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Pesky Mice


rsnik

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In years past I have set traps and got some mice, but you are always re-baiting and resetting traps and I still got mouse nests in the tractors. This year I went with lots of sticky mouse houses and trays of mouse bait. Not one mouse caught in the sticky houses but a lot of the mouse bait was eaten. I also start the 7013S up regularly. I guess the bait went stale or I don't know what but I went in the shed to start the 7013 today and this was the first sign of bad news:


I poked into the tin and yep, there is a substantial mouse nest in there. I started her up and some of the material blew out. The engine is running in this pic:


Despite all the traps the mice built a nest behind the battery, causing a lot of wire nibble damage last year. I removed the nest and two days later it was back again. I removed the battery and sprayed the whole area with PB Power Blaster and that ended it. There has got to be something you can do to prevent this. Maybe spray PB Power Blaster into the engine tin periodically over the winter. This is a FarmTek fabric shed. I was thinking maybe get some dryer exhaust hose and put one end in the shed and slip the other end over the exhaust pipe on the truck and gas the shed periodically over the winter. The problem is, I have been constantly monitoring the shed and when you get a nest it happens almost instantly.
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I'm sorry to here about your mouse problem:(,but I think your solution is pretty funny:D P.S. The sticky traps work very well for me8
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I don't know where I heard this but it seems to work in my garage. I cut up bars of Irish Spring soap and threw the pieces all over the place and followed that up with mothballs. On the tractors I put mothballs on top of the head and throw some down behind the battery and gas tank. Repeat this about twice a year {spring and fall} and I,ve had next door to no problems. Good luck.
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Cats do the job just be sure to take good care of them. In my barn (7 lawn tractors-2 farm tractors) I have never had a mouse nest. Cats? Yes, several. They are always on the hunt. It is their nature. They do what they were created to do. However if you want a good trap this is what we USED to do. Get a 5 gal bucket with 5 inches of washer fluid in it for winter use. Rig a teeter totter type 'walk the plank' with peanut butter on the end that reaches over the bucket. Be sure the mouse can get to the plank. The plank must be metal or a slippery material that it can't grab hold of. Mouse goes for the bait, tips the little plank and ends up in the bucket unable to get out and the rest is history. Peanut butter can't be beat for bait.
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I live in a suburb and have several cats that prowl the neighborhood. We have not ever had a mouse problem nor have I ever even seen one around here.... I feel for ya though, I have had mouse issues and they are a pain. You could buy a roll of the shipping wrap and at the end of the season, hermetically seal your tractor in cellophane!
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my brother, who had an underground house, used the sticky traps above the suspended ceiling. one day a ceiling panel fell down with a mouse and a snake caught in the sticky. he likes snakes less that mice so he quit using them so he wouldn't know if there were snakes around. (i let the snake go in the wood pile, which he did not appreciate) i had mouse nests when i lived up north. they seemed to arrive with new tractors. the cats made short work of the mice but i still had to pull shrouds to clean out the nests. down here in florida, i have a gecko problem. they get into the shroud and lay eggs. about the size of a garbonzo bean. darn cats don't kill them (not that i could ever have enough cats to do the job) but they pull the tails off them. besides, i want the lizards so they can eat the mosquitos. read about an electric mouse repeller to chase them away. the pentagon installed them. since i haven't read about how well they work, i'm figuring that they don't and the pentagon won't say because they either cost a thousand bucks apeice or they consider it a terrorist threat
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quote:
Originally posted by OrangeMetalGuy
Decon works good for me. They love it but not for long!
That's been my solution in both my garage and detached shed. It has worked fine.
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quote:
Originally posted by dav
they seemed to arrive with new tractors.
On the 2012 I'm working on now the mouse nest was huge. I pulled off the covers and a mass of fiber fell on the floor. C Wire brush took care of that. Cleaned up the motor and now runs well. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think the motor had that in it. Originally I was going to scrap it. I believe now that they all can be revived. :D
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Get a barn cat. They work for food. I would build them a nice little bed so they can sleep on the tractor seat. 24 hr protection! Skyrancher Seriously though around the engine I use a wire screen mesh used in gutter drains (made of aluminum) to cover up the large gaps those little bastereds like to squeeze into. I have had no problems in many years.
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I guess I feed our cat too much because she does catch enough mice in the garage. I caught seven this past winter. I just use the snap traps baited w/ peanut butter. You have to reset them a lot. When I used to store cars in barns I used moth balls in the car, on the tires, in the truck, in the exhaust and on the engine. I never had mouse problem w/ any of the cars. Vicks vapor rub also works.
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i've had this problem in the past and i put moth balls in an old sock and lay on top of motor. this seems to work well. also peppermint oil works well in repelling mice and squirels and smells a lot better than moth balls.
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--Get a 5 gal bucket with 5 inches of washer fluid in it for winter use. Rig a teeter totter type 'walk the plank' with peanut butter on the end that reaches over the bucket. Be sure the mouse can get to the plank. The plank must be metal or a slippery material that it can't grab hold of.------ I used the 5 gallon bucket trick a few years ago in a job shack. Couldn't have water in it because I might have aroused the attention of those who consider them "wild Life" and being on a military base we were not to mess with the wild life, ie, ravens and mice and squirrels. So, I'd set a bucket next to a wooden bench, drop a peanut butter cookie in, and each morning for 9 days in a row, a four legged rodent met a 2x4 end. After that it got pretty rare I'd get one.
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quote:
Originally posted by AC_B-1Novice
Cats do the job just be sure to take good care of them. In my barn (7 lawn tractors-2 farm tractors) I have never had a mouse nest. Cats? Yes, several. They are always on the hunt. It is their nature. They do what they were created to do. However if you want a good trap this is what we USED to do. Get a 5 gal bucket with 5 inches of washer fluid in it for winter use. Rig a teeter totter type 'walk the plank' with peanut butter on the end that reaches over the bucket. Be sure the mouse can get to the plank. The plank must be metal or a slippery material that it can't grab hold of. Mouse goes for the bait, tips the little plank and ends up in the bucket unable to get out and the rest is history. Peanut butter can't be beat for bait.
I have done the same thing with a coffee can drum and a coathanger axel. Set it up so the mice can easly walk onto the coffee can
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