Mice

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kevin j

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IMG_1493.JPG IMG_1491.JPG 18 HP Briggs opposed twin cylinder on my Hydr power unit wouldn't crank this fall. No starter sound at all. (Stored since last year, although I keep a lot of kerosene in pans in the box to try and repel mice with the smell. It has worked for years, but not this time.)

Here is the starter, corrosion from mouse pee.

And the magneto wire wire:

Glad I had to pull the sheet metal to get at the starter bolts. Might have been a fire or overheating problem a bit.........



Any recommendatons how to keep mice out of. A. Stored equpment, cabs, toolboxes, etc
B. Campers?
 

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I hate the bastages. Have cost me a lot of money. I've had good luck with peppermint oil. on a cotton ball in the cab. Or however you wanna do it. Just add more every couple wks or so.
 
Bucket trap, decon, or burn down the shed :laugh:.

Bastards are bad this year. In the last couple weeks I've had to throw out 40lbs of dog food I had in the shop, a case of ramen noodles and $30 of Holloween candy I had in a big bowl on the counter. They also chewed through a the bottom of a box of dog biscuits, but didn't get into the box.
Bad enough they chew on stuff, but it's the frigging **** and piss. Couldn't have taken ONE piece of candy and got the Dieabettus? Nope, nibble on almost everything all while pissing and ******** all over it too. :mad:
 
+1 for the cats. Rats have been in our shed. Got into my toolbox and ripped up a bunch of crap! Making nests in the air filter boxes of my dirtbikes. So we picked up a couple of kittens. They are a few months old now and living in the shed in a crate. Once they're big enough we're gonna let them loose. My mother in law has two cats she keeps in her shed for the horse feed they are fat! And they don't eat that much cat food haha needless to say they've earned their keep
 
The Red or Blue poison paste works good, tie a piece of card where they congregate & spread a good layer of paste on the card they eat both paste & card & usually die where there is a water supply renew as required If you have cats make sure they cant eat the actual paste I dont know for sure but chewing the dead mice doesn't seem to harm them or it didn't a stupid kitten we had that used to mess with "em dead"but at around a year old the silly bu***r got run over
Mice
 
image.jpeg I've had my share of problems with mice. I loaned a riding mower to a friend. It was not used over winter then did not start. I brought it home and when I opened it up it was loaded with mice nests. I cleaned it up, got it running and kept it at home. My latest and ongoing battle is with my tractor. They keep chewing the instrument panel wiring. I just finished the third repair. I am trying bounce fabric softener sheets. I use a pick-up tool to get them into the wiring area. I may fill a mesh bag with moth balls and see if that helps.
 
I'm down to 2 cats now, a half-feral outside neutered male that seems to like hunting a field across the road, and a female that comes inside and is one of the best mousers I've had. She uses the cat door to come in, but we make sure to feed her outside so she still goes out to eat and use the bathroom. In the last week I've seen 4 dead mice and one dead chipmunk in my basement. I don't really like cats, but she's effective enough that she gets a pass.
 
I'm down to 2 cats now, a half-feral outside neutered male that seems to like hunting a field across the road, and a female that comes inside and is one of the best mousers I've had. She uses the cat door to come in, but we make sure to feed her outside so she still goes out to eat and use the bathroom. In the last week I've seen 4 dead mice and one dead chipmunk in my basement. I don't really like cats, but she's effective enough that she gets a pass.
My neighbor calls her calico cat, "Sweetheart." Yesterday after breakfast I saw Sweetheart carrying a dead mouse in her jaws, proud of her catch. Two hours later she had another one. I added a couple of cat treats to my shopping list to give to my neighbor for Sweetheart.
 
Thks for comments.
I tried moth balls in a vintage car years ago but they sublimated away about every 3-4 weeks. Used Bounce sheets in the camper last year with no mice. Not sure if that is like deer whistles though, would I have had mice otherwise. however, I put Bounce sheets in yesterday again. I’ve heard peppermint oil works, but again have to replenish it every 3-4 weeks, which doesn’t work on the engine unit as it is stored away from my house, outside, in grassy field, perfect mouse habitat.

Cats would work, but the box is a big tight to lock them into for the winter, although that thought crosses my mind for the one house cat. Pics attached, box closed up, and box with panels open when operating.

I have always left a pan of kerosene in the box, and wiped it all over the base and metal parts. The smell seemed to work, and I did it every fall for a few years. Maybe I didn’t get enough last year. They sure made a mess.
 

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Ive been fighting the Mice out here since we moved in. LOTS of cats running around but they are fed and happy to watch the mice.

Pulling out Generators for their pre winter run/inspection and the EU3000is wouldn't run with the Eco Throttle switched on. Circular saw would stop the generator in its tracks. Sure as ****, mice. Got in and made a mess of one of the insulating panels and chewed through the wiring harness that runs between the inverter and the carb. They also chewed up an inflatable kayak that was sitting on a shelf in the barn.

I had real good luck with the black oil sunflower seed traps last year... This year, not so much. Ive resorted to the Tom Cat bait blocks and have them scattered around the shed and garage. Im toying with getting/making one of those spinning log deals that goes over a 5 gallon bucket. Problem is keeping the water from freezing.... Guess I could make it salt water.
 
The only thing I found better than a cat was my dog, a flat-coated retriever, Lady. She wiped out every rodent in my back yard, including squirrels until she got older. Neighbors called her the rodent destroyer. Best thing about her is that she seldom barked. Instead, she minded her own business and hunted them down like a bobcat. Totally relentless, she cleaned them out -- rabbits, rats, opossums, ground squirrels, chipmunks, and even moles. Best part about her was that she was a fabulous watch dog.

I lost Lady late last month to old age after 15.5 years. I will never forget her.
 
Ive been fighting the Mice out here since we moved in. LOTS of cats running around but they are fed and happy to watch the mice.

Pulling out Generators for their pre winter run/inspection and the EU3000is wouldn't run with the Eco Throttle switched on. Circular saw would stop the generator in its tracks. Sure as ****, mice. Got in and made a mess of one of the insulating panels and chewed through the wiring harness that runs between the inverter and the carb. They also chewed up an inflatable kayak that was sitting on a shelf in the barn.

I had real good luck with the black oil sunflower seed traps last year... This year, not so much. Ive resorted to the Tom Cat bait blocks and have them scattered around the shed and garage. Im toying with getting/making one of those spinning log deals that goes over a 5 gallon bucket. Problem is keeping the water from freezing.... Guess I could make it salt water.
Antifreeze. It kills the smell too.
 
Ive been fighting the Mice out here since we moved in. LOTS of cats running around but they are fed and happy to watch the mice.

Pulling out Generators for their pre winter run/inspection and the EU3000is wouldn't run with the Eco Throttle switched on. Circular saw would stop the generator in its tracks. Sure as ****, mice. Got in and made a mess of one of the insulating panels and chewed through the wiring harness that runs between the inverter and the carb. They also chewed up an inflatable kayak that was sitting on a shelf in the barn.

I had real good luck with the black oil sunflower seed traps last year... This year, not so much. Ive resorted to the Tom Cat bait blocks and have them scattered around the shed and garage. Im toying with getting/making one of those spinning log deals that goes over a 5 gallon bucket. Problem is keeping the water from freezing.... Guess I could make it salt water.
No need for water, they'll fall in and die of exposure or you can feed them to your lazy cats.:cool:
 

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