Technical How to keep mice out of your car

For years I have put traps all over the shop and emptied them as often as a couple times a day. Was amazed at how many mice were out there. I hadn't been using my shop regularly since we were racing out of a different shop building. Once I moved back home with my stuff, back to the old grind of traps and cleaning them out a couple times a day (I live on the edge of town and there is a corn field 100' behind my shop).

Added this 2 years ago and have had 1 mouse in a trap in the last 2 winters. She's good. Crazy Ethyl (the neighbor kid named her when Ethyl was still a wild kitten living in the neighborhood before we took her in) for the win. She also likes to sleep in the model room attached to the shop.

SPark

 

When that stuff works into your system it will repell rats, mice , friends, the ladies and small children too.

 

Yeah, tell me about it....

 

I bought a beautiful Dodge Dart one time when I lived at the Grand Canyon. the guy had inherited it from his Grandmother and the ball joints were bad in the front . So he parked it next to the trail crew mule barn. When I got it I noticed a small hole in rear corner of the headliner. The mice had made it and went all the way up under the sunvisors and built a huge nest. I ended up having to replace the headliner because of the urine smell was overwhelming in that car. You should have seen them scatter when I opened the car up for the first time. It took quite a while to get them all out so I could move the car. Didn't want to bring them home.
It was a 70 Dart SE 4 door that she special ordered with every option you could get and a 318. It made a fine ride after the new headliner and front end rebuild.

 

It's already been said but a cat does fine. I have a cat in my two buildings and no problems inside the cars.

Pat

 

Cats rule!!!!!
Well, sort of....

 

I store a lot of cars. Usually have about 45 on hand. They all run, of course, and are inventory for sale.

So I don't want to make them stink like moth balls, nor do I want the smell of Irish Spring. I don't have time to monitor traps, etc. So I came up with a "system" that has worked for me without flaw for 15 years:

First, vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Get rid of any source of food. Not just the carpet, but beneath and between the seats, the glove box, the package tray, the trunk and the engine bay. Roll the windows up.

I have cars in warehouses, so I put a dozen or so dryer sheets in the car and a few more in the trunk and engine bay. If nothing else, they make the car smell nice. I then put both chunk and pellet poison around the perimeter of the buildings. Then I put mothballs on the floor. One package beneath each car. It will make the building smell, but not so strong that it is overwhelming. The cars don't smell like mothballs because they are closed up and have the dryer sheets to perfume them.

This system works well for me. Free advice is worth what you pay for it....

 

At least, they think they do.

 

This is what I like, works good, easy to empty

 

My little gal walks all over me when I'm layin' on the couch....

 

A cat is sounding pretty good. I have a couple questions.

Already have a dog, what happens when I bring home a cat? What does the cat do when the dog (who goes about everwhere with me) hops into the car?

 

"Dogs have owners, Cats have Staff."

 

How about using motor oil instead of water?

 

Checked my old fashioned snap traps today, Gman - 2, Mice - 0. Hopefully they are also eating the Decon poison.

 

We have a couple of cats around here because of the wife, she's a cat person. They can be kind of cool little critters, and they can keep down the bug & mice population, but they are also pretty disgusting animals themselves. They spend all day lounging and "cleaning" themselves, they they hack up those disgusting fur balls later on, yuck! And all that car hair gets all over everything. And certain cats develop bad habits of peeing where they shouldn't, the smell of cat urine is awful. I'm not so sure the cure is better than the problem.

 

I little more reading for you mouse hunters:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/how-would-you-get-rid-of-mice-in-a-car.276000/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/car-storage-and-mice.88529/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/mice-deterent.649356/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/protecting-stored-vehicles-from-mice.322951/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/preventing-mice.526449/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ust-smelly-soap-bars-to-keep-them-out.803000/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/headliner-mice.66145/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/hamb-friendly-mouse-trap-bait.844003/
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/mice-in-my-car-that-are-smarter-than-i-am.202394/

 

Had a problem in my attic. Cleaned all the traps out and put this stuff in the attic and no more mice!
It works. You do need to replace the packets every month or so. No more mice!

 

I have seen poison mentioned in a few posts. Yeah it works great but they tend to find remote places to die. You end up tearing your cars interior apart or maybe the garage wall to find the source of the stink. How one little dead critter the size of a shifter knob can smell so bad is beyond reason.

 

The way they did it back in the day. Traditional mouse trap.

Dixie Gun Works copy of the original. No longer available and worth some bucks if you come across one.

 

I could never get their legs apart to try them anyway.


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They do with used oil.


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Peppermint oil

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Depends on the dog. If the cat can get a bluff in, the cat will rule the house.

The cat will likely take a nap.

 

There have been more than a few occurrences of poison killing the family pet by direct ingestion or by ingesting the animal the ate the poison.
Also +1 for the cat. I had a cat that showed up one day and stayed here for 8 years taking up residence in an old van on the property. I never had a problem with mice after she showed up, but I do now that she is gone. She was sweet, lovable, a stone-cold killer, and quite often had a mouse that she would swallow whole. Now I trap about 4 a day with the fields around us and all. I wonder if she ate that many?
I'm thinking of getting some feral cats. They are used to being outside. Rescue organizations sterilize them and clip their ears so that you know. Tip: to keep them around, cage them and feed them for 2 weeks to get them used to you. You'll likely never handle them much. For shelter when not in the shop, cut a hole in a storage tote and line it with straw. They'll go right in.
I gotta do something. I keep finding nests of upholstery foam and shop towels.

 

I want to thank everyone for the replies. A lot of information all is helpful. I will try a few things and see what works for me. Seems that we all have different mice and they all act different.
Thanks
Ken

 

Got them in my hockey equipment bag it seems, so poison is out! (Maybe at age 75 hockey should be out?) I had heard that the cheap, "stronger" smelling sheets might work. Same for moth balls...but I hate that smell. I keep my gear in a partially heated garage (for drying purposes) but that is where my projects live too. So, anyone have luck with Irish Spring/ heavily scented dryer sheets or some combination thereof? Thanks in advance!

 

There is a good reason old farmers always kept cats, and black snakes around the barns...

 

I use Tomcat rat and mouse bait. Just place some opened packets around the perimeter of your shop. Probably shouldn't use if you have young kids or pets. It keeps them out of the shop, engine compartment, interior and trunk!

 

Poprodder I hear ya.....thought I was just forgetful with my shop rags until I found a few nests !