to hear from others that did the same.

Many Studebaker Drivers Club members use Bounce dryer sheets scattered around and tucked into holes to keep the mice away. I did it for years over the winter for my Studebakers. Never a mice problem - ever. Under the hood, in the interior and trunk, and in the exhaust pipe. I even scattered them around the garage wherever mice might hide.

[1937hd45]

Jack, That reminds me of the rat that lived in a 1915 DB that made it from the Mid West inside an enclosed trailer. Got real thirsty and was walking around the Hershey swap meet years ago once the back door was opened. Generations remains were later found inside the car. 

[nickelroadster]

I go for a good cat as the main defense.  Just be sure that you get one that likes to hunt.

[TAKerry]

Not mice but squirrels get into my car. I find the nuts under the hood, and in the trunk (cleaning my car tonight I saw where I forgot to install a drain plug in the trunk, mystery solved how they were getting in). I thought about one of those sonic devices. I am a dog person, cats are ok I just dont want to own one. There is a feral one I see in my backyard and around the back of my shop area. I figure if he is keeping the critters at bay then Im all for him. I lost a dog many years ago when he got into a hidden stash of decon, I will NEVER use that stuff again!

[Glen Andrews]

Long term storage, how long, indoor location? So back in the mid 90's I needed to store a car while I was restoring another one. (I'll skip the long version of the backstory as to why I went from a house with a two car garage to one with a one car garage, most of us know the saying about an elevator and a shaft.) At that time a friend had indoor storage, not tightly sealed, and his place is in the country with cornfields and woods next to his building. I stored a 1976 Corvette there for 13 months, now that's long term storage. I bought something called an Omnibag for about $100, easiest way to describe it is to say it was like a giant garbage bag, 20' feet long, silver outside black inside. It was sort of like putting on a sock as we pushed the car into the bag and being very careful not to tear the bag, it might be 6 mil thick, I still have the bag.  Luckily we did not tear the bag initially so the mice and other critters could not sense the leather seat covers, electrical components and anything else. When I took the car out of the bag after 13 months it was just like when it went in. The company sold other sizes of bags, don't know if they are still around, if they are I'm sure the bags probably cost more than $100. No chemicals were used, not pets or other critters died, no renewing of supplies to keep pests away, no clean up; just a little effort and planning to get the car in the bag.

[Max4Me]

On 9/8/2022 at 12:34 PM, PAV8427 said:

Side note to Decon and your pets. 

I live out in a pretty rural area. I do not use Decon or the Tomcat trap previously mentioned because of accidental ingestion by pets, but also the danger to wildlife. If a mouse or rat eats some of the poison and doesn’t die and is subsequently caught and eaten by an owl, eagle, or hawk, even if not immediately fatal, if they eat enough vermin it can kill them. Not worth the risk so I just use traps. I also get a random king snake come through. Feeds on mice, rats, gophers AND rattlesnakes. OK by me!

 

I love the idea of chucking the dead mice/rats on the roof. We have plenty of crows and ravens that would love them!