Mice

[dseretakis]

I found a dead mouse in the trunk of my pagoda last summer and I see evidence of mice in my Adenauer. Both cars are stored in unheated garages. How do I keep these critters out of my cars? Mothballs leave a long lasting unpleasant odor but so do dead mice.

[twistedtree]

Try placing moth balls around the tires where they contact the ground.  That's where the mice get access from, and you can head them off at the pass, so to speak.

[Bonnyboy]

I have used ground cayenne pepper to keep the pesky guys at bay for years.  It can be sprinkled around tires and placed in a satchel (cheese cloth or girlfriends used panyhose) and placed like potpourri around the interior of the car like glove box or trunk foot wells. 

The cayenne pepper isn't very nice for house cats either (really messes up thier eyes and nose and can be quite painful) so I sprinkle around my doors to my garage to keep the neighbour's cat from coming in a peeing on my cars. 

I found that the mothballs only to be effective when launched from a slingshot.

Ian in North vancouver

[49er]

 Google "mouseproof automobile" Lot's of suggestions. I usually leave a few mousetraps on the floor near the wheels just in case. They always come up empty but never have had a mouse problem either.

John

[Garry]

I leave an open box of Ratsak under the car, its a poison pellet for mice and rats that I use after having a problem with them getting in. Cat does not seem to be interested in eating the poison.  Didn't seem to be interested in eating the mice either. so it was either a new cat or some poison.  Cat threatened to report me to the RSPC (A) if I got a new one so Ratsak was the answer.

Problem has been gone for a year or so now.

[Jordan]

Garry, the problem with Ratsak and a lot of rodent poisons is once the rodent dies they basically dehydrate so you don't get the smell of rotting flesh.  So once it has eaten the poison it can still crawl into your car and die.  You will never know until you open up the spot it crawled into to die.  I know dryer sheets keep deer away, I just don't know if it works on mice.

BTW that is a beautiful car you added to your stable.  Nice colour combo and leather to boot.  Kate will be chuffed.

[Jack Jones]

I can't confirm if they work but was told that dryer sheets (Bounce brand) work well as a means of deterring mice. I use them and have never had any mouse issues.

[bogeyman]

I concur with John, you never know when they might arrive, but I keep traps in the area and check them daily.
Occasionally I will get one, but since I have used them, I have had no trouble with them and my cars.

[dseretakis]

These are great suggestions. I'll probably try the pepper trick around the f
tires and maybe set some traps.

[Cees Klumper]

Another, less dangerous (poison) and more animal-friendly (poison that very slowly and extremely painfully kills through dehydration rather than euthanises, just so us poor humans don't suffer too much from 'that nasty smell' - is that how you would like to see your beloved cat or dog go when it's time?) solution are the ultra-high frequency sound emitting devices. We use them in our home in France to keep all manner of rodents out; they hate the sound and go elsewhere. Barely uses electricity and also keeps cats away.

[twistedtree]

Wow, you find the ultrasonic gadgets actually work?  I always understood their effect to be temporary at best as the critters acclimate to the sound.  It's encouraging to hear someone having success with them.

[Cees Klumper]

Hi Peter - yes, they do work for us. The first year we owned this house we had about 7 squirrel/like rodents running over the exposed wood beams of the roof structure, at night, making a big racket and not shy or afraid of us at all. Even throwing shoes would not phase them. After installing about five of these things in the various rooms, they left and have not come back since. They did not leave straight away, it took a couple of weeks when we started seeing them less and less until - evicted.

[Larry & Norma]

I use one in my garage also, have not seen a mouse since.

[twistedtree]

That's very interesting - I might give them a try.  My place in VT is an old farm house and they are a constant battle.

Which make/model/brand have you had success with?

I also like the pepper idea.  I've found moth balls to be very effective, but I hate the smell and it permeates everything.

[Benz Dr.]

Rat poision contains warfrin which is a blood thinner. The rat basicaly bleeds to death internally. Cumadin ( sp? ) is what you or I might use ( which is still like rat posion ) if we need blood thinners.

I use bars of soap in my trunk and soft top well. Mice won't go near them.

[Jordan]

Warfarin and coumadin are the same thing.  They just gave it a different name for humans so they could charge more and not make it look like you were being prescribed a rat poisin. 

The soap idea sounds like it works along the same lines as the dryer sheets.  I guess mice don't like that clean smell.

[dtuttle123]

In our cottage in Maine, the mice chew on the bars of soap by the sink during the winter - maybe I have good tasting soap?  You could also get a cat.

[Larry & Norma]

I use this one by 'JML'

[dseretakis]

I might get some soap bars as well. I use those high frequency emitting devices at home and they work. Never thought about using them in the garage.

[Wolfmann]

The rodents ate all of the screen demister nozzles on my car and wrecked a lot of the carpets. When mine returns I will get an ultrasonic device but I have no problem with killing vermin by any means whatsoever, my cat likes them so I have little alternative but to poison them and let them dessicate !  Let's remember they are only pests/vermin and although I do not relish killing them it is still a no-brainer if they are intent on damaging or eating parts of my car !!!

S.

[bsimaz]

Look up 'Golden Malrin'.

Mix it with whatever the mice would eat.
Works on all kinds of rodents/uninvited guests.