Technical Winter,s around the corner here in Mn Keeping the mice out of the engine compartment ?

I agree that cats do have some negatives, just like wraymen said above. I wouldn’t want a pack of feral cats on my property for sure. If you are the nature type then they can cause issues by killing whatever they find. Mine killed a family of rabbits and then forced a family of raccoons to move out of the woods. I would have shot them anyway. Mine kills spiders, crickets, toads, etc. I’m fine with that really. I live in the country and am surrounded by hundreds of acres of farm land so rodents here do a tremendous amount of damage. While I’ve never been called a cat lover I will take that over dead mice in traps and stuck in places I can’t get to after eating poison. She works for me. Randy


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Used to live in a farm area with soybean fields all around our property, so lots of mice. Had them in the barn and house. First year I had a old car in barn I put car on blocks with Decon next to blocks. Next day I went out and saw all Decon gone! Then dog got sick- OH NO! Yep dog ate all Decon and bled from every orifice she had. Called vet and said to give her chicken livers to built blood back up and she recovered. So be very careful with mouse poison!! After that I always used Moth balls and no mice in cars, but that smell! Now they make a critter repellent for farm equipment- tractors and combines,etc. It smells pleasant , you can get it at farm supply stores. Now we have moved and don't get as many mice here, but chipmunks like crazy!! I have really thought about getting a cat for the barn, but I just know what will happen, wife will fall in love with it and it will become a house cat!! I may still check in to a cat.

 

I have four vehicles that sit in the shop for about six months each winter. I no longer use car covers and as others have mentioned I leave the hood and trunk lids open. Dust is not a problem so the cars remain quite clean. I have used glue traps successfully in the past but have not had a problem for several years . I even had them move into an old dresser I use for storage. I leave the doors partly open now and no more mice in the dresser. Also, I place steel wool in the tailpipes. Started my OT Malibu a couple of years ago after a long winter's nap and blew a mouse out a tailpipe.

 

I've been getting my parts together for this winters work.. New gas tank, new body bushings (69 el Camino), install Stereo 66 reverb and speaker, I have to figure out the wiring luckily I know the hot .. I try to have fun during the snow months.

 

To each their own.

I had cats for 50 years, but NEVER allowed them in the building with the cars.

One bad cat will do more damage than an army of mice!

Old-fashioned traps (99 cents for a package of 4, and a package of disposable latex gloves). Cheese or peanut butter. Check the traps regularly. Throw away trap and mouse upon a successful execution!

Incidentally, if you have a squirrel problem, and have trouble trapping them in a live trap; an un-salted cracker with peanut butter will attract any squirrel that is anywhere close.

While on the subject of trapping varmints; raccoons, groundhogs and o'possums love canteloupe.

I have tried the various electronic whizbangs, to absolutely no avail. They are good for transferring funds from your account to the account of the vendor! Maybe there is one that works, but I have not yet found it; and the traps are less expensive.

Cats with claws will sharpen them on the hood or car top if the hood is open.

So far, the only deterrent to deer that I have found that actually works, is to help the barber sweep his floor, and spread human hair around the edge of the garden weekly, or after each rain. IT WORKS!

Like I opened with: to each their own.

Jon

 

I have been using Fresh Cab rodent repellent in my cars for the last couple of years and haven't had a mouse problem since. I put one pack on the floor inside the car and one in the trunk. I check them every so often and if the smell goes away I throw in another pack. I also leave the hood open.

 

Tried that, mice ate the soap.

I have traps along the walls in the garage and use bounce dryer sheets covering the floors inside of both cars. No mice and it’s a lot better smelling than moth balls...

 

“The early bird gets the worm but it’s the second mouse that gets the cheese.”
author: Steven Wright?

 

I've seen mice eat the soap, and chew on the mothballs, and make nests out of drier sheets. If you put any of them in your car and you don't see mice, it doesn't necessarily mean they kept them away - it just means you didn't have mice.

 

I have Hawks & Feral cats. Many people feed the cats, but they do take care of what the Hawks don't get, chipmunks and I've only seen about two squirrels. Mice were a pain with the nesting but didn't touch the car. I got rid of the mice with poison and traps before the feral cats appeared, found a lot of dead ones in the open. There is a trick with Feral cats though. Have to catch'em and have them fixed and released and you curb reproduction but they will stay Feral and for a little food and a space to get out of the cold they will take care of your territory for years.

 

I put tin foil over the exhaust pipes as well as leave glove boxes, hoods and trunks open. I also use lots of the old fashion mouse traps. The key is to get them placed before it gets too cold and the mice start moving indoors. I check them every day.

 

I don’t have rodent problems but my late father in law up in Maine did. He’d take a 5 gal bucket, drill two holes up top, stick a 1/2” wood dowel through, rub peanut butter on the middle, and put in about 2-3” of antifreeze. Don’t do this if you have pets around.
I think he even put a ramp to it once, kinda like walking the plank.

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I’ve tried about everything.
What I’m using now, is working pretty good.

I have a plastic 5 gallon bucket with about 2 gallons of antifreeze in it. I drilled two holes at the top, put a 1/4” steel rod thru the bucket at the top. I then drilled 2 holes thru a pop can. One on the top one on the bottom. Ran the steel rod thru it so it’s positioned at the top of the bucket on the inside, directly over the antifreeze pool. I then coated the can with peanut butter. Put a wood ramp on the floor leading up to the top of the bucket.
It works. They smell the peanut butter and when they try to get to it, they go for a swim in antifreeze.

 

Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets.

 

I like cats too

 

This girl in my avatar has a mate...they live on my property. I bet they kill more mice than all the traps I've ever laid out in my garage...but I still keep some traps along the garage walls. NO POISON!!!

 

Smokie, 16 Lb. Main Coon male, stays in the house most of the time and goes to the garage when I go. Kills whatever he finds including snakes. Does not bother the cars.
Hoss, 21 Lb Main Coon male, same as Smokie but he does not kill snakes. He did bring a full grown rabbit on the porch once but when he opened his mouth to meow it got away. He does not bother the cars either. Both are fixed, yearly vet visits and we have had them from kittens. Nothing escapes their attention and we have had no mice for the last 9 years.

 

I had the same experience with the soap and dryer sheets. I am have used moth balls for the last 3 years, no mice. I put the car out in the driveway with the windows open in the spring, and the moth ball smell goes away.

 

Jack Russell terriers are fearless rat killers also. My adult male pit is afraid of pack rats(and his own shadow)

 

This has worked for me, after removing rats next and rewiring an engine harness an old Gentleman told me about it. It keeps the mice out and leaves a pleasant odor as well. Beats Moth Balls.

 

Spraying the engine/engine compartment with WD40 also helps. Keeps the chrome dress up items like air cleaners and valve covers and Edelbrock carbs, aluminum intake manifolds, headers, bolt heads etc from rusting and oxidizing too.

 

My wife tried that here and bought a Costco pack of Irish spring, Evidently the mice on this farm have an affinity for Irish spring as they ate it.

I bought some of those plug into a wall plug sonic rodent chasers and they don't work either.

What has worked to catch them is a 5 gallon plastic bucket a length of 1/8 welding rod and a plastic 20 OZ pop bottle that you drill a hole in the center of the cap and center of the bottom and slide on the wire that also goes though two holes you drilled about a half inch down from the top of the bucket. put about six inches of water in the bucket and coat the bottle with dollar tree peanut butter and set it where you have mouse issues with something that they can use to get up to the top. Remember to haul it out clear to hell and gone away from the house every couple of days or it starts stinking with dead mice in the water. No need for antifreeze or other chemicals.

 

The Urban Myth about dryer sheets doing this and that has been around as long as dryer sheets. I was told they were good for repelling mosquitoes, and bought a box when I was working as a night watchmen guarding a Fireworks stand. The results were as to be expected. The only true repellent for them is 'bug juice' available surplus after Vietnam.

 

I have a 50 Studebaker 4dr Champion thats a parts car for my coupe , last year I was getting mice building nests on top of the flat head engine around the spark plugs and I saw a mouse on the inside when I opened the door one day.
Then one day my mother told me about peppermint keeping mice away , so I found some little pouch things with dried peppermint in them and placed one on top of the engine ,one in the trunk and a couple in side the car and glovebox and no more mice just the smell of peppermint but thats better than mouse piss and nests..
You just have to replace the pouches every couple or so weeks , they also have a liquid form and you can just put a few drops on cotton balls and place around the car also.
It worked for me .

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Someone told me about peppermint a while ago. I’ll have to give it a try.

 

i had a german shepherd/newfoundland mix, and that dog was welcome everywhere. she'd kill people's mice all night long!

 

She snatched this Chipmunk up for Breakfast on Sat. Pulled one from the garage last night that ran past me when I got home from work.

 

Dryer sheets, mice hate them and will avoid the smell. HRP

 

For the man who likes over kill....and it’s traditional.