Ive tried everything to keep mice out, nothing works. Anyone tried laying down a tarp, driving onto it, and somehow lifting the sides of the tarp up so the top is open. I dont think they could climb the plastic to get to the car.Would this work, anyone done it, or am I overlooking something ?
So making like a giant condom? they will still get in... All i can say is mouse traps in your garage...
Mice are like car thieves. If they want your car bad enough, they will get it. In order for the tarp idea to have a chance at working, it would need to be placed on a sterile, concrete pad and even then....... they'd get in some how. Buy a cat or invest in traps.
hungry cats have worked around here. I don't feed the cats ,they catch their own feed. If they don't catch---well attrition takes over
The mice wil chew through the tarp very easily. The only way I see how to keep them away from the car is to build an electric fence out of tinfoil surrounding the car about a foot high.
They chew holes in things, I think plastic is on their list of edibles. I had a problem with them until the neighbors cat started visiting. Mr. Fluffy is a welcome guest here.
The car is outside, garage is full. We are backed up to a busy street in the city so a cat wouldnt last long. I set up traps and poison but they dont seem to eat it yet. Every morning I find mice or rat shit on my intake, same with my wifes and daughters car. So far they only chewed the air line to the bags, that was in the summer. Now thats its cold its going to get worse. Just trying to think outside the box. These cars are not stored ,there drivers.
put moth balls on the frame rails (do not put inside car ,you will never get the smell out ) mice hate the smell. always worked for me
If you can get ac put a electric pest machine in, have been using them since the 80's. Both in the shop and cars, motor homes. Have never had any problem
A reverse tarp will become a swiming pool in no time. Traps are cheaper than keeping cats, with all the vet bills and food, etc. I recently bought some snake repellant, came in a granular form like kitty litter. Do they have the same thing for mice and rodents? The theory is that it doesn't kill them, but they don't like the aroma at all and move out. Gary
I did the bucket,water,peanutbutter on the plastic coke bottle trick! Look it up on utube under better mousetrap! Cheaper than traps or poisons! I killed 5 in 1 week!
I've got a heavy duty tarp out here that I had over a stack of wood with a hundred mouse chewed holes in it. Instead of traveling five feet to go around they just chewed through when ever they wanted to get to the other side.
i also have used cab fresh,it seems to work.fabric softener sheets are a myth,had a nest on the sheet about a week after i put it in the car. handful of moth balls in an old sock,tied under the hood has worked for some people. a weak solution of antifreeze in a shallow pan will knock down the mouse population. poisoning is bad in the near vicinity of cars,unless its highly effective and quick working. i got some rodent bait from poulin's,has proven very effective. peanut butter with a bit of hydrated lime,and a dish of water next to it.burns them from the inside out.dries em out quick. meeces are great climbers,i witnessed one going up my welding cable (hand over hand) to get up on my work bench and into my arc welder.
Moth balls seem to work for me. But I like the Decon, lye, antifreeze and peanut butter idea also. I got a pack of nusience squirels in my yard in general I am going after next spring.
If you were the star of animal planets "call of the wild" they would call you "turtleman" and you'd catch a snake to put in your car. Barehanded too.
Ditto on owning a cat! They get the job done no matter how long it takes! My little guy does a damn good job of killin' rats and mice..... When he's not sleepin'....
Here's some "Outside the Box" thinking. A friend of mine swears by this. He also keeps his car outdoors. Get some TALL jack stands and put the car on them. Then, go buy some drum cymbals and cut their centers out so they fit on the jack stand, (like a skirt) the higher the better. The mice cannot crawl up past the cymbals, hereby THEORETICALLY eliminating your problem. As I said, a friend of mine swears by this, but I have not tried it personally. They can jump, so it's not 100%, but if you get the car high enough and far enough from anything they can climb on in order to jump onto your ride, you'll be ok.
chainsaw, I was thinking the same thing as you earlier this fall. Like some have said, mice would chew through the tarp if they really want to get in. My plan was to put moth balls on the floor around the perimeter of the tarp right where it meets the floor. Like some one else mentioned you run into the problem of the tarp acting as a bowl and potentially collecting dirt and moisture. I was going to use a second tarp to go over the bottom one to keep the crud out. I think this idea will work but I ran out of time before winter hit and other "life stuff" got in the way. If you decide to do this keep us posted on the results. Good luck, Thor
Jackstands with upside down tin pie pans fitted closely around them would probably be the best deterrent. Meaning NO gap between the pans and the shaft of the stand. They might look strange but the little bastards would have a hell of a time getting past them. A guy could even build his own out of steel plate and pipe just for the purpose.
Agreed & good catch. I think that is the most important part. Mice can squeeze through 1/4" gaps. ZERO gap is key. I like the pie-tin idea. Probably cheaper and easier to work with also.
I use DOWNY brand dryer sheets. Something about that brand they don't like the smell. Tryed others and they didn't work.
bait bars wired to something they cant drag off. Bait bars are the best. Ive been using them for years and have not had a mouse problem. the little green pellets dont work, they pack em off or into a door panel or trunk.
I've always had good luck with mothballs. I used to store my cars during winter and mothballs always worked.
The key to getting rid of mice is to deter them with a foul smell or erraticate them once inside. Since your topic of discussion is to deter, I have found the best solution is wild cats and moth balls. Remember to add moth balls every week or at least recrush those that are there already. Clearing a car of the moth balls smell is easy as vacuuming out with fabreeze and a day with the windows open. Once thier inside a car the only way I have found to clean them all out is a mixture of bleach and chlorox detergent and close the car up tight. You still have to deal with the residuals though (nests, etc).
Go to your local garden center, not like the ones in Lowes, you need a good place that stocks all sorts of critter repellents. I had one that was safe to use around the garden, just that mice, rabbits, cats, etc didn't like the smell. You may have to spray it every 2 weeks though, definitely worth looking into. Bob
Having dealt with the issue before, one very critical point. NO potential food items left in the garage overnight, at all, not ever, not even in the trash can, no wrappers, no cups, no cans/bottles, vessels, utensils, nada, nuttin! Aside from the shelter itself, it's THE largest attraction. The little barstads are always up for a free lunch [breakfast, dinner, midnight snack]. If you keep the pet food there [or feed for the local birds], keep it in a bin they can't access, preferably metal [a lidded 20gal drum works well - & can match the decor if it's an oil drum], also watch spills. When I moved into the folks house after they passed on I found there was an issue, they had become careless about this topic. In the end I found that going through the house and absolutely denying them any & all access to food was as important [perhaps more] than anything else I did. Good Luck/Happy Hunting! ...I hate those meeces to pieces!!
a friend of mine has a method to keep rodents out of his airplane. he put a piece of cardboard about 3 ft square under each wheel and smears a band of grease all around the perimeter of the cardboard. he says the mice wont cross over the grease to climb up the tires. claims he hasn't had a problem with mice for the last 5 years. a car is too low, they could jump up but it would probably work with jackstands.
TRAPS "Reduce the population" You just need to stay with it. I got over 30 this fall and now nothing.
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