Mice

[idonthaveaname]

I keep one of my boats on the side of the house. I live in an area with plenty of wildlife. With that, I have possum, raccoon, snakes, and other critters around. Don't mind them one bit, except on thing. The mice like my boat. I guess it's dry, and warm and offers some comfort through the night. The problem, as you can imagine, is the little buggers will eventually burrow into the foam, eat the wires, and chew up most anything in the boat. I didn't want to kill them?initially, so I searched the internet for a natural solution. One was placing dryer sheets, like Bounce, in the area. Apparently, they don't like the scent. I put in about eight of them and watch the area over the next few days. I had cleaned up all the poop droppings and nothing new showed up. I thought I was in good shape until about day four when I checked. ALL the sheets were gone. I guess the little bastards liked them and made a nest. Great! Now I have a nest of these buggers. I pulled out the mousetraps and put some peanut butter on them. The next morning the traps brought sprung traps and no PB. The last thing I need is a mouse crawling up my pant leg while fishing in the middle of the Everglades, scaring the living blankity out of me, and falling into the water on top of some gator. Any suggestions on how to keep Mickey out of the boat?

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Mice

mouse bait.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Mice

mouse bait.

Unless you have a domestic animal that may eat a poisoned mouse

Sounds like your trapping skills need sharpening........ try a few glue pads........ do you know where they are coming in?

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Mice

The one remedy my insurance agent swears by is peppermint oil, [ haven't tried it personally though] get a little bottle at a health food store. Put it on some cotton balls or little pieces of rag. And spread through out and at access points. I bet it works, made my eyes water. Smells a lot better then moth balls............

 

[Fed up]

Re: Mice

Lowes sells some traps called instant kill, they work wonderful.. We have field mice that come in the shop during the spring rains, I have tried the peppermint oil trick, the only thing that I accomplished was making my shop smell like a candy store. The traps were awsome.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQN2pKqaaUjI7kAJaqnPO6hglBnj9IJNv4XxPRW47p2YEcHw7lI8w

 

[gss036]

Re: Mice

I had mice come into my shop for the first time this year. I made the mistake of leaving a small bag of seed corn laying on top of my table saw and once they discovered that they went all over and in my boat. I had several marine flares in my boat sealed in vacuum bags and the varmints chewed into them and ate 3-4 flares and made a mess of the red phosphorus that is in them. Maybe that killed them. They also bit hole in 2 qts of transmission fluid and a couple qts of oil, that made a mess but kitty litter helped out there. I did get a bunch of the small packets of poison and placed around the shop and they ate some of it so hopefully they are gone, haven't seen any more droppings or mice. I have run the boat and everything is working ok.

 

[JB]

Re: Mice

I have had good luck with moth balls in the secluded corners.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Mice

I like to use a 5 gallon bucket with a wire strung across the middle. Put some peanut butter in the middle of the wire. It works really good and multiple catches. How you dispose of them is up to you.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Mice

The owner of the local outboard repair shop has a mouse skull in a jar on the shelf. It was found stuck in a reed in an engine that had a persistent miss. The rest of the mouse must have been digested by the engine.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Mice

I like to use a 5 gallon bucket with a wire strung across the middle. Put some peanut butter in the middle of the wire. It works really good and multiple catches. How you dispose of them is up to you.

Best mouse trap there is.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Mice

Here are two of my favorites. The bucket/wire method has a can in the center with pb on it. The metal Ketch All trap is wind up and can catch multiple mieces. It is also baited with pb.

 

[sasto]

Re: Mice

Spearment will work wonders. A friend saw it in a boating mag. and tried it. Fantastic results he says.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: Mice

Thanks for all the tips. I like the can and the PB...wouldn't that be interesting. I really don't want to kill them and prefer letting the snakes eat them...I have plenty of those (non-poisonous) around as well.

"Sounds like your trapping skills need sharpening" You know Bob, you are probably correct. ;-)

I picked up one of those ultrasonic things at HD. I'll see if that helps. For those that asked how are they getting in. It's a bass boat and it's outside...pretty much as simple as that. I am also going to see if I can clear the garage of the project boat...put it on the outside. That would solve a bunch of problems.

 

[NYBo]

Re: Mice

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Mice

You need this kitty...if you're man enough to pick him up....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPxGmTGarM&feature=fvw

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Mice

Trapping skills will be inhanced if you first tie a piece of steelwool to the trigger, then smear peanutbutter into the wool. Their slightly curved teeth get snagged and then lights out.

 

[642mx]

Re: Mice

Moth balls work awesome!!! My boat sits in a dirt floor barn during the summer and is also home to various critters including mice. I cover the floor under the boat with the moth balls and I put a small cup of them inside the boat with the cover on. Sure it stinks, but I've never had a problem. Once a month I buy 2 new boxes, one for under the boat and one for inside the boat.... you've got to keep the moth balls fresh for them to work.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Mice

+1 on the moth balls. Good old fashioned type, not these new fangled ones that smell like lilac, etc. They won't do diddly.

 

[sea_goin_dude]

Re: Mice

Here are two of my favorites. The bucket/wire method has a can in the center with pb on it. The metal Ketch All trap is wind up and can catch multiple mieces. It is also baited with pb.

The can trap thing works great. Just weight one side of the can slightly (this will be on the bottom) them put the pb on top. If you put several inches of water in the bottom of the bucket the little bastards will drown.......Then just dump em out. The mouse climbs on top to get the pb and the can rolls on the wire and zapo the little bastard falls in the bucket and if there is water he will not be a problem any more...taps taps lights out

 

[sea_goin_dude]

Re: Mice

Nice kitty ........ end of mice problems for sure